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I Don't Like Rock 'n' Roll

I bought a 20-pack of a bunch of rock and roll albums because for some reason I feel the need to try out every genre despite how much I may dislike it. They're all the debut albums of popular rock and roll artists so I guess it'll give me a musical background of rock and such and yeah. This should be interesting I guess.
1Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley

Okay, so I went into this fully expecting to be disappointed by the expectations society has placed on this record, but I seem to have found that I DO actually like some rock 'n' roll. There's some really infections tunes here, as well as a genuine vibes that serves Elvis' talent vocal range well. A wide variety of music from straightforward rock 'n' roll to the gorgeous bluesy track "Blue Moon." Yeah, you've seen it here folks, my first "good" rock 'n' roll rating. Will it be the last? 3.3/5
2 Fats Domino
Rock And Rollin'

This was a fun little album, a great mix of jazz and good old fashioned rock 'n' roll. However, despite a decent variety of sounds here and there, like in the just plain weird "Bo Weevil," there's so many repeated piano riffs and vocal melodies that you'll swear the album is stuck on repeat at times. Still, the music is enjoyable and Fats' voice is great, so in all, what more can you really ask for in rock 'n' roll? 3.1/5 RIP
3Gene Vincent
Bluejean Bop!

Bluejean Bop! takes the formula from Elvis’ debut and creates a faithful homage with a surprising amount of variety and craft, being enjoyable and fun while eschewing some of the less bearable qualities of rock and roll music. There’s a lot of genuinely cool guitar work here, and the vocals are endearing throughout. Well, I’ll be darned, I guess I don’t hate all rock and roll after all, huh? 3.3/5
4Ricky Nelson
Ricky

Here we are back with a dreadfully average rock 'n' roll album. I suppose there are some moments of subtle instrumentation and cool guitar work, but overall it's unimaginative and mediocre. All the tracks end up blending together sonically, and there's no overall character to the work to define it from the rest of the genre. When I finish up this competition, I'd bet good money I'll have no inkling of a memory of what this sounded like. 2.7/5
5Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley

Okay, so this one is my favorite so far, but I don't know if it's "rock 'n' roll" per se. It seems to be a blend of that and a LOT of blues, which is probably why I enjoy it so much compared to the others. I didn't love it to death of course, because it inherits the flaws of many other rock 'n' roll albums in its repetition, some tired instrumentation, and some unoriginality. But this is far superior than others thanks to solid variety between different backing instruments, from pianos to guitars to some not cringe-worthy backing vocals. It's just a fun album, which is how rock 'n' roll is supposed to feel, and pretty much the first time I felt it too. 3.5/5
6Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly

Maybe it has to do with my ex's infatuation with this guy's music, but I just can't get into it. There's a couple solid songs like "Ready Teddy's" rock 'n' roll fire and of course "Everyday," but otherwise it's a bunch of midtempo tunes with Holly complaining about how much his life sucks and singing slightly rape-y lyrics over decent instrumentation. So basically a 1950's Drake. 2.7/5
7Chuck Berry
After School Session

Okay, this is definitely the best one I've heard so far. It hits the nail on the head with an interesting blend of rock 'n' roll in blues, in a way that doesn't come off as repetitive but constantly varied and inspired. The songs are both fun and emotive, without any of that whiny and creepy crap that Buddy Holly put forth. If this is what most rock 'n' roll sounded like, then we wouldn't even be having this list in the first place. 3.7/5
8Duane Eddy
Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel

Yo hey this is really fuckin' good. Maybe rock 'n' roll is growing on me? Maybe I'm just finally running into decent songwriting and not half-assed pop music. This album is a badass blend of rock 'n' roll, blues, jazz, swing, and basically every genre that was still cool at the time. What comes out is a really fun but at times even eerie (check the southern-rock griminess of "Stalkin'"). The album is almost entirely instrumental aside from your usual rock 'n' roll backing vocals, but they're even strangely different than the usual sometimes, such as yelling incoherently on tracks like "Ramrod." Idk, it's a damn fine gem, and I'd hate for anyone who actually likes this genre to miss out on it. 3.8/5
9Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon

A perfect example of your average rock 'n' roll album. Some fun, some annoyance, nothing substantial but you won't have a problem tapping your toes and trying to sing along even if you don't know the words. There's nothing particularly wrong with this album other than doing absolutely nothing interesting throughout, aside from maybe the really good version of "Little Bitty Pretty One." Other songs range from inoffensive but insipid to bland but enjoyable. 2.9/5
10Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis

Yknow, this wasn't the most interesting or engaging rock 'n' roll album here, but it was one of the most pleasant, presenting the genre in a way that was enjoyable and toe-tapping without being too annoying. It was nice background music, had some great energy and solid vocals, and overall it just worked, even if it was pretty darn bland. 3.0/5
11Little Richard
Here's Little Richard

Honestly this was just a fun album. Even the weaker tracks were easy to jam and have fun with, and it genuinely just kinda bangs through and through. It's a really solid, really consistent album that I have no qualms with outside of the limitations of the genre. 3.6/5
12Paul Anka
Paul Anka

Was not a fan of this guy’s voice at all, but I have to admit that he has a solid charisma that backs the energy of some of these songs very well. Still, the background vocals are especially abhorrent on this album, especially on tracks like “Crazy Love” and “Jambalaya” where I seriously thought they were horror-inspired tracks for a little while. I think they were going for a western feel, but they tanked some of this from being as entertaining as it might’ve been. Still, it’s no great loss either way. 2.6/5
13Wanda Jackson
Wanda Jackson

Finally some female vox here, and man does she know how to use those pipes. She kicks the door down on a couple stompers here—especially “Money Honey,” and she takes to task a lot of the men here in terms of her solid crooning on these ballads. While there were a few weak links, Jackson showed far more energy and versatility than most of the men on this list, and this album easily one of the best works here. 3.6/5
14Carl Perkins
Dance Album of Carl Perkins

Yeah this didn't do it for me. There's a few nice bops to be had here and there that scratch any rock 'n' roll itch you might have, but it really isn't worth it for some serious duds like "Your True Love" that epitomize everything wrong with the genre. Also the musicianship is terribly plain, with little thought put into everything, especially the seriously weak guitar playing featured. This is an average, dull, forgettable album through and through. 2.5/5
15Cliff Richard
Cliff

Shut the FUCK up holy shit. This is a live album turns out, which means the production is even worse than usual and it features random girls screaming literally every five seconds which peak way louder than the actual music, making it even more unlistenable than your average rock and roll record. There’s a few stand outs that come from the backing band playing some fun instrumental jams, and of course the crowd is silent because Cliff is probably hiding backstage during these bits, but they’re simple not enough to save this record in the slightest. 1.4/5
16Eddie Cochran
Singin' to My Baby

This album suffers from a lot of the same problems as the rest here, shit backing vocals, lyrics that do not hold up well (particularly “Cradle Baby”), and a stark lack of variety, but what does make this album stand out a bit is its sincere vocal performance from Cochran, who provides a sense of maturity to the understated music here that makes it all the better following some of these horribly misguided teen idols. 2.8/5
17Fabian
Hold that Tiger

Honestly this is probably the first one here that I would consider BAD. It's so honest-to-god boring, generic, rape-y, and mind-numbing that it might go down as one of my least favorite pop albums I've heard. There was nothing really redeemable about it, but if you like boring rock 'n' roll, this is about as straightforward as you can get. 1.9/5
18Chubby Checker
Twist With Chubby Checker

While Checker himself remains an exciting presence throughout the record, the gimmick of every song being about a different dance style gets old real quick. Still, there are a few fun tracks like “‘Love Is Strange’ Calypso” and “The Chicken” (the latter involves Checker clucking aggressively like a chicken), which stand out nicely against a series of weirdly lethargic tracks that do not complement Checker’s energy or the dance-like nature of the songs at all. 2.3/5
19Johnny and the Hurricanes
Featuring Red River Rock

Even aside from the insane and just plain excellent opener "Red River Rock" which sounds wayyyy ahead of its time, this is a fun and enjoyable slice of rock 'n' roll. It's instrumental and straightforward, but since vocals and lyrics are usually the worst parts of rock 'n' roll, this suited me just fine. There's some fun stuff going on and it's not as boring as a lot of other similar albums, but it definitely all starts to sound the same by the end of it all. 3.4/5
20Bill Haley and His Comets
Live it Up!

sput deleted my write-up but this was lame: 2.4/5
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