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Album Ratings 412
Objectivity 81%

Last Active 08-11-18 8:36 pm
Joined 03-12-06

Review Comments 3,152

Average Rating: 3.43
Rating Variance: 0.72
Objectivity Score: 81%
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2013
The National Trouble Will Find Me2.5

2012
thenewno2 thefearofmissingout3.0
Delicate Steve Positive Force3.0
Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk Over Land and Sea4.5
M. Ward A Wasteland Companion3.5
Trip Lee Good Life4.0
THEESatisfaction awE naturalE3.5
Gift of Gab The Next Logical Progression4.0
Tanlines Mixed Emotions3.0
Esperanza Spalding Radio Music Society3.5
Lost In The Trees A Church That Fits Our Needs4.0
Lute West19964.5
Charlotte, NC emcee Lute fondly recalls the hip-hop of the 90s. His Westside1996 is an rattempt to recapture that golden era of hip-hop. Classic hip-hop included artists as diverse ras Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., A Tribe Called Qwest, and Nasir Jones himself. Despite rthe immense potential of that era, many of the promises of 90s hip-hop were unrealized. NAS rfaded away after Illmatic, while 2pac and Biggie burnt out. Q-tip and his crew consistently rput out great albums, but to little fanfare. Lute captures the best of each of these artists rwith Westside1996. Lute defines himself in terms of his own personal success (see r"Success"), but it remains to be seen if he is able to capture the glory that has eluded his rpredecessors.
Cursive I Am Gemini3.0
fun. Some Nights3.0
David Crowder Band Give Us Rest4.0

2011
Knife Party 100% No Modern Talking4.0
M83 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming3.0
David Crowder Band Oh for Joy4.0
Of Monsters and Men My Head is an Animal4.5
Josh Garrels Love and War and The Sea In Between4.0
Friends Better Off Alone3.0
Battles Gloss Drop4.0
The Cars Move Like This3.0
Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues4.0
Paul Simon So Beautiful or So What3.0
The Mountain Goats All Eternals Deck1.0
The Joy Formidable The Big Roar3.5
Old Man Markley Guts N' Teeth3.0

2010
Woody Guthrie Bob Dylan's Woody Guthrie Selection3.0
Jason Aldean My Kinda Party3.5
Arcade Fire The Suburbs3.0
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals Grace Potter and The Nocturnals3.5
Liam the Younger Revel Hidden Worlds3.0
Blank Page Empire Sinners, Thieves, And Beggars3.0
The National High Violet3.5
Portugal. The Man American Ghetto3.0
Titus Andronicus The Monitor3.5
Johnny Cash American VI: Ain't No Grave4.5
Stoked Beyond Boredom Two Dudes and A Chick3.0
More Than Life Love Let Me Go3.0

2009
The Avett Brothers I and Love and You3.0
Brand New Daisy4.0
fun. Aim and Ignite3.0
The xx xx3.0
Owl City Ocean Eyes3.0
Regina Spektor Far4.5
Spektor offers the latest in the Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul series...
Manic Street Preachers Journal For Plague Lovers4.0
Bob Dylan Together Through Life3.0
Kidcrash Snacks4.0

2008
Cold War Kids Loyalty to Loyalty3.5
TV on the Radio Dear Science2.0
Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps Backyard Tent Set3.5
The Gaslight Anthem The '59 Sound4.5
Loma Prieta Last City3.0
The Avett Brothers The Second Gleam3.5
Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends4.0
Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes5.0
The National The Virginia EP4.0
Atmosphere When Life Gives You Lemons...4.0
Fleet Foxes Sun Giant4.0
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons4.0

2007
Gorillaz D-Sides3.0
Burial Untrue1.0
Coheed and Cambria No World for Tomorrow1.5
More of the same from a very worthy band... No World for Tomorrow sounds more like a video-game inspired comic book fantasy in a time when video games are becoming more and more plausible and agreeable. Video games on the radio.
Say Anything In Defense of the Genre2.5
Radiohead In Rainbows4.0
Radiohead's fourth attempt at electronica. Its first attempt at a would-be business model revolving around free music for everybody. In Rainbows is proof positive that Thom Yorke deserves the lion share of this band's success. Yorke is effervescent. Thom Yorke is to Radiohead as Chris Martin is to Coldplay. Radiohead has the sounds of the 31st century to Coldplay's infectious piano melodies. Radiohead or Coldplay is just a matter of preference. That last statement is a veiled compliment to Coldplay and a most ringing endorsement of In Rainbows.
Beirut The Flying Club Cup4.5
Iron And Wine The Shepherd's Dog2.0
Flashes of musical brilliance ("Carousel" "House by the Sea" and "The Devil Never Sleeps") punctuate a poor lyrically written folk album.
David Crowder Band Remedy4.5
The New Pornographers Challengers3.5
Trampled By Turtles Trouble5.0
"Salvation" "Who's Calling?" "Rich/Poor" and "Trouble" showcase Dave Simonett's excellent abilities as a song-writer and front-man for a contemporary blugrass band from Duluth, MN. The band features a mandolin, guitar, bass, fiddle, and banjo. What sets Trampled by Turtles from a lot of other bluegrass acts is the way in which the fiddle/violin creates an atmosphere around the music at the slower tempos that also characterize Trampled by Turtles' music. Dave Simonett's melodies run well with the blugrass format, even though a lot of his songs are good enough to stand alone without the backing of additional stringed instruments.
Charles Mingus Cornell 1964 with Eric Dolphy3.5
Justice †4.0
Show me another debut album with no lyrics, no conventional artistic direction, and no commercial target audience that was as successful as Justice's debut, and I will show you a classic album.
Kidcrash Jokes4.0
The type of album that makes you believe that genuine artistic expression is possible through commercial enterprise. blah listen to this, idiotz
Against Me! New Wave5.0
Against Me!'s New Wave is a little bit like Dylan going electric. You lost a lot of the BS rhetoric, smoke and mirrors etc. to be replaced only with conventional rock wisdoms (and instruments). Rock on!
Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago5.0
Sir Richard Bishop While My Guitar Violently Bleeds3.5
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Se Dice Bisonte, No Búfalo2.5
The National Boxer5.0
The Fall of Troy Manipulator2.0
Feist The Reminder4.0
Nine Inch Nails Year Zero1.5
Porcupine Tree Fear of a Blank Planet3.0
Arcade Fire Neon Bible3.0
Hot Cross Risk Revival4.5
Hot Cross is like the cigarette after a love affair with CTTS.
Explosions in the Sky All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone3.0
Matt Nathanson Some Mad Hope3.0

2006
Tom Waits Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards3.0
Tenacious D The Pick of Destiny3.5
The Decemberists The Crane Wife3.5
mewithoutYou Brother, Sister4.5
TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain1.5
A handful of gems isn't enough to save TV On the Radio from themselves. The band seemingly struggles with constructing the most melodies, etc. Songs lack any sorts of real catchiness. There's a BIG difference between being indie and sucking, and the band has confused the two, once again. Dear Science is preferable to this one, as it stands as a nice course correction.
Yo La Tengo I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass2.5
The Mars Volta Amputechture3.5
The Mars Volta expanded their musical repertoire. How did this happen? With continued experimentation, but more precisely, I think, by admonishing artistic direction to the sessions musicians. Amputechture represents a significant epoche for the Mars Volta as the band moves out of the musical wilderness, away from kitsch of At the Drive-In and earlier TMV, into the territory of other progressive rock outfits, even surpassing progressive rock giants, like Rush, in creativity and popularity. Is the Mars Volta this generation's Pink Floyd?
Audioslave Revelations3.0
Silversun Pickups Carnavas4.0
Silversun Pickups reveals the power of the Smashing Pumpkins, sans the angst. Carnavas is more of a renovation of Smashing Pumpkins than a remake, if that makes any sense. If it doesn't make sense to you, then you should give this one a spin or two.
Underoath Define the Great Line4.0
Regina Spektor Begin To Hope3.5
This Will Destroy You Young Mountain1.5
AFI Decemberunderground3.5
The Wreckers Stand Still, Look Pretty3.0
Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium4.0
Beirut Gulag Orkestar4.0
The Flaming Lips At War with the Mystics3.0
An improvement over Yoshimi four years in the making...
State Radio Us Against the Crown3.5
Soundtrack (Film) Silent Hill The Movie Soundtrack2.5

2005
Queens of the Stone Age Over the Years and Through the Woods4.0
Wolfmother Wolfmother1.0
Johnny Cash The Legend of Johnny Cash4.0
Audioslave Live in Cuba3.5
Blackalicious The Craft3.5
The Fray How to Save a Life4.0
Minus the Bear Menos El Oso2.0
The Fall of Troy Doppelganger4.0
The Number Twelve Looks Like You Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear.3.0
Foo Fighters In Your Honor3.0
Kidcrash I Haven't Had A Date In 4 Years EP3.0
The Soviettes LP III3.5
Gorillaz Demon Days1.0
A major disappointment, give me any songs off of their original over this drivel. It sounds like this is merely the songs that didn't make it onto their first LP. Gone is the bold eclecticism and creativity in song writing (I wish my brother George was here, alas no searing Del tha funkee homosapien part), replaced with generic pop. Little in the way of hip hop, punk and other genres that sounded so good from their first LP.
Audioslave Out of Exile3.5
Nine Inch Nails With Teeth4.5
The National Alligator4.0
Queens of the Stone Age Lullabies to Paralyze3.0
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Horses in the Sky3.0
Daft Punk Human After All3.0
Firewind Forged by Fire3.0
The Mars Volta Frances the Mute5.0
Challenging, intriguing, thematic, breathtaking, limitless. Few will remember it, far fewer will revere it as I do. A glimpse of an The Mars Volta that is both progressive and conceptual.
LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem1.5

2004
Kidcrash New Ruins4.0
Tom Waits Real Gone4.5
Elvis Costello The Delivery Man3.0
Green Day American Idiot4.0
Arcade Fire Funeral3.0
Regina Spektor Soviet Kitsch5.0
Regina Spektor is one of the few artists that truly inspires -- whether it be inspiration for hope (as in "Chemo Limo") or love (as in "Us"). Spektor is beyond pale in the tracks listed, but she stumbles elsewhere on this album, which may adversely affect some listener's interpretations of this album. Spektor plays music on the piano, but she writes her music for the soul. For me this record is excellent but it is without a legitimate comparison.
Say Anything ...Is a Real Boy4.5
I think Blink-182 wrote this album sometime before Say Anything, but Say Anything didn't nearly sell as many records or garnish as much in the way of pre-teen accolades. Well, there are a lot of post-teens who latched onto this one, and surely haven't let go since... ...Is A Real Boy is a real five.
The National Cherry Tree3.0
Metallica Some Kind of Monster3.0
Dungen Ta Det Lugnt2.5
Velvet Revolver Contraband4.0
Madvillain Madvillainy3.5
Circle Takes the Square As the Roots Undo5.0
The As the Roots Undo motif saves this album. Lose that, and it's nothing save mediocre. The
deliberate use of ambiance greatly enhances the extended screams.
Probot Probot2.5

2003
Rage Against the Machine Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium3.0
Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits3.5
Bob Seger Greatest Hits, Volume 23.0
Explosions in the Sky The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place4.0
The Unicorns Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?3.5
Jet Get Born3.5
Hard-dicked rock and roll... if this album is lost on you, then I apologize. Such a fun album
David Crowder Band Illuminate4.0
The National Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers4.0
Thrice The Artist in the Ambulance4.0
The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium3.5
At the Drive-In/The Mars Volta were joined by this and Relationship of Command... the two are continuous. ROC contains the science fiction aspects necessary for the creation of the Mars Volta, but it lacks the changes that characterize the Mars Volta and progressive rock in general. The changes that were added to the music of At the Drive-In resulted in the Mars Volta, a progressive rock outfit. Chief among the changes that were added are quiet/loud, time signature switches, and the addition of instruments plus effects. The volta
Arcade Fire The Arcade Fire3.0
Radiohead Hail to the Thief3.5
Metallica St. Anger2.5
Hot Cross Cryonics4.0
Just a perversity of the sound of wayward youths reading Vonnegut in a coffee shop near Portland... nothing is beautiful and everything hurt. A very dark album that warrants numerous careful listens.
Yo La Tengo Summer Sun3.0
Yo La Tengo will be remembered for their successes -- their bold song-writing, alternative
eclecticism, and superb melodies -- in addition to their obvious failures. Summer Sun with
its incredible atmospheres and failed experimentation not to mention a lack of commercial
success, certainly, fits this narrative. Summer Sun shines like the New Jersey summer sun
shines. It is atmospheric and elegant but fleeting.
AFI Sing the Sorrow4.5
A polished effort from a band that has demonstrated superlative abilities. AFI is definitely the cream of whatever crop they are currently in. This LP represents a break from their previous efforts in that they are less hardcore/punk and more rock oriented. AFI is continually growing in new and different directions as they progress as a band and as individuals. Very happy to have had the privilege of listening to this band over the years.
Cursive The Ugly Organ3.5
Ozzy Osbourne The Essential Ozzy Osbourne4.0
Off Minor The Heat Death of the Universe3.0
Switchfoot The Beautiful Letdown3.5

2002
Tego Calderon El Abarllade3.5
Audioslave Audioslave5.0
I was 12 and it changed the way I perceived the guitar. Morello integrates the best of electronic and rock music to create quite a guitar confection. Cornell's lyrics are outstanding as he deals with various themes.
Johnny Cash American IV: The Man Comes Around4.0
Nirvana Nirvana4.0
Black Sabbath Symptom of the Universe3.0
Foo Fighters One by One3.5
Broken Social Scene You Forgot It in People4.5
Probably the weirdest album I have ever listened to. A way of looking through the wrong end of the looking glass... probably the last recommendation you take from me on accounts of the strangeness of this group. Granted, they're from Canadia
Chevelle Wonder What's Next2.0
Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf3.5
The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots4.0
Wait, chicken noodle soup can be condensed? The Flaming Lips are song writers, and here they are writing more concise songs. A good thing to listen to.
mewithoutYou A to B: Life3.0
Howie Day Australia3.5
Atmosphere God Loves Ugly5.0
The Decemberists Castaways and Cutouts4.0
Eminem The Eminem Show1.5
Tom Waits Blood Money3.0
Tom Waits Alice4.0
Against Me! Reinventing Axl Rose3.0
Led Zeppelin Early Days/Latter Days4.0
The Mars Volta Tremulant4.5
Gorillaz G-Sides3.0
Thrice The Illusion of Safety4.0
Citizen Cope Citzen Cope3.5
Yo La Tengo The Sounds Of The Sounds Of Science3.5
Regina Spektor Songs4.0

2001
Pink Floyd Echoes4.0
The National The National3.0
The Bambi Molesters Sonic Bullets: 13 from the Hip3.0
Tenacious D Tenacious D4.0
Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot4.5
Aesop Rock Labor Days4.5
P.O.D. Satellite3.0
Converge Jane Doe2.0
Converge's Jane Doe is a masterpiece in the metal/hardcore genre. From its brutal outset ("Concubine") to its towering finish ("Jane Doe"), Converge's precise instrumentation is an excellent example of how changes in tempo and tonality can be used to create both intense and emotional songs. Vocalist Jacob Bannon's variegated delivery ranges from a superbly chaotic "scream" to a choice disharmonious groan, bringing the music to life. Jane Doe might as well not have any lyrics (it does), because Converge is one seething mass of sound on this, the band's magnum opus.
John Coltrane The Very Best Of John Coltrane4.5
Combining many different elements of traditional Jazz as well as a few of his own, John Coltrane's instrumental performance and band leadership ensured him a place among the genre's elites -- Coleman, Rollins and Davis, to name three. Like Rollins, Coltrane played the saxophone, but unlike Rollins, Coltrane's style incorporated avant-garde "atonal" elements as well as tradition tonal flourishes. Coltrane was an avant-garde innovator alongside Coleman during the period in which these recordings are taken. A consummate virtuoso throughout his career, Coltrane was at his best when he and his band were melodious in addition to virtuous. Like Davis, Coltrane had a way with melody. The Very Best of John Coltrane is Coltrane at this best, melodious and virtuous. The influence of Rollins and Davis are felt, but this compilation is classic Coltrane. Classic. Duh.
Prince The Very Best of Prince2.0
Regina Spektor 11:113.0
Saetia A Retrospective4.0
Gorillaz Gorillaz5.0
I will always remember Gorillaz self-titled as being a great amalgamation of popular music.
Seven Mary Three The Economy Of Sound3.0
Puddle of Mudd Come Clean3.5
In a sense, Come Clean is a portrait of Wesley Scantlin's learning the hard lessons in life, the ones encountered in the transition from a boy to a man. Three singles "Control" "Blurry" and "She Hates Me" in addition to numerous likely singles. I bought this record over 10 years ago. Still a 5-star rock record. Radio rock done properly.
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra Born Into Trouble As the Sparks Fly Upward4.0
Fugazi The Argument4.5
In an effort to save their genre from the clutches of meeker bands, fugazi released The Argument -- a polished composition entailing topical songs, complex time signatures, and production that finally matched the post-hardcore band's superlative abilities. Call it fugazi's first studio album. Previously, fugazi was a live band. The Argument is the torch that fugazi has passed to the next great post-hardcore band, lest the meek inherit punk rock.

2000
Kyuss Muchas Gracias: The Best of Kyuss3.5
Aesop Rock Float4.5
Lifehouse No Name Face3.5
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven4.0
Linkin Park Hybrid Theory3.0
Radiohead Kid A3.0
AFI The Art of Drowning5.0
One of the better hardcore punk LPs of all time. Punk with feeling. If I said everything there is to say about this album, then you would miss the fun of listening! :,-*
At the Drive-In Relationship of Command4.0
At the Drive-In, we hardly knew ye! No one knows what this band was all about, same goes for the Mars Volta. A punk-infused vehicle for Cedric Bixler-Zavala's bouts of sporadic insanity as well as his twisted genius. A truly great live band and a solid studio band, Relationship of Command is At the Drive-In's most polished effort. Less punk, yes. More electric piano, yes. Yes yes yes! Shades of the Mars Volta's science fiction streak-to-come are present here, with the most notable example being the haunting, melodious, and (frankly) most memorable "Quarantined."
Cursive Domestica3.0
Difficult to rate this highly, given its angularity and brashness. Domestica is home-grown hardcore. Certainly, it is a bold statement of punk angst from a typically very docile indie rock band. The production is impressive, but the lyrical direction is conceptual, similar to Converge's Jane Doe.
Deftones White Pony3.5
Queens of the Stone Age Rated R4.0
Kid Rock The History of Rock1.5
Billy Bragg and Wilco Mermaid Avenue, Vol. 23.0
Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP1.5
King Crimson The ConstruKction of Light3.0
Limp Bizkit Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water1.0
mewithoutYou Blood Enough For Us All1.0
mewithoutYou sounds more like Slayer than the Christian mewithoutYou we have come to love and respect.
Explosions in the Sky How Strange, Innocence3.5
Deltron 3030 Deltron 30303.5
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our 5.0
He Has Left Us... is an album without time signatures. What does that sound like? Well, He Has Left Us... ebbs and flows as if time didn't exist; twenty minutes passes as if they were two. A Godspeed You! Black Emperor derivative, A Silver Mt. Zion plays post-rock whereas the later Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra is more noise rock/folk. The spirit of destructive beauty that characterizes Godspeed You! Black Emperor is still alive in the earlier works of A Silver Mt. Zion.

1999
Dr. Dre 20014.0
Creed Human Clay3.0
Nine Inch Nails The Fragile2.0
My Morning Jacket The Tennessee Fire2.0
Smash Mouth Astro Lounge3.0
blink-182 Enema Of The State2.0
A crude exhibition of pre-teen life values. Music for yesteryear
Tom Waits Mule Variations4.5
Mogwai Come On Die Young3.5
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada3.0
AFI All Hallow's E.P.4.0
Rage Against the Machine The Battle of Los Angeles2.0
Anti-Flag A New Kind of Army3.5

1998
Silver Jews American Water3.5
The Moody Blues Anthology4.0
Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age4.5
Kid Rock Devil Without a Cause3.0
At the Drive-In In/Casino/Out4.0
Massive Attack Mezzanine2.0
A very deep album that urges careful consideration and pulls the listener in, if it is given time
Tortoise TNT2.0
Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea5.0
An existential meditation if I ever heard one. The persona behind these sordid melodies quietly exited the stage after experiencing somewhat of a personal meltdown. Musically, this is just the same old (same old) pop song that has always been written for broad audiences. That partly explains this album's far-ranging appeal. What's different about In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the honesty with which the music here has been constructed... a man honest with himself and with others through his music, many have taken a strange delight in the candidness, the sorrow, the joy, etc. that is present in what is surely one of the biggest surprise successes of recent times.
Converge Caring and Killing1.5

1997
Modest Mouse The Lonesome Crowded West4.5
Soundgarden A-Sides3.5
Green Day Nimrod2.0
At the Drive-In El Gran Orgo3.5
Jimi Hendrix Experience Hendrix: The Best of Hendrix2.5
Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞3.5
A friend asked me once, "what is post-rock?" My reply, "post-rock is the soundtrack to the end of the world." If the end of the world is anything like F#A#?, then my friend and I will have so much to look forward to.
Israel Vibration Ras Portraits5.0
Radiohead OK Computer3.5
Foo Fighters The Colour and the Shape3.5
Yo La Tengo I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One4.5
Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind4.0
The Guess Who These Eyes: The Ultimate Collection3.5

1996
Metallica Load3.0
DJ Shadow Endtroducing.....5.0
There are very few albums deemed "essential" that truly deserve the hyperbolic praise that they receive. That's the little pulseczar in me that is speaking right there. Unfortunately, this is one of those that does. This album is a cut above many of the albums that I have listed as 5. A clear alternative to most music that is out there no matter what the year is...
Converge Petitioning the Empty Sky3.0
Portraits Of Past 010101013.0
At the Drive-In Acrobatic Tenement4.0

1995
Ozzy Osbourne Ozzmosis3.5
No Doubt Tragic Kingdom3.0
Anti-Flag Die For the Government3.5
Frank Zappa Strictly Commercial3.0
Kyuss ...And the Circus Leaves Town4.0
Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill4.0
Huge nostalgia factor... everyone from the 90s had this album. I just wish every generation each had their Jagged Little Pill in which people with different tastes can coalesce around a single piece of humanity.
The Jayhawks Tomorrow the Green Grass3.0
Fugazi Red Medicine4.0

1994
Bob Seger Greatest Hits3.5
Kyuss Welcome to Sky Valley3.5
Van Morrison A Night in San Francisco3.0
Nas Illmatic4.0
Hardened thug or just Nas? The beauty of art is that we can present what we want to the rest of the world. Nas presents the former face instead of the face of Nasir Jones, who is pictured on the front of this album.
Milla Jovovich The Divine Comedy3.0
Soundgarden Superunknown3.0
Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral3.5
Green Day Dookie4.0

1993
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits3.0
Wu-Tang Clan Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)4.5
Fugazi In on the Kill Taker3.0
Radiohead Pablo Honey1.5
Blues Traveler Save His Soul4.0

1992
Dr. Dre The Chronic3.0
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine3.0
AC/DC Live3.5
R.E.M. Automatic for the People2.0
Tom Waits Bone Machine3.5
Imagine an adolescent Tom Waits sitting in the basement recording songs with a handful of instruments late at night while his parents argue loudly upstairs and you have Bone Machine, a stripped-down collection of disparate musical ideas. Just the bones please.
Kyuss Blues for the Red Sun2.5
Tori Amos Little Earthquakes1.5

1991
Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik2.5
Nirvana Nevermind3.0
Pearl Jam Ten3.5
Metallica Metallica2.0
Massive Attack Blue Lines4.5
The Allman Brothers Band Shades of Two Worlds3.0
Kyuss Wretch3.0
Ozzy Osbourne No More Tears3.0

1990
Yo La Tengo Fakebook4.0
Minor Threat Complete Discography3.5
Ween GodWeenSatan: The Oneness1.0
For better or worse, in success and failures, Ween will never be able to live this one down...
Kyuss Sons of Kyuss3.0
Fugazi Repeater4.0

1989
Neil Young Freedom3.0
Nirvana Bleach3.5
The Offspring The Offspring3.0
The Cure Disintegration3.0
Fugazi 13 Songs4.5

1988
Sonic Youth Daydream Nation2.0
Metallica ...And Justice for All3.5
Slayer South of Heaven3.5

1987
Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction3.0
The Smiths Louder Than Bombs3.5

1986
Slayer Reign in Blood3.5
Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet4.0
Metallica Master of Puppets3.0

1985
Tom Waits Rain Dogs2.0
Husker Du New Day Rising2.0

1984
The Smiths Hatful of Hollow4.5
Metallica Ride the Lightning3.5
Bruce Springsteen Born in the U.S.A.4.0
Bob Marley and The Wailers Legend3.5
Husker Du Zen Arcade3.0

1983
Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones4.5
Black Sabbath Born Again3.0
Metallica Kill 'Em All3.5
The songs that were written and recorded with the least production value have come to be my favorite Metallica songs. Thrash didn't live up to what many thought it could be, and many will hold Kill 'Em All up as the example of this... what's good here is too numerous to list. Basically, the thematic elements here are intrinsic, and I see many of Metallica's later attempts, e.g. Master of Puppets, as trying to recapture what was present here on their first LP. It's true that we probably wouldn't remember this album without the Black Album or even ...And Justice for All, but I revere this all the same. Ride the Lightning is essentially a polished Kill 'Em All, and Master of Puppets is Metallica's shadow of itself, a memory of itself. Metallica was meant to have a metal militia to march to their defense (fanboys mostly) it seems.
Black Flag The First Four Years3.5

1982
Led Zeppelin Coda4.0
Tom Waits One From The Heart4.5

1981
AC/DC For Those About To Rock We Salute You3.0
Black Sabbath Mob Rules4.0
Rush Moving Pictures3.5
Phil Collins Face Value3.0

1980
Talking Heads Remain in Light4.0
Lucinda Williams Happy Woman Blues3.0
AC/DC Back In Black3.0
Proudly displayed at the top of my ratings. Consider the freak flag flown. AC/DC never really wrote songs for anyone but themselves anyways. No explanation of this album is necessary in light of the following: you have heard AC/DC already.
Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell3.0
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden4.5
Rush Permanent Waves4.5

1979
Led Zeppelin In Through the Out Door2.0
AC/DC Highway To Hell3.0

1978
AC/DC Powerage3.5
Boston Don't Look Back3.0
Warren Zevon Excitable Boy3.5

1977
Tom Waits Foreign Affairs3.5
Styx The Grand Illusion3.5
Television Marquee Moon4.0
Fleetwood Mac Rumours5.0

1976
Boston Boston4.0
Boston does hard-rock like it has never been done before, with their smashing debut... at times, the message surpasses the superb delivery, as "Peace of Mind" showcases. Unfortunately, the band's stellar musical performance was not matched by the song-writing ability of the band, but then again, people listen to hard-rock to enjoy the music, not the message.
Led Zeppelin Presence2.5
Led Zeppelin's mediocre was still better than everyone else's best. Jimmy Page said it best. That was the 70s. Now we know about Page's plagiarism. For those who loved Led Zeppelin, it was the ultimate betrayal. For many, their love turned into hate, respite for one of the greatest hard rock bands of all time. In 2011, the song remains the same, but the memory of Led Zeppelin is tarnished.
Peter Frampton Frampton Comes Alive!3.5
Bob Dylan Desire5.0
Bob Dylan, the full palette of human emotions, and a complete acoustic ensemble? Robert, you betcha!
Tom Waits Small Change4.0

1975
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here4.5
Progressive rock albums are really hit or miss... this is a hit, but it's not the sensational sort of hit that really gets a progressive rock fan like me excited. But it does resemble other progressive rock albums, and yet it's far more accessible than those, not just because it's Pink Floyd, but because this band, more than other bands, has a way of meeting you where you are, wherever that may be.
Black Sabbath Sabotage4.0
Rush Fly by Night3.5
Eagles Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975)4.0
Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks3.0
Bruce Springsteen Born to Run4.0

1974
King Crimson Red4.0
Frank Zappa Apostrophe4.0
Bad Company Bad Company3.5
Rush Rush4.0

1973
Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath4.5
Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road4.0
Lynyrd Skynyrd Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd4.0
Lynyrd Skynyrd become an icon after releasing this LP, featuring "Simple Man" "Freebird" and "Tuesday's Gone."
Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy3.5
Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon5.0
Choice is the word that comes to mind. Every note has been carefully placed, every drum fill, so on and so forth. Emotive yet elegant, emotions are important element of its appeal. One of the better produced albums ever, credit to Alan Parsons. Many of the songs on here are simple. Its simplicity is a testament to its genius. Dark Side of the Moon is simultaneously insanity and genius.

1972
Black Sabbath Vol. 42.5
Neil Young Harvest5.0

1971
Yes Fragile2.0
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV3.5
This album deserves a full length review, but for me, it comes down to this album's most famous inhabitant. "Stairway to Heaven" epitomizes a rock song for me. Simple, sweet instrumentation transitioning into still simple yet heavy blue-zy instrumentation. Lyrically, SOH is elusive, and its true meaning will forever escape me, though it is more than mildly suggestive of larger themes, and it is frequently taken as an simple yet direct allusion to mysticism. (Personally, I don't subscribe to this interpretation, although I acknowledge these elements in the music.) "Stairway to Heaven" makes this a classic album in-and-of-itself, but there are numerous timeless songs, the ones that stick in your craw. Led Zeppelin IV or Zoso is essential.
Black Sabbath Master of Reality3.5
Carole King Tapestry3.0

1970
Gentle Giant Gentle Giant3.0
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III3.0
Black Sabbath Paranoid5.0
A very important album for metal. After their original LP, Black Sabbath was able to demonstrate the viability of the spawn which was created with Sabbath's original LP. Iron Man is as compelling to the 14 year old on guitar hero as War Pigs / Luke's Wall is to the wise radio disc jockey and/or the student of the electric guitar. The metal song was more versatile than it originally appeared... it could be simple and direct, but it should always be powerful. Sabbath speaks and many listened! So many metal fans... they can't all be wrong, can they?
Neil Young After the Gold Rush4.0
Grand Funk Railroad Closer To Home3.5
Miles Davis Bitches Brew2.0
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Deja Vu3.5
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath3.5
Start of the metal. Sabbath was listening to other bands, but they were in a league of their own.
Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water3.5

1969
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II3.0
King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King2.0
The Beatles Abbey Road4.0
The Who Tommy2.5
Neil Young Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere4.0
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin4.0
Frank Zappa Hot Rats2.5

1968
The Beatles The Beatles4.5
The White Album is the gold standard for classic albums.
Van Morrison Astral Weeks3.0

1967
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band3.5
The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground & Nico3.5
Bob Dylan John Wesley Harding2.0

1966
Simon and Garfunkel Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme3.5
The Beatles Revolver2.5
Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde2.0
The sound is there. The style is there. The sexiness is there. The song-writer went missing.

1965
Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited2.5
John Coltrane A Love Supreme4.0

1964
Bob Dylan The Times They Are A-Changin'4.5
A man and a guitar against the world. Dylan's melodies on The Times They Are A-Changin' were the great equalizer. Haunting, in that they are difficult to escape once you have heard them. Dylan's American nightmare is meant is ominous, truly haunting...

1963
Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan4.5
1961
John Coltrane My Favorite Things5.0

1960
Miles Davis Sketches of Spain3.5

1959
Miles Davis Kind of Blue4.5

1958
John Coltrane Blue Train4.5

1957
Miles Davis Birth of the Cool3.5
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