April 29: The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
(1982)

classic heavy metal, come on. this album is seriously epic. every instrument has its chance to shine on basically every song. powerful ass guitar. it’s their first album with the lovely bruce dickerson also, and what a range this guy has! it’s almost over the top how good it is. coupled with their very portrait-painting lyrics and we have a fantastic experience on our hands. “children of the damned” is insane. the ... read more

April 28: Exmilitary - Death Grips
(2011)

capping off pretentious guy week with the “freakiest shit you’ve ever heard.” this predates my only other experience with them, *the money store*, by a year—but it gives the same feeling. like my adrenaline's pumping a mile a second, and i have the urge to go shoot heroin in a public park with a dirty needle. industrial hip hop is just one of those, like you've never heard anything like this. "beware" opens ... read more

April 27: Summerteeth - Wilco
(1999)

i’ve been waiting for this ever since *yankee hotel foxtrot*. it’s apparently their first to go in an indie direction, and they do amazing things with it from the jump. it's cleaner than *being here* but less clean than what comes after, having a happy medium of that raw and ever-present americana flair to it. vaguely country music that isn't doing too much is gen one of my fav flavors of music. i think their use of keys, however ... read more

April 26: m b v - my bloody valentine
(2013)

their follow up album to *loveless* over 20 years later. the unfortunate part about them is that that album kinda went over my head on the first listen and i haven’t been back to it really since—but as far as i can tell, they seem like they haven’t lost it here. shoegaze that’ll rip you apart if you let it. i love guitar pedals! i love not hearing the people singing! the first third is its best act: the slow-quiet opener ... read more

April 25: Yanqui U.X.O. - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
(2002)

perhaps the biggest name in post rock excellence—this is my fourth from them, and notably they’ve dropped the field recording of their previous records and went with purely musical expression. they do the “meaning through music” thing a bit better than swans honestly. and the music they make is a lot less grating. that being said, i’ve said this before, it’s a bit hard to view this from a musically ... read more

April 24: Christopher Cross - Christopher Cross
(1979)

the first of only two people to ever win the big four in a single year—and he did it for a smooth as butter soft rock album. holy vocal virtuoso. it’s heat. each song is so nice on the ears! my favs were “i really don’t know anymore,” “ride like the wind” (guitar solo okay i see you), and of course, “sailing.” what a genuinely beautiful song, i can see why three of his grammys that year ... read more

April 23: Illusion - Soulstice
(2001)

happy bday @gorlic_bread! i had honestly never heard of this group, but i’m sad abt that now. they make deep, thick R&B with house and electronic drum touches. absolutely delicious! very much in the same vein as *breath from another* by esthero. boy do i love trip hop… kinda a similar aesthetic on the cover and everything. it melts into you and you melt into it without ever really losing your attention, aided by those vocals that feel like ... read more

April 22: To Be Kind - Swans
(2014)

ahhhh… here we are. this one has been a long time coming tbh, it’s been in my head since i got into music at the top of that accursed blue site. i didn’t much care for *soundtracks for the blind* so i kept swans in my head hoping that their other stuff would give me warmer feelings. this accomplishes that decently well—rather than being a straight up, drawn out experimental drone fest like *SFTB*, i found this to be a lot more ... read more

April 21: Ænima - TOOL
(1996)

second up on pretentious guy week is our metal offering. something, something, time signatures? honestly, i might get it, bc there is incredible musical skill all over this. in 2022 i was blown away by how pink floyd and their mid-career defined for little old me what rock music could sound like, and i get the vibe that what tool does to people with metal is very similar. a lot of the slow burn type songs aren’t my fav in the grand scheme, but ... read more

April 19: Madman Across The Water - Elton John
(1971)

some very solid piano rock from his early career—not much to say about it, or maybe i’m just not feeling creative tonight. his playing is great, his voice just as great. it doesn’t quite reach the heights of *honky château* and falls off considerably in its second half, but “tiny dancer” alone (and a couple others, i might seriously be more partial to the prog-coded title track… rick wakeman from ... read more

April 18: Rain Dogs - Tom Waits
(1985)

so the other day i was watching a stream (subscribe to squibquib) and asked the guys what their fav albums were, and one of them answered *swordfishtrombones* by tom waits. this isn't that, obviously, but he also said this, and i was like hey, that's as good a reason as any to finally scratch this one off the list. i've always heard that tom waits was a very unique artist. that's most apparent in his voice, deep, gravelly, almost ... read more

April 17: Shape to Form - Portico
(2005)

for friend rec friday we're going niche. a band with 114 monthly listeners as i write this review. like i had to add them to the website they're so small. beautifully emotional vocals in front of equal in description guitar/instrumentals. it's not exactly midwest emo, but carries a similar edge, albeit in a softer way. my biggest gripe would prob be that the sound of each song blended together a lot after a bit, but at least it's a ... read more

April 16: Ants From Up There - Black Country, New Road
(2022)

the time has come for me to at long last finish the AOTY top 50. and what a one to finish on, as i've heard it glazed to high heaven ever since i got into music to begin with! typically i'm not privy to post rock, i find it way too high brow and pretentious usually (this week is "music that would be recommended by a pretentious RYM user" and no i'm not kidding). but this for me is a cut above the GY!BEs and ... read more

April 15: World Is Yours - MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS
(2009)

J-rock is something i most *certainly* need to visit more often. very heavy instrumentals, with soft and quiet vocals, contrast to create a sound thats as beautiful as it is harrowing. this will fill you with energy immediately and it lingers even after it’s over. think midori if they were nice instead of batshit crazy—in any case, the sound and the feeling really make the album. the opener is electrifying, and the song ... read more

April 14: Adrenaline - Deftones
(1995)

one thing i’ve come to learn about metal even with the limited knowledge i have is that it can always get heavier. deftones’ first album is a lot different than all that would come after for that exact reason. it’s ten degrees more raw than *around the fur* and probably a hundred more than anything after 2010. i feel like i’m listening to *korn* (as in their self-titled). but that is FAR from a bad thing, as that makes this stand ... read more

April 13: Magic Christian Music - Badfinger
(1970)

i can not for the life of me remember how this ended up on my list but it’s been there for oh so long. i fw it though. it’s very beatlesque, chill pop rock (this sentence was written moments before i saw it was produced by paul mccartney), and there’s not much else to say! nothing insanely innovative, but it’s a nice enough time. i’m quite drawn by the dali-esque nature of this cover though.

Favs: come and get ... read more

April 12: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon
(2007)

and a cap off to garage rock revival week, slang for an excuse to listen to 2000s indie. a great way to end off too! every song is tight, catchy, beautifully played, and electric on the ears. and seriously i mean every song… not only is the album well made, it’s insanely consistent. and for that i have nothing but praise. if i had to choose, check out the opener, “don’t you evah” and “finer feelings.” i love ... read more

April 11: Hot Space - Queen
(1982)

queen doing a disco and new wave-inspired record is exactly what you might think: not it. honestly, it’s far from horrible, just way out of their element. i particularly enjoy all this bass going on, shout out john deacon because this is really his album to shine, but taking it song by song, there’s little to write home about after the first three songs (and “cool cat,” which is aptly very cool). of course, “under pressure” ... read more

April 10: THIS IS FOR - TWICE
(2025)

in honor of a couple of my friends going to a twice concert tonight, i thought it would be nice to build my repertoire a bit more (thanks to @lavvenderr for the rec). is it just me not remembering or is this more clubby than some of their other stuff? maybe i just notice the bass a bit more, but either way, hell yeah. extremely danceable. the opener “four” is honestly very sick and i love the vibe it sets and i hate that sound is relegated to a ... read more

April 8: You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine - Death From Above 1979
(2004)

gotta love the random AOTY pull. this one intrigued me as it was listed as dance punk, and any real ones know LCD soundsystem is in my top 3 bands. so you know i had to see if there was more out there. it’s actually not like them at all—i mean this is 2000s rock week so what did i expect, but whatever. though, this is kinda what i imagine shooting heroin, walking outside, and hitting homeless people ... read more