The Eighties - 15/161

Holy shit! I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did! This is the best punk record I have ever heard, full stop. I think most of the magic here can be traced back to Biafra’s lyrics and delivery. You will be HARD-pressed to find a frontman as unique, charismatic, energetic, and emblematic of their genre as Biafra is. His voice remains incredibly powerful through the entire album, made even more assertive and commanding by the radical lyrics he’s ... read more

The Eighties - 14/161

An incredibly consistent, inventive album that knows what works and sticks to it. My favorite R.E.M. album so far, and also one of the most influential albums on this list due to it basically inventing alternative music! It really is an absolute joy from start to finish, filled with great instrumentation and the sort of fun/ethereal energy that jangle pop provides. I am a sucker for jangle pop if I’m being honest, and this fills most of the criteria I have in mind ... read more

The Eighties - 12/161

I genuinely can’t give this a numerical rating. Not because it's so good, but because of how incredibly long this thing is. One-hundred-forty-four minutes long. That is insane. I physically was not able to listen to this in one sitting and had to digest it throughout the day, which would affect any number I would give to this. Listen, any album with a runtime significantly over an hour needs a justification, and there are some times where it works! The ... read more

The Eighties - 11/161

A fantastically enjoyable 28 minutes through some really high-quality thrash metal. I believe that any album that is consistent throughout and finishes with its best track is something special, and this album does just that. Shoutout to Dave Lombardo also, his drumming is awesome throughout this entire thing. There’s nothing really experimental or groundbreaking about these songs, and that’s ok, because they’re the best at what they do. Not as ... read more

The Eighties - 10/161
nothingburger ahh album 🙏

The Eighties - 9/161

This thang is weird. Like… really weird. How did O Superman become a hit? I don’t get it. Anyways, I can easily see the reason this was as influential as it was the NYC avant-garde scene. Definitely inspired by a lot of the CCM composers and Brian Eno, and I think the ambient instrumentals are pretty good. Here’s the thing… I don’t like spoken word at all. Not one bit. I like the very Imogen Heap-esque vocal effects on O Superman, but other ... read more

The Eighties - 8/161

This shit is different. Everything I want from an 80s album is right here. The more I dive into Latin rock and new wave, the more I love it and I don’t know why. They just know how to make things better I guess. This is a beautiful, energetic, and powerful album that is 80s to the max, but it works. A perfect capture of its time and the movement it represents, while also not feeling dated. Due to the massive wave of appreciation of 80s culture in the previous few ... read more

The Eighties - 7/161

Punk has never been my thing, really. From a musical standpoint, it’s overly simplistic and cliche to the point of being comical. However, the energy and feelings punk captures is what makes it not boring and truly unique as a genre, alongside the especially potent political statements that are a hallmark of the movement. Anyways, about THIS exact album, I found it enjoyable throughout and full of the youthful energy punk demands. Shoutout to the bassist, that tone ... read more

The Eighties - 6/161

It’s solid throughout, I’ll give it that. You can tell it’s well crafted and they put effort into it. And it does actually sound different! It doesn’t sound like it was made in the 80s, these songs sound like they could’ve been made today. If the songs sound so modern, then, why am I rating this so low? I just don’t think these guys are especially compelling at all. This is a totally acceptable, good pop rock album but I don’t ... read more

The Eighties - 5/161

THIS is a debut album? Holy shit. I don’t think this is an apex-of-career type album typically, but this would 100% be a lesser artist’s second or third, the one to really start their career. But to come out of the gate with THIS is something special. From the moment this album starts, you know it's going to be something unique. This is a ride you really haven't been on before, and it immediately stands out. A great and immediate hook into ... read more

The Eighties - 4/161

Seeing as to how this album was released in 1986, I don’t think there’s really any excuse for how this sounds. This is entirely, unabashedly, shamelessly based on The Smiths. Everything, from the vocals to the instrumentals to the lyrics and singing. Everything is inspired by The Smiths, only with a slightly more upbeat and positive general atmosphere. Granted, the Smiths are a great band so, by proxy, this isn’t bad. And the more upbeat vibe provides a ... read more

The Eighties - 3/161

I’ve never been the biggest R.E.M. fan, but I can say that they are incredibly consistent, at least their 80s output is. The shift into country and heartland rock influences in this record is a questionable decision for sure, but they manage to make it work. The album is consistently pretty good, which is something to be admired, even if a lot of their early jangle elements aren’t present. One of the major things I am not the biggest fan of is Stipe’s ... read more

The Eighties - 2/161

This is somehow of its time and yet completely out of it also. It takes the sound of Joy Division and pushes it into something more positive, something more jangle. The result is an absolutely lush, dreamy, ethereal album that absolutely feels like falling through a cloud. I had never heard of this band or their influence but I can very plainly see it in acts to follow, especially because this sounds like shoegaze… in 1983! 1983 for this sound is, again, ahead of ... read more

The Eighties, 1/161

As soon as this album starts, it transports you directly in the audience of a late 80s Public Enemy show. Through ambient noise and expert use of field recordings from their shows sprinkled throughout the album, you really feel like you're there. The music is blaring, its dark out, and everyone is cheering, shouting. The energy is transferred so well into these songs its insane. Also, one of the most common complaints is that the production is thin? That is just not ... read more

Thank you Bob Dylan. Rubber Soul is widely considered the first Beatles masterpiece, a jumping off point that future albums would expand on to ultimately become the most celebrated stretch of albums in popular music history. While their previous album, "Help!", certainly was better than the previous four records with its added experimentation and more quality songwriting, (Yesterday, Ticket to Ride, the title track, I've Just Seen a Face, etc.) Rubber Soul is really the point the ... read more

75 - Good

The jump in quality between this and subsequent releases is so astronomical its almost unbelievable. Crazy how much they evolved in a few short years, shows how good of a band they are that they were able to become so good so fast. But, as it stands, this is their start point. And it's... alright. I mean... it's fine. I find the more you listen to it, the more bland it gets. It's definitely not something that stands the test of time. Byrne already established himself ... read more

81 - Pretty Good

Compared to later Steely Dan stuff, one may consider this pretty... primitive. Personally, I agree. That is not to say this album is bad. In fact, this might be one of the most promising debuts I've ever seen of a band. Good and promising are two very separate things, and this shows so much promise. It already establishes Walter Becker and Donald Fagen as excellent songwriters, with compositional talent for days. Fagen's vocals are great, the musicians are all on ... read more

100 - Pitch-Perfect

I am the biggest Beatles fan I know. I can name every single one of their songs by heart, the order they were released in, what were singles and what weren't. They aren't my favorite band, but damn they are up there and I do wholeheartedly believe they're the greatest to ever do it. That being said, I always thought Sgt. Pepper was overrated. I don't know why I thought that, I just thought there were songs it could've done without and songs it ... read more

88 - Pretty Great

Aja is unique to me personally because it seems like such a nothing album. Not anything worth paying attention too. It plays like it's deliberately meant to be played in the background while you're doing something, at the grocery store or something. Granted, probably the most hipster and over-expensive grocery store in town, but it still seems like something you wouldn't actively listen to. Like smooth jazz, or muzak, or anything along those lines. And yet, Aja ... read more

100 - Phenomenal.
I truly believe Jeff Buckley's death is one of the biggest tragedies in music history, up there with the Holly-Valens-Bopper plane crash. Thinking back on most early deaths in music history, and oh boy there have been quite a few, almost all of them either released at least a few albums before their death including a magnum opus where their sound fully developed, died succumbing to their own vices be it drug addiction or suicide, or both. But Jeff Buckley didn't fit ... read more