Considering this album turns 30 years old this year, it still feels completely timeless. It’s been over 25 years since I last heard it, but revisiting it felt like hearing it for the first time again, and I had completely forgotten how many great tracks were on here. I love how it balances raw, gritty turntablism and hip hop elements with the smoother, more soothing textures of trip hop and downtempo.

Overall, I really enjoyed this album, and I honestly wish there were more modern music like this. It sits in the synthpop lane, but with a more alternative electronic edge. There are also touches of darkwave, though not enough to fully commit to a goth sound.

I’m curious what people thought about this album when it first came out, especially since it goes in a different direction from their earlier work. This album leans more into a sun drenched neo psychedelic and pastoral folk rock sound. The guitars are more textural and atmospheric rather than jangly and riff driven like their older material.

The keyboards and synths play a major role and really give the album its dreamy, colorful atmosphere. In a way, it could also be described as ... read more

So far, this is probably the best Kings of Leon album I’ve heard. Songs like “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” have been played so many times over the years that I honestly wouldn’t complain if I never heard them again.

This album also drops the gritty, Southern blues rock sound of their earlier work and leans into a much more commercial, polished, and arena ready style. In this case, I actually think that shift worked in their favor, because this is still ... read more

I actually got this album through the generator, but instead of listening to Mott, I accidentally listened to the album after it, The Hoople, which I really didn’t enjoy. Then I realized I listened to the wrong album and had to go through the pain of checking out another album from these guys.

I can’t say I loved this one either, but it was definitely better than The Hoople. This album feels more balanced across the board when it comes to their grandiose, theatrical glam rock, and ... read more

I don’t know if it’s the band themselves or just the combination of elements in their music, but this album pretty much represents everything I don’t like about early 70s glam rock. It’s very theatrical and grandiose, with that big “get up and boogie” rock ’n’ roll energy, but it’s just not my thing. There were some good moments, but overall, the sound and vibe this album represents is something I don’t really connect with or enjoy.

I’m definitely not much of a Kings of Leon fan, but this is one of their better albums. That said, it’s still not good enough for me to ever plan on coming back to it. This album leans more heavily into a Southern blues style of the garage rock revival that was blowing up in the early 2000s, which at least gives it more character than a lot of their later material.

This is another album I’ve always been hesitant to listen to. Once the Black Album came out, it marked a new era of Metallica that I never really cared much for. On top of that, it’s a live album, which I usually avoid, and not just that, but a live album from a sold out metal band with a symphony. If that doesn’t sound like shaking the money tree for a cash grab, I don’t know what does.

That said, once I put all of that aside, it actually turned out to be a pretty ... read more

For anyone who enjoys lo-fi indie rock with a raw, sloppy, and unpolished sound, this album will hit the spot. It’s similar to Pavement, but much more stripped down, with a rough, basement recorded feel. At 40 minutes long with 28 tracks, everything is short, punchy, and straight to the point. The whole album feels like a collage of fragmented sketches stitched together, and it carries a playful, nostalgic vibe that really takes you back to the 90s.

I’ve known about Roni Size since the late 90s, and “Brown Paper Bag” will always be a classic. I tend to enjoy his music more as background listening, though. When I’m actively sitting down and focusing on it, the tracks often feel stretched out, relying on minor and subtle changes for long periods of time. After a while, I find myself getting bored.

It’s not a bad new wave album, but personally, I’m just not that crazy about Annie Lennox as a vocalist or the kind of energy she brings to the band.

If there’s one band that truly fits the definition of rocking out with your cock out, and absolutely no holding back, it’s Motörhead. This is definitely a classic album from them, but what I’ve always liked about Motörhead is how they’ve always stayed in their own lane. It’s hard to pin them down as strictly heavy metal, hard rock, or punk. Instead, they captured that collision point where all of those genres overlap, and that became the Motörhead ... read more

Peter Hammill’s vocals are still very theatrical, but this album is definitely darker than what I remember Van der Graaf Generator sounding like. I’ve listened to a few of their other albums before, and honestly, I probably need to go back and revisit them. From what I remember, most of what I’d heard in the past usually landed around a 60 percent for being middle of the road. This one, I give 75 percent. It resonates with me more than the other Van der Graaf Generator albums ... read more

This is one of those albums I wish I could go back in a time machine and experience when it was first released. It’s one of the early examples where multiple styles were evolving in the early 70s. You can hear early progressive rock and early heavy metal blending together, all wrapped into one album.

I thought this album was pretty good, and it felt much different from the other Ultravox albums I’ve heard. Since it was recorded mostly in Germany, you can really hear the influence of European electronic music, along with krautrock and post-punk. The synths and electronic elements are the dominant force, while the guitars are used mostly for atmosphere. The entire album feels emotionally detached, cold, and mechanical, but it also has that timeless quality where you can tell it was ... read more

This was a good album, but at first I was a bit on the fence about it. The main element I had trouble connecting with was the vocal delivery, which initially sounded to me like something you’d hear from a more radio friendly post hardcore or emo band. Eventually it clicked, though, and I realized it actually pairs with the music pretty well.

Overall, I’d say this album strikes an even balance between synthwave, prog metal, and post hardcore. I especially enjoyed the synth and ... read more

This was a cool album from Tindersticks, and it was the last one I needed to hear to complete their discography, which is now officially done. This release felt unique because while it still carries their chamber pop aesthetic, it leans much more into atmospheric and electronically driven territory. Some parts reflect their more traditional baroque pop sound, while other sections drift more into ambient territory. Overall, they definitely ventured a bit outside their usual comfort zone on this ... read more

This album had some parts that were pretty enjoyable, but for the most part it’s just not my cup of tea. It has a raw and gritty edge, but in this case, not in a good way. The entire time I was listening to it, I kept picturing homeless hippies living in a desert commune where no one’s taken a shower in who knows how long. The whole place smells like patchouli oil and body odor. No thanks.

This was my first time listening to this album, and it ended up being better than I expected. The Sisters of Mercy have always had the reputation of being a classic goth band, but this album leans much more toward synth driven darkwave. Because of that, this has easily become my favorite Sisters of Mercy album so far.

This album is The Seeds going fully into the psychedelic realm. They started out as a garage rock band, but this record really documents how quickly the psychedelic movement came in and swept up everything that already existed. This album moves into more experimental, studio driven territory, incorporating keyboards, fuzz drenched guitars, vocal harmonies, and psychedelic effects. It captures a transitional moment in mid 60s rock, when bands were fusing garage rock with psychedelia, layering in ... read more