Grant Lee Buffalo Fuzzy (1993):
Weirdly sounds completely unlike 90s music, and exactly like a whole mess of singer-songwriter guys from the mid 10s thru early 20s
Kelela Take Me Apart (2017):
Sound track to countless uber rides I've taken
Derek & The Dominos Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (1970):
Took a minute to figure it out, but then I learned this is a Clapton thing. And it's got Clapton doing what Clapton do, little bit samey at points, but that'sa some pretty good blues guitar
Orbital Orbital 2 (1993):
Orbital's been probably one of the better acts out of the endless tepid techno that's on this thing
D'Angelo Brown Sugar (1995):
Mellow R&B meaning it wasn't bad for working to, but I'd get bored if I wasn't multitasking with it
Kid Rock Devil Without A Cause (1998):
Lmao what a tool.
This was a letdown; I've never listened before, and by reputation I had got myself hyped up to hear something truly dreadful and cursed, but instead it was just dull and dumb, dime a dozen
Linkin Park Hybrid Theory (2000):
this also sucks, but in a way that's charming and makes me like it. End of the day though, if I were being made listen to this kind of thing, I'm probably reaching for Evanescence first (and really, I'd ideally try to make a case for Nightwish, but that'd probably be too much of a genre stretch (in this hypothetical (their version of shouting is too melodic)))
Hot Chip In Our Heads (2012):
Oh man! I went in for some reason thinking this was a 90s act, then when the thing got going I was like "wow this sounds like something straight out of 2011". And then here we are! Really pleasant surprise, wasn't expecting danceable indie-pop + adjacent to get representation on here. no less dated than the 90s electronica, but it's dated to an era that I actually got some nostalgia for, dammit
The generator's set up such that users who finish all the albums (which for me will probably be sometime in 2025 lol) get to input suggestions of their own for the other alums; this is reminding me to put in something like Battles, or maybe even Phoenix when I get there, I got affection for this kinda stuff.
Tears For Fears Songs From The Big Chair (1985):
Nice, adding to the short list of new wave acts that actually could maintain quality for an album
Run-D.M.C. Run-D.M.C. (1984):
oof, idk if the problem's that this was an earlier album, or if the turnaround on being served another Run-D.M.C. album was just too short, making the novelty wear off, but I thought Raising Hell was delightful and that this one was really boring
Talking Heads Remain In Light (1980):
Pantheon album! one of the best ever made. Stacked production crew, too.
AC/DC Back In Black (1980):
I, hm, y'know...
AC/DC checks all the boxes of Dad Rock, and as much as I like to dismiss groups for that... this album actually really fucking rips, to a degree I wasn't at all ready for
Giant Sand Chore of Enchantment (2000):
Low-budget Lou Reed, and I don't like Lou Reed much to begin with
John Lennon John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970):
Think I actually liked Imagine more. Dunno quite what to do with that.
The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan (2005):
Having heard more now from other acts ascending in Detroit around this time, White Stripes even more solidified as an oasis in the desert of mid-aughts pop culture
Keith Jarrett The Köln Concert (1975):
Nothing but piano noodling, gimme more of this!
Nirvana In Utero (1993):
k apparently every Nirvana song I knew was off of Nevermind. So speaks well for them that a cold listen of their stuff was still good for me, most other grunge doesn't manage that.
Isaac Hayes Shaft (1971):
I knew Isaac Hayes, I knew the Shaft theme, I didn't know Isaac Hayes did the Shaft theme. Bit different pace from Hot Buttered Soul!
Pink Floyd The Wall (1979):
hm, I think I'd rated Dark Side Of The Moon lower than this, which maybe I didn't mean to do that, when I'd listened to that one I was less oriented with what Pink Floyd is and does. Though actually, I think I maybe do like this one better, even if it's probably not conventional opinion. Overblown rock opera theatricality is something that works on me pretty well.
Billy Bragg (and Wilco) Mermaid Avenue (1998):
I feel like for most matchups, I tend to like british interpretations of what "folk music" is, compared to americans', so there was a part of me like "man what are you doing" at Bragg doing American-style on this
Paul Simon Graceland (1986):
So I do know and have myself listened to better and more effective examples of "world music" imports than this... but also I do think that running with that influence was to the benefit of paul simon's music, and actually like this album quite a bit.
Donovan Sunshine Superman (1966):
This list is full of such a specific type of psychedelic hippy folk stuff from the 60s, where they're like deliberately aiming for sparse medieval-sounding instrumentation. I've mostly found these extremely bad and boring, this included, and I've been hunting for a good articulation of what exactly's not working for me. Because back in the Pandora days, I was being served up a lot of stuff like Celtic Woman and Loreena McKennitt, both of which I liked a lot, and both of which I'd use similar terms to describe.
So I think there's basically two things going on:
- Acoustic is totally fine, but I like the arrangements to be on the busier side
- singer-songwriter stuff puts a lot of onus on the singer to be able to deliver, and I don't think Donovan's all that impressive of a vocalist*
*(I think I also probably got a bit of bias against being impressed by men's singing. Like idk if I could name a man's singing that I'd call like Conventionally very good. Most of what's memorable to me is like Robert Plant, Bob Dylan, or Tom Waits etc where their voice is just extremely weird and they lean into it. Much to unpack some other time.)
