Apr 14, 2025 at 9:33 PM

172. David Bowie - Diamond Dogs (1974) [April 14th, 2025]

I'll be honest, I was put off from this album for a long time because of the cover. Bowie has some of the best album covers ever....and he came up with this. What the h---

As for the album itself, its pretty d--- good.I do think that for the most part, the apocalyptic theming of the record falls a bit flat. Aside from the intro and the two Orwell-inspired tracks at the end, I feel like it really isn't reflected in the album's sound. The title track "Diamond Dogs" is super f---ing rad though

 

Apr 15, 2025 at 1:05 PM

173. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) [April 15th, 2025]

(Sidenote: I was originally going to log in Isaiah Rashad's THIB, but I gave up on listening. Its not bad, but I'm just not much of an Isaiah guy outside of Cilvia Demo)
As someone who's a big fan of the first three Sabbath albums, I was kinda let down by Vol. 4. Not a bad record, but I feel like it didn't match their first three masterpieces. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, is a much better album imo. The title track is fire, and the closer "Spiral Architecht" might be one of their most epic songs up to this point.

 

Apr 15, 2025 at 10:38 PM

Not an album post, but in case 4chan is dead for good, I wanna do a quick memorial for the site's music board, /mu/. The site didn't really have the best reputation, but /mu/ was one of the definitive places for music discussion on the internet for years. Seriously, Death Grips, Have a Nice Life, and so many other artists had a heavy boost cause of /mu/. Admittedly, I didn't get to browse /mu/ during its early 2010's heyday, but its truly a shame that such an important site in music history is (possibly) dead. Gonna share their decade chart below in case anybody's interested.

 

Apr 16, 2025 at 10:21 AM

174. Dr. Dre - 2001 (1999) [April 16th, 2025]

This is Eminem-adjacent, right @Minato ? (TES is still coming in soon)

In a lot of ways, I feel like 2001 is the definitive gangsta rap album. Its not the best, but I feel like it represents the subgenre better than any other record. It has all of the hallmarks:
Violence? Check.
Misogyny? Check
Blunts? Check

From the beginning of "Lolo" up to the Tommy Chong assisted outro, 2001 just feels cinematic. The evolution of Dre's sound from The Chronic to this is insane. Similar to his debut, 2001 is filled with countless features, and I'd say that most of them do a great job. Snoop, Eminem, Nate Dogg, Devin the Dude, Kurupt, and ESPECIALLY Xzibit. Then, there's the rest. Every Dre album has a couple of recurring guests that take the spotlight, and in 2001's case, its Hittman. Hittman is fine. He's nothing special, but its no surprise that Hittman isn't exactly a superstar a quarter century later.

There are some classics on here of course, like "The Watcher", "f--- You", "Still D.R.E." and so on. There are also some pretty good deep cuts like "Xxplosive", "Let's Get High" and "The Message". 2001 isn't perfect though. As great as the first two thirds of the record are, I feel like it slightly falls off near the end. This mainly applies to tracks like "b---- Niggaz" and "Some L.A. Niggaz". At least the beats are good. The skits can range from entertaining (Lolo, Ed-Ucation, Pause 4 Porno), to being absolutely unnecessary (Bar One, The Car Bomb).

I used to prefer 2001 over Chronic, but over time, my opinion has flip flopped a bit. They are both still incredible albums though. I do want to mention that Compton is underrated!!!!

 

Apr 16, 2025 at 12:44 PM

Not sure if I'll go through with it, but I'm debating on doing some redux reviews at some point. This would only really be for albums that didn't get reviews (Filosofem and Disintegration come to mind) or albums that I'd reevaluate heavily (I have lots of thoughts on MUSIC now lmao). Probably won't do it for some time, but its an idea that I've been kicking around

 

Apr 16, 2025 at 4:15 PM

175. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O. (2002) [April 16th, 2025]

I've already acknowledged that I'm not really the best at describing what I like about albums instrument-wise, which makes discussing records like this more difficult for me. I really enjoyed it, had a pretty soothing vibe for the first half. I did miss the use of field-recordings though.

 

Apr 16, 2025 at 7:38 PM

176. Travis Scott - ASTROWORLD (2018) [April 16th, 2025]

Oh boy. In the past 7 years, ASTROWORLD has quickly become a modern classic. As a Houstonian myself, this record actually put me onto Travis, so it holds a special place in my heart, as well. Just like with Rodeo, ASTROWORLD succeeds due to its atmosphere. Travis went all in on the space aesthetic, and this is especially apparent on tracks like "STARGAZING", and "SKELETONS". I think that the first 10 tracks on this project constitute one of the best track-runs from the past 10 years. Seriously.

Not gonna go track for track, but I'm gonna give some highlights. "SICKO MODE" might've gotten overplayed a bit, but its still such a great song man. "STOP TRYING TO BE GOD", "SKELETONS", and "WAKE UP" are all great melodic tracks as well. Don Toliver kills it on "CAN'T SAY". "COFFEE BEAN" isn't as good as "Apple Pie" off of Rodeo, but its still a great closer for this project.

As much as I enjoy this album, I do think that there are a few misses. These tracks aren't bad, but they feel less essential than the others. The main offender for me has to be "BUTTERFLY EFFECT", I've never been into that one. As a whole though? ASTROWORLD is without a doubt, one of the defining albums of the late 2010's/. In my view, It's a big step up from BITTSMK, about the same as UTOPIA and a bit lesser than Rodeo. Still though, what a record.

 

Apr 17, 2025 at 6:23 PM

177. The Doors - The Doors (1967) [April 17th, 2025]

My best friend is a huge Doors fan, so some of these songs are practically ingrained in my brain at this point. For the most part, The Doors is a perfectly acceptable debut album. Some classic tracks, and I'd say the first 5 tracks are all great. The second half is good too, but I'd say its a bit weaker....

...except for "The End". I swear, everytime I play this record, I'm basically just anticipating this song the entire time. I think that I've already established my love for Apocalypse Now earlier, but I have to admit that the visuals from that film will forever be tied to this song for me. The song itself is absolutely stellar. 12 Minutes long, filled with Oedipal references, and that incredible breakdown near the end (pun intended). As a whole, its a good record, but "The End" will always be the main attraction for me.

 

Apr 17, 2025 at 9:44 PM

178. Gorillaz - The Fall (2010) [April 17th, 2025]

First time listening to a full post-Plastic Beach Gorillaz record. This one gets a bad rap for being "too experimental", and many people don't consider it a full Gorillaz record for this reason.

I don't agree. Although I do prefer their first 3 records, The Fall is still a pretty good time. When you factor in the fact that this record was made entirely on an iPad in 2010, it becomes pretty impressive honestly. I think a lot of Gorillaz fans rate this badly because of how it compares to their big 3, but on its own, I think its a good time.

I wonder if I should go through their post-Phase 3 work as well. Haven't heard the best things about Humanz, TNN, or Cracker Island, but I hear that Song Machine is pretty good. Not sure if I should cut straight to that one though.

 

Apr 17, 2025 at 9:55 PM

 

Apr 18, 2025 at 10:07 AM

179. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (1989) [April 18th, 2025]

Pretty Hate Machine is a very strange project in the greater NIN discography. Instead of the metal, industrial, and electronic work they (primarily Trent Reznor lets be honest) would go on to make later, this is a full on synthpop record. There are some absolutely stellar tracks on here like "Head Like A Hole", "Terrible Lie", and the always incredible, "Something I Can Never Have."

Although I do like this album, it does feel like a lesser Depeche Mode or Duran Duran album at some points. I'm a much bigger fan of their later work honestly.

 

Apr 18, 2025 at 12:11 PM

180. Nine Inch Nails - Broken (1992) [April 18th, 2025]

I always like to play Broken right after PHM so that I can just feel the difference. To go from aggressive synthpop, to this, is f---ing nuts. The anger that is present in most NIN releases, is at full force on here. "Wish" "Last" "Happiness in Slavery" and so on. The one word that describes this project is "Anger". This is arguably Trent Reznor at his angriest, which is reflected by the lyrics, instrumentation, and especially his vocal delivery. The last two songs are a treat as well. As much as I like PHM, my love for NIN doesn't really begin until this EP. This is an essential release for anybody trying to get into the band's music, and its just an incredible time overall.

 

Apr 18, 2025 at 7:20 PM

Barely finishing a 4 hour bus ride smh. Listened to a couple of albums during it, but in order to do them justice im gonna space them out a bit, so they might not be added until tomorrow

 

Apr 18, 2025 at 10:07 PM

181. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) [April 18th, 2025]

This was the first full rock record that I fell in love with, and I still think it's great. At this point, there's next to nothing that I can say about Sgt. Pepper's that hasn't been said by music fans, journalists critics and so on over the past 57 years.

Influenced by one of my top 5 records of all time, Pet Sounds, SPLHCB continues the experimentation that was seen throughout Revolver. Although Lennon's always been my favorite Beatle, I have to admit that McCartney absolutely shines on this record. The cover is stunning, and some of the band's greatest tracks are on here, including but not limited to "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "Getting Better", "When I'm Sixty-Four" etc.

If I had to single out a single track from this record, it would obviously be "A Day In The Life". ADITL might legitimately be the best track ever made. Period. Seriously, the final buildup before the final piano note is still f---ing stellar. Although I have gravitated a bit more towards the white album and Abbey Road over time, there's no denying that Sgt. Pepper's is a monumental record.

There's this quote from a user on RYM that I follow that I think describes this record better than I ever could:
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the most important album ever made.

Don't confuse this statement with "the greatest album ever made."
Even if its not the greatest, its definitely up there.