In attempting to expand my music taste, I went through RYM's Top Album charts from 1960-2020 and selected one album from every year within that span to listen to. I searched through the first 100 albums listed for each year and attempted to go outside of my comfort zone on the majority of albums I chose. I focused on artists I don't have a single rating for. I may write a short review for each album as I go along. Recs for each year are welcome.
The limited blues that I've listened to has always centered around the guitar through musicians like Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy and particularly Stevie Ray Vaughan. This is my first true introduction to piano blues and I love it. Otis is a pure delight on the keys and his vocals complement his playing very well. Songs like Take A Little Walk With Me and Otis In The Dark inspire me to explore this side of the genre further.
Jazz has consistently been a difficult genre for me to get into. There are songs and albums that I enjoy and there's no denying that jazz musicians are amongst the best in the world from a technical standpoint, but I typically enjoy more linear song structure compared to constant improvisation. I don't find myself in the mood to return to a jazz album too often. With that said, I enjoy My Favorite Things quite a bit. It's funny to learn that one of the first times I ever heard Coltrane's music was actually from a sample by The Juggaknots on "Trouble Man" when they took the opening notes from the title track on here. I've recently been putting jazz on in the background when cooking with my fiancé. I can see myself adding this to the rotation.
