Boys Don't Cry is the version of this album that should have existed from the start. Swapping out the filler for the early singles — "Boys Don't Cry," "Killing an Arab," "Jumping Someone Else's Train" — fixes what Chris Parry got wrong and reveals a band with a lot more going on than their debut got credit for. The sequencing actually works, the singles hit, and tracks like "10:15 Saturday Night" and "Fire in Cairo" ... read more

This Is Crime Wave was one of those records that came out of nowhere and just clicked. LIFERS doesn't quite hit that same first-listen high, but it's still a really solid record. The genre-hopping holds up better than it has any right to — D.O.C. on "Rivals," the closer "Ditch The Party," "Lonely Life" all landing hard. Fat Mike knows what he's doing behind the board. Strong album, just not the debut.

I'm not a Korn guy. Never have been. But "Blind" is legitimately great — one of those openers that earns its reputation the second it hits. The rest of the album is solid and consistent without ever touching that peak again. The guitar tone alone is doing something nobody else was doing in 1994, and Daddy landing as well as it did surprised me. Came for the baseball walk-up song, left with a real appreciation for what this record actually built.

I didn't come into this expecting much. Flea as a solo jazz artist felt like a stretch. But Honora earns it. He's not pretending to be Miles Davis — he's just a guy who loved jazz before he loved punk, finally making the record he always wanted to make. A Plea is the highlight, and Traffic Lights with Thom Yorke is exactly as good as it sounds on paper. The back half loses a little steam, but the first half more than carries it. Solid debut. Hope he makes another one.

A solid early-'90s time capsule. The Boo Radleys and The La's bookending the whole thing is perfect sequencing, and the back half holds up better than it has any right to. Ned's Atomic Dustbin and BAD II are pure era charm. Suede's "My Insatiable One" is the hidden gem — if you don't know Suede, this is a good way to find out. "This Poem Sucks" still lands. Not a no-skip record, but close enough that it doesn't matter.

Good Riddance have been doing this for 35 years and they still sound like they mean it. Before The World Caves In is fast, focused, and angry in exactly the right ways. Posse Comitatus and In Pieces are the standouts but honestly the whole thing holds up front to back. Bill Stevenson's production gives it more weight than their recent stuff. Nothing groundbreaking, but a really solid record that earns its runtime.

deserves because it sits between the debut and Rocket to Russia and people treat it like a placeholder. It isn’t. Two absolute weapons in Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment and Suzy Is a Headbanger, and Pinhead sitting in the middle like the band’s own anthem to itself. The Carbona Not Glue situation is one of punk’s great injustices — that song should have been a hit and instead got pulled for a trademark dispute. Getting it back on the remaster makes this version the ... read more

The one that started it all and it still hits like a freight train 50 years later. Fourteen songs in 29 minutes and not a single second wasted — Blitzkrieg Bop through Judy Is a Punk is the most explosive three-song opening in punk history and the album never really lets up. What gets overlooked is how genuinely melodic this record is underneath all the noise — I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend is a legitimate love song and Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World is darker and weirder than ... read more

Animal Boy is a Ramones album that gets more grief than it deserves. Yeah, it’s not Rocket to Russia — nothing is — but Somebody Put Something in My Drink hits harder than half their late catalog, Bonzo Goes to Bitburg is genuinely one of their most important songs, and the closer Something to Believe In goes way bigger than it has any right to. The middle sags a little with some filler that sounds like the band running plays they’ve run a hundred times, but the floor ... read more

Cameron Crowe pointed a camera at Seattle in 1992 and somehow caught lightning. No Nirvana, which honestly makes it feel more real — this is everyone else, and everyone else was incredible.
Would? might be the best AIC track that exists. State of Love and Trust got cut from Ten and it’s better than half of Ten. Chloe Dancer hits different when you know the story behind it. Drown closes the whole thing like the Pumpkins had something to prove.
Zero skips on a compilation. That ... read more

Started strong and then just kind of faded out.

The first few tracks hit exactly how you want a Rob Zombie record to hit — loud, dumb, and fun. But once that initial energy wears off, the album doesn’t really give you anything new to grab onto.

By the second half I wasn’t hating it, I just wasn’t that into it anymore.

There’s a handful of tracks I’d come back to, but as a full album it feels more like a quick hit than something I’ll revisit often.

Morrissey still sounds like Morrissey, which at this point is both the appeal and the limitation.

There’s nothing bad here. In fact, it’s a really consistent record. The songwriting is solid, the mood is there, and it never drags. But it also never quite hits that level where it sticks with you after it’s over.

“Make-up Is a Lie” and “Notre-Dame” are the standouts — those are the tracks that feel like they actually land emotionally. The rest ... read more

his is Rush at their most controlled and calculated, and that’s both the strength and the limitation. The atmosphere is cold and tense, built on synth layers and precise rhythms that never really let loose. You can feel the weight of the themes—fear, isolation, survival—but it’s more observed than experienced.

There aren’t many peaks or valleys here, just a steady run of solid tracks that all sit in that same pocket. “The Body Electric” stands out by ... read more

This one’s just solid all the way through. No real drop-offs, no tracks I’m looking to skip. It’s raw and a little messy, but that’s kind of the point and it works.

“Want” is the clear standout, but everything else sits in that same lane where it’s just consistently good. Nothing feels out of place, and it all moves together really well.

It’s not as sharp or fully formed as what they’d do later, but you can already hear it coming together. ... read more

There’s nothing technically wrong here, which ends up being the biggest problem. The songs are fine, the production is clean, and the themes are familiar, but none of it sticks.

Even the stronger tracks don’t build into anything memorable, and the rest fades into the background almost immediately. It feels less like a statement and more like a placeholder.

It’s not bad—it just doesn’t give you a reason to come back.

This one’s kind of all over the place, but the highs are legit. “Boxcar” is still the one—just hits hard every time. “Shield Your Eyes” is right there too. That’s the version of Jawbreaker I like most when it feels a little loose and like it could fall apart at any second.

There’s a solid middle where a lot of these tracks live. Stuff like “Kiss the Bottle,” “Fantastic Planet,” and “Into You Like a Train” all ... read more

Belly’s debut still holds up. Jangly alt-rock with dreamy vocals and some strange fairy-tale lyrics running through it. “Feed the Tree” and “Gepetto” are the standouts but the whole record has a really nice flow. Not a classic of the era but an underrated one.

Siamese Dream is the moment the Smashing Pumpkins fully locked in their sound—huge layered guitars, massive hooks, and just enough vulnerability to keep it from collapsing under its own weight. Songs like “Cherub Rock,” “Today,” “Disarm,” and “Mayonaise” still hit like emotional gut punches, and even the deeper cuts feel essential. It’s polished without losing its edge and packed with melodies that stick for decades. For me it’s ... read more

A great example of a supergroup that actually sounds like its own band instead of a side project. Duane Denison’s riffs are all sharp angles and tension, and John Stanier’s drumming keeps everything locked in with that unmistakable Helmet snap. Mike Patton does what he does best here—switching from crooner to maniac without it ever feeling gimmicky.

The songs are tight, weird, and surprisingly catchy. Tracks like “Flashback,” “101 North,” and ... read more

This is just a monster of a record. Nineteen songs and not a wasted second. The hooks are huge, the energy never dips, and Matt Freeman’s bass playing alone makes it essential.

“Roots Radical,” “Ruby Soho,” and “Time Bomb” are obvious standouts, but even the deeper cuts hit. It’s melodic without going soft and raw without sounding sloppy. Easy 10.