Many people think of this untitled album as the quintessential hard rock album, and I think it is. The band masters the formula to create such an amazing piece of accessible art with their fourth album. The weird thing is that this album has no name, no words on the entire cover, no giant letters that say "Led Zeppelin" on it; they just let the art speak for itself. Instead of using an actual studio, the band recorded in hallways and staircases to get that natural and raw reverb that ... read more

Tiny Dancer is one of those songs that makes you just love music. The build, the lyrics, singing, orchestration, it's just perfect. Speaking of the orchestration, it is phenomenal and easily the best part of this album. The lyrics did get worse as the album goes on, but it sounds great. This is a big difference from Elton's last project, and he does both of these styles in a great way. The Americana mythos created on their last one is completely void from this album. This album looks ... read more

Ehhhhhh......... This is the first time I was just bored throughout most of a Bruno Album. There wasn't anything truly bad, and obviously nothing great. I do hear some Latin influences, but why wouldn't I just go listen to the people that do that sound way better.

The technical playing on this record is bonkers. I had zero clue that this album existed, and the only thing that drew my attention was the combination of Jazz, Rock, and Prog. I was blown away from the beginning, and for an instrumental rock album, it keeps your attention completely. John McLaughlin had been playing with Miles Davis, which you can totally hear on this record. The band plays with such speed and technical prowess that it's hard not to appreciate it.

After finishing this album with 'Echoes' and still giving this album a 90 is wild. This album was three perfect tracks to me, and on a six-song album that would normally net a higher score, but 'San Tropez' and especially 'Seamus' exist. I can deal with 'San Tropez' on a full listen, but why does this dog have to be shoved in there? Okay, that's my only negative thing to say about this album.

This is THE Pink Floyd we all know and love. Yes, their ... read more

The Gorillaz are officially back, and with one of their best albums in a long time. The Mountain sounds so fresh and new, with some amazing features that keeps each song sounding new. The Indian influence is such a cool idea that worked great, even though I wish some of the weaker tracks were cut out to condense the runtime.

I absolutely love all the blending of genres that the band did here. This is a step up from their debut in so many ways. You get that raw, unfiltered energy, but also the glamorous side of rock. There is also hints of progressive rock throughout that make this record stand out.

There are some good songs here, but nothing that surprised me. The instrumentation and vocals were good, but as the album went along, I was truly bored. The beginning of the album was much more engaging, with the better songs. I can respect the easy listening soft rock, but for me, there needs to be more.

Isaac Hayes just keeps on rolling out incredible records year after year. Hot Buttered Soul is one of my favorite albums of all time, and this is undoubtedly his second best. The only thing holding this beast of an album back is its length, coming in at over an hour and a half. His use of strings and funk is so perfect, and these long, thought-out songs are what made Hayes stand out. No one was doing anything like this in the soul genre except for him and Curtis Mayfield to some extent, ... read more

I found the slacker rock thing she has going on pretty cool and unique to her voice. The other side of that is that I don't like her voice mixed with the harsher instruments very much. Her very innocent and pure voice is immaculate with the softer singer-songwriter stuff, so I find myself very conflicted. There is some obviously great songwriting, but I don't know what she was thinking with the "Rules" chorus. Good follow-up to her last, but it doesn't match it in ... read more

Obviously, I liked this record, and I love the energy, but I don't see anything special in it, which is fine. Even though the record is short, I found myself wanting to move on from certain songs and replay others. I am going to get more familiar with Bob Ezrin (producer), as he will go on to produce some legendary records in the 1970s, and this is a pretty good start.

Another album I wanted to go back to for the famous "My Way," which is undoubtedly the standout. Some songs are good here and there, but since they are covers, I almost always like the original better. Frank will one-up this album pretty easily with Watertown the next year, and "I Would Be In Love" being my favorite Sinatra song, it makes sense.

I can't believe I missed this one on the first run through the 1960s. Obviously, "A Change Is Gonna Come" is on this album, but this was one of, if not the best, soul albums I listened to in the early 60s. Sam Cooke took a lot of inspiration from Bob Dylans politcal and outspoken tracks, and it changed the way black artists made music.

I wanted to come back and do this album for fun because 1971 is taking me about four months so far, but I also just watched the movie Stand By Me. Great movie, and the song is great too, but the album it's on is just okay. It might just be that I have been listening to a lot of newer albums with a lot more going on, but this album is missing something that would make it great. "Stand By Me" is one of the best songs ever, but it's hard to give any higher scores to the ... read more

Harry was a very admired musician in 1971, but he had received almost no critical success until this album came out. The Beatles even said he was one of their favorite American musicians. This album fuses rock, pop, humor, and depth, all into a very unique and inconsistent listen. "Without You" is the emotional peak of the album, but I couldn't help but keep coming back to "Jump Into the Fire."

I was not expecting to love this album. Even on casual listens, this felt like something I had to listen to, instead of something I wanted to listen to. I was starstruck when I sat down and truly enjoyed this album, especially when I read along with the English lyrics. I was very taken aback by some of the structures that Chico was able to write in. The obvious is "Construção", but "Deus Lhe Pague" is also brilliant. This album and this artist remind me of a ... read more

J. Cole is the reason why I started to really start to dig into rap in middle school, and I'm forever grateful for that. At one point in my life, I thought he was one of the greatest rappers ever, and while I definitely do not think that anymore, this is a pretty good ending to his story. This is a LONG album, and very hard to get through in one sitting. Some of the songs drag quite a bit, but I can't deny what he was able to accomplish here. His emotional peaks are higher than ever, ... read more

We get yet another rapper who has had all this hype for years, who, for me, has fallen off. Not that the artists themselves have fallen off, but the hype that was built up for so long isn't quite there for me anymore. This is something that I don't understand. If you are a young up-and-coming artist, why wait so long to release something so anticipated? This is just the album that I expected from Baby Keem, which isn't good or bad; it's just what it is. I do really enjoy ... read more

I was expecting more, especially after BRAT, but for a soundtrack, it isn't bad. I wish she dived into a more unique sound, but she can write incredibly catchy melodies. There is also a great use of strings and percussion, but there wasn't enough to wow me.

John Prine turned ordinary people's lives into incredible stories of survival and life. He does this so well because he was an ordinary man. He was a mailman in Chicago, writing poems as he walked from house to house. He was discovered by Kris Kristofferson while performing, and he recorded his debut album shortly after. He was outside the music industry, telling stories, not shaping them.