| 5.0 classic |
| Alice in Chains Jar of Flies |
| Alice in Chains channel the same dark, moody, depressive atmospheres of their full lengths, but instead choose to enable the more mellow side of the band's character. Every song here is special and proves to find even more deep meaning with additional analysis. |
| American Football American Football |
| American Football is filled with simple themes, and doesn't try to subvert or challenge any preconceptions that come with them. Instead, it wholeheartedly embraces and channels the simplicity with such sincerity that the album becomes something beautiful and profound. |
| Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique |
| Clever use of samples, unbelievable interplay between MCs, and equal parts humor and badassery. Absolutely brilliant hip hop album. |
| Boards of Canada Geogaddi |
| Boards of Canada Music Has the Right to Children |
| Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago |
| For Emma came from a very lonely place, but that never stops it from being a warm, rich, comforting listening experience. Beautiful from front to back. |
| Botch We Are the Romans |
| Botch did it first and damn, they did it right. Every staple of metalcore is here but it's executed with finesse; every track has plenty of room to breathe but the runtime remains tight. |
| Brand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me |
| This album has received so much praise on this site, there's no need to reiterate just how emotionally powerful and resonant this record is, or how well written and cohesive it is. But something I feel is criminally overlooked is just how incredibly detailed and gorgeous the production is. Every single time I hear it I notice a little piece of sound I didn't pay attention to in previous listens. The huge, overblown loud-quiet-loud dynamic perfectly matches the dark and introspective lyrics and somber but energetic tone of the album. I couldn't imagine giving this less than a 5. |
| Brand New Deja Entendu |
| You know what it's like to be a teenager? Yeah, so does this album. |
| Bright Eyes Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground |
| Conor Oberst and company created something truly incredible here. Every single song is unique to the others but fills in the atmosphere impeccably. The mood sways back and forth but always with purpose, and every vocal performance is loaded with enough passion to elevate an occasional underwhelming lyric. Ambition will definitely not always lead to failure. |
| Bruce Springsteen Born to Run |
| Death Cab for Cutie Transatlanticism |
| Beautiful, poignant, and solemn; Death Cab's peak and an excellent example of what Indie Pop is capable of as a genre. |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven |
| Oh, so much to say about this one. The movements are so full of life and expression, moving from emotion to emotion without a single hiccup. Just about every form of instrumentation imaginable is here, and audio sampling is utilized in perfect dosages, complimenting the wide range of tones throughout this massive work. Hearing the trumpets at the start of Storm is always such an exciting moment, knowing the extent of the journey in front of me. |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada |
| You will listen to a crazy, idiotic, conspiracy theorist rant about ideas he doesn't understand, spin some tale about him telling off a judge, and then steal poetry from Iron Maiden. And you will love it. |
| Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly |
| If there's a single thing Kendrick proves on To Pimp A Butterfly, it's that he's much more than just a rapper. It's difficult to do justice to just how incredibly catchy, well written, and full of character every single track on here is. Is the "ongoing poem" structure that continues throughout the entire record pretentious? Absolutely. Does the faux Tupac Shakur interview make me cringe a little? Without a doubt. But when an album can completely hold my attention for nearly 80 minutes, that's a feat that very few if any artists can achieve. Which is why To Pimp A Butterfly is one of the most incredible hip hop album I've ever heard. |
| King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King |
| So good that you'll forget you're even listening to music for a while. It just completely swallows you whole. |
| mewithoutYou Brother, Sister |
| Few albums exist that present such diversity with such a distinct and memorable style. Not to mention the vocals could not be any better. |
| mewithoutYou Catch For Us the Foxes |
| No other mewithoutYou album features Aaron Weiss confronting his demons, his deep connection to faith, and his past and future, set to more brilliant instrumentation and songwriting. It'll blow your wig back. |
| Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea |
| I don't think I've ever heard an album that I could even compare to this. Despite how clearly simple it is technically, it's one of the most incredible musical experiences I've ever heard. Jeff Mangum's strained vocal delivery works flawlessly with the deeply human lyrical content. One of the very few albums that actually transcends music itself. |
| Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral |
| I don't really know where to begin with this one, other than to say that this is an absolutely essential concept album that any music fan is doing themselves a disservice by ignoring. Trent's anger and bitterness is very real, and he lays out every bit of resentment in his being in this release. It leaves the listener exhausted, but only to realize that it was completely worth it. |
| Operation Ivy Energy |
| Radiohead OK Computer |
| I'm completely certain that if OK Computer were released in 2015, it would still be a massive achievement and a landmark album. The fact that Radiohead came out with this album in 1997 blows my fucking mind. |
| Radiohead Kid A |
| Radiohead are extremely difficult to write about. Not because everything that can be said about their music has already been said by countless others on this site and all over the internet, but because the music speaks for itself on such a scale that writing anything seems superfluous. With that said, this album is completely beautiful and absolutely worth your time to sink in a few listens at bare minimum. |
| Slint Spiderland |
| Streetlight Manifesto The Hands That Thieve |
| Sufjan Stevens Illinois |
| This album makes me happier than anything else I've ever listened to. That, in and of itself, is worth a 5. |
| The Lawrence Arms Oh! Calcutta! |
| The Moody Blues Days of Future Passed |
| Tool Ænima |
| Tool Lateralus |
| 4.5 superb |
| A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory |
| Aesop Rock The Impossible Kid |
| Alice in Chains Dirt |
| Completely soul-crushing and hopeless, but man, this record is a trip. |
| Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged |
| American Football American Football EP |
| Andrew Bayer If It Were You, We'd Never Leave |
| Animals As Leaders Animals as Leaders |
| Animals As Leaders The Joy of Motion |
| Bjork Homogenic |
| Blase Blue Blasé Blue EP |
| Boards of Canada The Campfire Headphase |
| Bomb the Music Industry! Vacation |
| Bon Iver Bon Iver, Bon Iver |
| Brand New Your Favorite Weapon |
| Brand New Daisy |
| Daisy is messy and loud, but also represents Brand New's most interesting stylistic change thus far. It also listens like a punch to the gut. |
| Bright Eyes Fevers & Mirrors |
| Built to Spill Perfect from Now On |
| Built to Spill Keep It Like a Secret |
| Burial Burial |
| Burial Untrue |
| Captain, We're Sinking The Future Is Cancelled |
| Casualties of Cool Casualties of Cool |
| Converge Jane Doe |
| Damien Rice O |
| Danny Brown Atrocity Exhibition |
| Deafheaven Roads to Judah |
| Leagues more cohesive and digestible than Sunbather. All them critics is playin'. |
| Death Grips The Money Store |
| Death Grips Exmilitary |
| Devin Townsend Project Ghost |
| Elliott Smith Either/Or |
| Elliott Smith From a Basement on the Hill |
| Elliott Smith XO |
| Far and away Elliott Smith's least depressing record, XO incorporates elements of baroque pop to huge success. It's also perfectly structured, every track from the opener "Sweet Adeline" to the epic penultimate "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" fits snugly into the overall musical experience. |
| Elliott Smith Elliott Smith |
| Elliott Smith New Moon |
| Emancipator Soon It Will Be Cold Enough |
| Faith No More Angel Dust |
| Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues |
| A beautifully and intricately textured folk masterpiece, one that never disappoints with many repeated listens. |
| Foxing The Albatross |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞ |
| I put this album on, and I fell into it. Like a fever. Or a daydream. |
| Gorguts Colored Sands |
| Gorguts Pleiades' Dust |
| Gorguts Obscura |
| Haywyre Two Fold - Part 1 |
| Ichiko Aoba qp |
| IDLES Brutalism |
| James Blake Overgrown |
| Jeff Rosenstock WORRY. |
| Jeff Rosenstock We Cool? |
| Jon Hopkins Immunity |
| Joy Division Closer |
| Joy Division Unknown Pleasures |
| Joyce Manor Never Hungover Again |
| Joyce Manor Joyce Manor |
| Joyce Manor Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired |
| Kanye West Yeezus |
| God, this album is extremely difficult to pin down. It's addictive as hell, though, and seems to get even more enjoyable with every new listen. |
| Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy |
| Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city |
| King Crimson Red |
| Koan Sound and Asa Sanctuary |
| La Dispute Wildlife |
| Madvillain Madvillainy |
| mewithoutYou Ten Stories |
| Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica |
| Nas Illmatic |
| Neutral Milk Hotel Ferris Wheel on Fire |
| Nirvana In Utero |
| Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York |
| When you strip away the distorted guitars and screaming vocals, Nirvana seem to have even more substance than otherwise. |
| NOISIA Split The Atom |
| Nujabes Modal Soul |
| Owen At Home With Owen |
| Pendulum Hold Your Colour |
| Phaeleh Within The Emptiness |
| Pianos Become the Teeth The Lack Long After |
| Porcupine Tree Fear of a Blank Planet |
| Porcupine Tree Deadwing |
| Preoccupations Viet Cong |
| Protest the Hero Kezia |
| Protest the Hero Fortress |
| PUP The Dream Is Over |
| Radiohead The Bends |
| Reso Tangram |
| Savant ISM |
| Savant Heart |
| Savant Orakel |
| Sigur Ros Agætis byrjun |
| Steven Wilson Hand. Cannot. Erase. |
| Streetlight Manifesto Somewhere in the Between |
| Sufjan Stevens Carrie and Lowell |
| God, this album is so fucking sad. It can really be seen as the polar opposite of the largely epic and joyous Illinois, as this record is quiet, minimal, and sad as shit. Jesus Christ, it's so sad. |
| Sun Kil Moon Ghosts of the Great Highway |
| Sunny Day Real Estate Diary |
| The Arrogant Sons of Bitches Three Cheers For Disappointment |
| The Hotelier Home, Like NoPlace Is There |
| The Menzingers After the Party |
| The Smith Street Band Throw Me in the River |
| The Smith Street Band No One Gets Lost Anymore |
| The Smiths The Queen Is Dead |
| The Wonder Years Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing |
| The World Is a Beautiful Place... Whenever, If Ever |
| Thrice Vheissu |
| Venetian Snares Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett |
| We Lost the Sea Departure Songs |
| 4.0 excellent |
| A Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders |
| Above and Beyond Group Therapy |
| Above and Beyond Acoustic |
| Alice in Chains Facelift |
| alt-J An Awesome Wave |
| American Football American Football (LP3) |
| Anamanaguchi Endless Fantasy |
| Arcade Fire Funeral |
| At the Drive-In Relationship of Command |
| Bjork Vespertine |
| Black Sabbath Black Sabbath |
| Bobby Barnett Little Wounds |
| Bomb the Music Industry! Scrambles |
| Bomb the Music Industry! Adults!!!: Smart!!! Shithammered!!! And Excited By Nothing!!!!!!! |
| Bonobo Black Sands |
| Bonobo Days To Come |
| Botch An Anthology of Dead Ends |
| Burial Kindred |
| Burial and Four Tet Moth/Wolf Cub |
| Cap'n Jazz Shmap'n Shmazz |
| Catch 22 Keasbey Nights |
| Clever Girl No Drum And Bass in the Jazz Room |
| Coheed and Cambria In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 |
| Converge Axe to Fall |
| Converge All We Love We Leave Behind |
| Converge You Fail Me |
| Converge You Fail Me Redux |
| Crash of Rhinos Knots |
| Crash of Rhinos Distal |
| Culprate Deliverance |
| D'Angelo Black Messiah |
| D'Angelo Voodoo |
| D'Angelo Brown Sugar |
| Daft Punk Discovery |
| Damien Rice My Favourite Faded Fantasy |
| Dance Gavin Dance Mothership |
| Daughter His Young Heart |
| Daughter If You Leave |
| Daughters You Won't Get What You Want |
| Deafheaven Sunbather |
| Death Cab for Cutie Plans |
| Death Grips No Love Deep Web |
| Deer Leap/The World Is A Beautiful Place... Are Here To Help You |
| dredg El Cielo |
| Earth The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull |
| El-P Fantastic Damage |
| Elliott Smith Figure 8 |
| Elliott Smith Roman Candle |
| Emancipator Dusk to Dawn |
| Emancipator Safe In The Steep Cliffs |
| Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) What It Takes to Move Forward |
| Every Time I Die Low Teens |
| Every Time I Die From Parts Unknown |
| Father John Misty I Love You, Honeybear |
| Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes |
| Flying Lotus You're Dead! |
| Frank Turner Love, Ire & Song |
| Freddie Gibbs and Madlib Pinata |
| Ghost (SWE) Meliora |
| Glassjaw Material Control |
| God Is an Astronaut All Is Violent, All Is Bright |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! |
| Grizzly Bear Veckatimest |
| Grizzly Bear Shields |
| Grizzly Bear Yellow House |
| James Blake James Blake |
| Joanna Newsom Divers |
| Joyce Manor Constant Headache |
| Julien Baker Sprained Ankle |
| Kanye West Late Registration |
| Kanye West The Life of Pablo |
| Keaton Henson Dear... |
| Kero Kero Bonito Bonito Generation |
| Killer Mike R.A.P. Music |
| King Crimson Discipline |
| La Dispute Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair |
| Laura Stevenson Wheel |
| Laura Stevenson Sit Resist |
| Manchester Orchestra I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child |
| Manchester Orchestra A Black Mile to the Surface |
| Marilyn Manson Antichrist Superstar |
| Marilyn Manson Holy Wood |
| Marilyn Manson The Pale Emperor |
| mewithoutYou It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright! |
| Every time I hear the "What a beautiful god" line in Timothy Hay, I can't help but crack a smile. These guys are a bunch of weirdos, no doubt, but they sure have a talent for writing great music. The complete sonic departure from their previous work is undoubtedly a little disconcerting, and deeper listening proves that the change is much more than just aesthetic. These songs are written in a completely different manner than anything the group has ever attempted before, and irrelevant to the quality of the record, I applaud them for trying to go in a new direction. However, despite some mixed results (see: Fig With A Bellyache) the majority of the record is fucking fantastic. |
| mewithoutYou [Untitled] |
| Mineral EndSerenading |
| Mineral The Power of Failing |
| Modern Baseball Holy Ghost |
| Modest Mouse This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About |
| Modest Mouse The Lonesome Crowded West |
| Mount Eerie Dawn |
| My Bloody Valentine Loveless |
| Nails Abandon All Life |
| Night Verses From the Gallery of Sleep |
| Nine Inch Nails With Teeth |
| Nirvana Nevermind |
| No Trigger Canyoneer |
| Norma Jean Polar Similar |
| Norma Jean Wrongdoers |
| Nujabes Metaphorical Music |
| Operation Ivy Hectic |
| OutKast Aquemini |
| OutKast ATLiens |
| Pearl Jam Ten |
| Pearl Jam Vs. |
| Phaeleh Fallen Light |
| Phaeleh Tides |
| Phaeleh The Cold In You |
| Phantogram Voices |
| Pianos Become the Teeth Old Pride |
| Pinegrove Cardinal |
| Porcupine Tree In Absentia |
| Porcupine Tree Stupid Dream |
| PUP PUP |
| Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf |
| Radiohead Amnesiac |
| Radiohead In Rainbows |
| Rancid ...And Out Come the Wolves |
| RJD2 Deadringer |
| Run the Jewels Run the Jewels |
| Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 2 |
| Runaway Brother Mother |
| If I were rating the album art alone, it'd be a 5. |
| Savant Vario |
| Say Anything ...Is a Real Boy |
| Sea Oleena Sleeplessness |
| Sigur Ros ( ) |
| Sigur Ros Takk... |
| Slowdive Souvlaki |
| Snowing Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit |
| Strapping Young Lad City |
| Streetlight Manifesto Everything Goes Numb |
| Sun Kil Moon Benji |
| Sun Kil Moon April |
| Swans The Seer |
| Swans My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky |
| Swans To Be Kind |
| Swans The Glowing Man |
| Taking Back Sunday Tell All Your Friends |
| Tame Impala Lonerism |
| Thank You Scientist Maps of Non-Existent Places |
| Thank You Scientist Stranger Heads Prevail |
| The Antlers Hospice |
| The Beach Boys Pet Sounds |
| The Cure Disintegration |
| The Dear Hunter Act I: The Lake South, the River North |
| The Dear Hunter The Color Spectrum (Complete Collection) |
| The Dear Hunter Act II: The Meaning of, & All Things Regarding Ms. Leading |
| The Dear Hunter Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise |
| The Dear Hunter Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional |
| The Decemberists The King Is Dead |
| The Decemberists Her Majesty the Decemberists |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Option Paralysis |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Irony Is a Dead Scene |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Dissociation |
| The Gaslight Anthem The '59 Sound |
| The Gaslight Anthem Sink or Swim |
| The Get Up Kids Something to Write Home About |
| The Glitch Mob Drink the Sea |
| The Lawrence Arms Cocktails and Dreams |
| The Lawrence Arms The Greatest Story Ever Told |
| The Lawrence Arms Apathy and Exhaustion |
| The Menzingers On the Impossible Past |
| The Microphones Mount Eerie |
| The Microphones The Glow Pt. 2 |
| The Postal Service Give Up |
| The Smith Street Band Sunshine and Technology |
| The Smiths The Smiths |
| The Upbeats Primitive Technique |
| The War On Drugs Lost in the Dream |
| The Wonder Years The Greatest Generation |
| Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind |
| Thrice The Artist in the Ambulance |
| Tigers Jaw Tigers Jaw |
| Super youthful and carefree. Not at all technical, but that's what allows the killer songwriting to stand out. |
| Tim Hecker Konoyo |
| Tom Day Crossroads (EP) |
| Tool Undertow |
| Touche Amore Is Survived By |
| Uppermost Revolution |
| Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City |
| Vektor Terminal Redux |
| Weezer Pinkerton |
| Weezer Weezer |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Two Hunters |
| Yndi Halda Enjoy Eternal Bliss |
| Yndi Halda Under Summer |
| Young the Giant Young the Giant |
| 3.0 good |
| Animals As Leaders Weightless |
| Bassnectar Timestretch |
| Bastille Bad Blood |
| Birdy Birdy |
| Blackmill Miracle |
| Blackmill Reach For Glory |
| Bobby Barnett Steady Ache |
| Brand New The Holiday |
| Cash Cash Overtime |
| CHVRCHES The Bones of What You Believe |
| CHVRCHES Every Open Eye |
| Citizen Youth |
| Converge The Dusk in Us |
| Daft Punk Homework |
| Damien Rice 9 |
| You know what I was thinking while listening to the final track, "Sleep Don't Weep"? This is good, but it really needs a 15 minute drone at the end to make it REALLY good. *sigh*rSo many poor choices. "Rootless Tree" is so completely cringe worthy I can't do anything but skip it. 9 Crimes and Elephant are fantastic, so this whole thing isn't a complete loss, but it's without a doubt a step down from both its predecessor and successor. |
| Danny Brown Old |
| Deafheaven New Bermuda |
| Deftones Diamond Eyes |
| Delta Heavy Down the Rabbit Hole |
| Drake If You're Reading This It's Too Late |
| Elvis Depressedly New Alhambra |
| Emancipator Seven Seas |
| Emancipator Baralku |
| Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP |
| Excision Destroid - The Invasion |
| Excision X Rated |
| Field Mouse Hold Still Life |
| Fox Stevenson All This Time |
| Fox Stevenson Endless |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor 'Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress' |
| Godspeed return with what is an undoubtedly solid release, but one that does not reward as well as expected with repeated listens. It's a very immediate record, one that clearly works amazingly live, but not as great as a studio album. Still, it's crushing, massive, detailed, and supremely well executed. This is a more than worthy addition to the GYBE canon. |
| Gorillaz Gorillaz |
| Green Day American Idiot |
| Hop Along Bark Your Head Off, Dog |
| Ichiko Aoba Utabiko |
| Intervals The Shape of Colour |
| Into It. Over It. Standards |
| Jeff Buckley Grace |
| Joyce Manor Million Dollars To Kill Me |
| Julien Baker Turn Out The Lights |
| Justice † |
| Kaskade Atmosphere |
| Kill The Noise Kill Kill Kill |
| Knife Party 100% No Modern Talking |
| Kongos Lunatic |
| Lupe Fiasco Tetsuo and Youth |
| Madeon Adventure |
| mewithoutYou Pale Horses |
| MitiS Deliverance |
| Modern Baseball Sports |
| Modern Baseball You’re Gonna Miss It All |
| Modest Mouse Good News for People Who Love Bad News |
| Neutral Milk Hotel On Avery Island |
| Nirvana Bleach |
| Owen L'Ami du Peuple |
| Pendulum Immersion |
| Pendulum Live at Brixton Academy |
| Porter Robinson Spitfire |
| PUP Morbid Stuff |
| Purity Ring Another Eternity |
| Radiohead Hail to the Thief |
| Remo Drive Greatest Hits |
| Robert Johnson The Complete Recordings |
| Sorry to say, but influential doesn't automatically equal quality, especially in terms of an album. As much as I want to love this, the quality of the recording is nothing short of piss and the songs are all short and incredibly repetitive. I probably wouldn't even give this a 3 if it weren't for just how inventive Johnson's style was, despite an extreme lack of substance. |
| Sam Smith In the Lonely Hour |
| Savant Protos |
| Scale the Summit The Migration |
| SebastiAn Total |
| Shapeshifter Delta |
| Spanish Love Songs Schmaltz |
| Taking Back Sunday Louder Now |
| Taking Back Sunday Happiness Is |
| The 1975 The 1975 |
| The Beatles Abbey Road |
| The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band |
| The Killers Hot Fuss |
| The Killers Sam's Town |
| The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium |
| The Nietzsche Finals. |
| The Promise Ring Nothing Feels Good |
| The Smith Street Band More Scared of You Than You Are of Me |
| The Wonder Years The Upsides |
| The Wonder Years Sister Cities |
| Their / They're / There Their / They're / There |
| Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II |
| TNGHT TNGHT |
| Who doesn't love some phat ass trap horns, am I right? |
| Viper the Rapper You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack |
| Why the fuck don't you smoke crack, you fucking pleb? |
| Wavves Afraid of Heights |
| We Lost the Sea The Quietest Place on Earth |
| XXYYXX XXYYXX |
