Average Rating: 3.20 Rating Variance: 0.76 Objectivity Score: 89% (Well Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name5.0 classicSteely Dan Pretzel Logic4.5 superbBarenaked Ladies StuntBilly Joel The StrangerCynic Traced in AirIron Maiden PowerslaveMegadeth Rust in PeaceMutemath Odd SoulPorcupine Tree Fear of a Blank PlanetScale The Summit The CollectiveCarving Desert Canyons was an enjoyable effort, but it was often weighted down by songs that were a bit too long for their own good. Monument suffered from a similar problem, only the issue there was that things were a bit too mathy. Scale the Summit went back to the drawing board, struck a balance, did some minor trimming and tweaking, and this beauty is the result. "Whales", "The Levitated", "Origin of Species", and "Drifting Figures" are modern masterpieces; everything else ranges from good to great. Absolutely no filler.The Beatles Rubber SoulThe Beatles Abbey Road4.0 excellentBarenaked Ladies GordonCloudkicker The DiscoveryDream Theater Black Clouds & Silver LiningsFrost* Experiments in Mass AppealGatsbys American Dream VolcanoJohn Mayer ContinuumKing Crimson In the Court of the Crimson KingMaroon 5 It Won't Be Soon Before LongGuilty pleasures! Guilty pleasures! Come and get yer hot guilty pleasures!Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus PhoenixReturn to Forever Romantic WarriorRussian Circles GenevaSilversun Pickups CarnavasSteely Dan Katy LiedSteven Wilson Grace for DrowningThe Alan Parsons Project Eye in the Sky90125? Feh. THIS is the top dog of 80s prog-pop albums released by the 70s prog bands. Unless you want to call Discipline pop. Do you?The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric LadylandTortoise TNTYes The Yes Album3.5 greatBarenaked Ladies MaroonBetween the Buried and Me The Parallax: Hypersleep DialoguesCamel MoonmadnessCloudkicker ]]][[[Cynic Carbon-Based AnatomyThe ambiance is a double-edged sword; it's very enjoyable in the short tracks under 2:30, but I also think it makes Box and Elves sound muddled. Give the shorties (especially Hieroglyph) and the eponymous track a spin.Dream Theater Six Degrees of Inner TurbulenceDream Theater OctavariumFlying Colors Flying ColorsFoo Fighters Wasting LightFreezepop Future Future Future PerfectGogol Bordello Trans-Continental HustleGoo Goo Dolls Dizzy Up The GirlGoo Goo Dolls GutterflowerI Mother Earth Blue Green OrangeGood news: Edwin's not singing! Bad news: Lots of filler! Track picks: "Summertime in the Void", "Good For Sule", "Cloud Pump", "Autumn on Drugs"Meat Loaf Bat Out of HellMutemath Mute MathPorcupine Tree DeadwingRadiohead Kid AIf you must listen to one album by the Angsty Falsetto Kings, this is the one. Yorke's voice becomes more tolerable when buried behind a wall of surprisingly cool-sounding electronics, and not even I am immune to "Idioteque".Russian Circles EmprosBizarre how an album with such awesome interludes and an amazing middle ("Schiphol", "Atackla") could leave me feeling...a bit unsatisfied. Perhaps it's that old adage about people remembering the beginnings and endings of things the best. While neither track is outright bad by any stretch, "309" gets lost in its own loudness and "Praise Be Man" simply doesn't have the grab of "Hexed All" or some of their other quieter tracks. Regardless, a good effort and admirable attempt to integrate their louder and softer halves.Scale The Summit Carving Desert CanyonsSigur Ros Takk...Steely Dan The Royal ScamThe Smashing Pumpkins Oceania3.0 goodA Perfect Circle Mer de NomsArcade Fire Neon BibleBarenaked Ladies Everything to EveryoneThough the Ladies started dialing down the good-natured tongue-in-cheek on Maroon, this album marks the point where the clown mask really starts to fall off. Much of the album is a sardonic commentary on consumer culture and the Bush Administration; Steven and Ed's political observations are neither subtle nor especially poignant, and it's probably no coincidence that the songs that proselytize the most are also the ones I press skip on the most. There's still a small handful of great songs to like here, but this album is divided very sharply between the winners, losers, and mediocre. Try 'em, you'll probably like 'em: Celebrity, For You, Testing 1-2-3, Aluminum. Avoid like the plague: Shopping, War on Drugs. Alright in a pinch: Maybe Katie, Unfinished, Second Best, Take it Outside, Have You Seen My Love.Barenaked Ladies Maybe You Should DriveInstrumentally, Maybe You Should Drive ranks as one of the Ladies' strongest efforts; Jim and Andy Creeggan are at the top of their game. Andy left the band shortly after the album was complete; his jazz-inflected keyboards were one of the best features of the earliest BnL albums. Steven Page characterized this album as "difficult", largely because of producer Ben Mink's influence. Even if most of the songs have BnL's trademark tongue-in-cheek humor, the melodies are ordered and layered, not freewheeling. This leaves much of MYSD with a bit of a disconnected feel. This is, however, an underrated album, and there are still a few tracks that are quite worth your time. Highlights include "Jane", "A", "Alternative Girlfriend", and "Life, in a Nutshell"Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies Are MeA pretty strong first half dragged down by the Ladies' indulgence in antiwar/Bush 43 sentiment for four songs in a row towards the end of the album. Serious tracks have never been BnL's forte, and it's glaringly obvious here. Aside from "Bull in a China Shop", Steven Page sounds intensely bored; in hindsight, this album (and its twin, Are Men) showcases his increasing isolation from the rest of the band. Track picks: "Adrift", "Bank Job", "Easy", "Bull in a China Shop", "Wind It Up"Barenaked Ladies Hits From Yesterday & the Day BeforeBeardfish Sleeping in Traffic, Pt 2Collective Soul Hints, Allegations, and Things Left UnsaidCounting Crows Films About Ghosts: The Best OfFive For Fighting Two LightsFive For Fighting America TownI Mother Earth Scenery & FishMutemath ArmisticeNeutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the SeaRadiohead The King of LimbsThe Beatles Please Please MeTortoise StandardsNot nearly as jazzy as TNT, and thus, in my opinion, not as enjoyable. Six Pack, Blackjack, and Speakeasy are all great. Most of the rest of the album is listenable if not up to the standards (pun possibly intended) that TNT sets, with the exception of Eros which cannot be called anything other than annoying.Weather Report Heavy WeatherOne unbelievably good track (Birdland) and two others which are pretty good (A Remark You Wrote, Palladium) on an otherwise passable, but 'meh' album.Yes YesYes Time and a WordLike a scrambled up jigsaw puzzle--lots of good parts that just aren't assembled together well. There's loads of latent potential in this album, most of which can't be fully enjoyed because Yes's songcrafting had yet to fully mature at this point. The future seeds of greatness that would spring to life on The Yes Album, however, are firmly in place. Track picks: "The Prophet", "Astral Traveller".2.5 averageBarenaked Ladies Born on a Pirate ShipBarenaked Ladies All in Good TimeThe Ladies harness their anger toward Steven Page's departure with mixed results. Most of the time it fizzles out and gets thrown into a pile of listenable but ultimately forgettable pop hooks, but a few tracks soar brilliantly and you'll get a brief flash of the Barenaked Ladies that you used to guiltily love circa Stunt or Gordon ("Golden Boy", "Every Subway Car"). "You Run Away" is also the best ballad that Ed will ever write. The addition of more vocals by Jim Creegan ("On the Lookout", "I Saw It") is a welcome change, counterbalanced by the unwelcome addition of more vocals by Kevin Hearn ("Another Heartbreak", "Jerome", "Watching the Northern Lights").Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & HooligansDavid Bowie Hunky DoryDream Theater Systematic ChaosLady Gaga The FameMaroon 5 Hands All OverNirvana NevermindRadiohead AmnesiacInconsistent. Worth your time: "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box", "I Might Be Wrong", "Dollars and Cents", "Hunting Bears".System of a Down System of a DownSystem of a Down ToxicitySystem at their most accessible. This isn't saying much.Yes 901252.0 poorCloudkicker The Map Is Not The TerritoryCloudkicker PortmanteauHuey Lewis and the News SportsKaty Perry Teenage DreamRadiohead OK ComputerExcellent evidence that the words "influential", "experimental", and "different" are not always synonyms for "enjoyable".Steely Dan GauchoLet's say that Gaucho is a middle-aged woman who used to be quite a looker. Instead of coming to grips with her age, she simply tries to bury her wrinkles under an ever-increasing mound of skin exfoliation products and make-up. All these products do, however, is make her look worse. Some Dan fans love to talk about how 'smooth' or 'groovy' Gaucho is. You wonder why they use these adjectives? These are the ONLY words that can be used to describe this album. Nothing else resides in these tracks--Gaucho has no soul left under the laboriously-applied mascara.The Fray How to Save a Life1) Pinch your nose while singing along with the piano in a whiny voice. 2) ????? 3) PROFIT!!The Mars Volta NoctourniquetCedric's a landmine, alright. This album is, too, primarily in the sense of it being dangerous to your hearing. Interesting drums, "Vedamalady" and "Noctourniquet" are pretty good. Everything else is skippable.Vampire Weekend ContraYes Big Generator1.5 very poorIncubus If Not Now, When?Lady Gaga Born This WayUnlike Ke$ha, she has something resembling a brain and could have produced something other than banality. Instead, we get to listen to her musings on how it's cool to be an outcast while she sings along to boring, contrived dance-pop. Whoa! How edgy, original and empowering.Maroon 5 OverexposedSystem of a Down Steal This Album!Talent: Obvious. Sense of musical transition or melody: Nonexistent.1.0 awfulKe$ha AnimalKe$ha CannibalI thought nothing could be worse than Animal. I was proven wrong.
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