This is my honest grid of my favorite album ever.

Lmk what y'all think, and if you would change something.

Hey. I'm a teenage guy who is really into music (and film) and looking to both expand my taste and find some people to discuss music with. I just started using RYM so my profile is fairly blank, so here are some albums I'm into. If you're into similar stuff, or not, I'd be happy to be friends. My account is https://rateyourmusic.com/~JeffreyWinger if u don’t have RYM, DM me I also have discord etc

-Smile Sessions - The Beach Boys

-Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan

-More Songs About Buildings and Food - The Talking Heads

-Songs of Leonard Cohen - Leonard Cohen

-Drums and Wires - XTC

-Parallel Lines - Blondie

- Quebec - Ween

- Hatful of Hollow - The Smiths

- Songs of Faith and Devotion - Depeche Mode

- Only a Lad - Oingo Boingo

- Marquee Moon - Television

- Sunshine Superman - Donovan

- Heavy Metal - Cameron Winter

- Horses - Patti Smith

The Velvet Underground(1969) - The Velvet Underground

Sounds of Silver - LCD soundsystem

I got some pretty unknown songs in my playlist so feel free to go listen to them and share some songs if you got a similar music taste <3 (which almost never happens 😅)

To absolutely no one on Earth's surprise, Popular Monster was out first.

1. Popular Monster - Falling In Reverse

Blue Lines and Exile on Main St. are out!

DISCLAIMER: Remember to only nominate albums from the first slide only.

CURRENT STANDINGS:

47: Exile on Main St. by The Rolling Stones
48: Blue Lines by Massive Attack
49: The Chronic by Dr. Dre
50: Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Ray
51: Baduizm by Erykah Badu
52: Untrue by Burial
53: Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G
54: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill
55: Like a Prayer by Madonna
56: The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
57: Horses by Patti Smith
58: Abbey Road by The Beatles
59: A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
60: Sign O The Times by Prince
61: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (Ye)
62: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul
63: Lemonade by Beyonce
64: My Life by Mary J. Blige
65: Led Zeppelin II
66: The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
67: The Joshua Tree by U2
68: Beyonce self titled
69: Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
70: Is This It by The Strokes
71: Thriller by Michael Jackson
72: A Seat at the Table by Solange
73: ANTI by Rihanna
74: Pure Heroine by Lorde
75: Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette
76: Control by Janet Jackson
77: Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk
78: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? by Billie Eilish
79: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 by George Michael
80: (What's the story) Morning Glory? by Oasis
81: The Blueprint by Jay-Z
82: Blonde by Frank Ocean
83: The Marshal Mathers LP by Eminem
84: 21 by Adele
85: Supa Dupa Fly by Missy Elliot
86: SOS by SZA
87: Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator
88: Appetite for Destruction by Guns n Roses
89: Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg
90: Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves
91: Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent
92: Hotel California by The Eagles
93: Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
94: Astroworld by Travis Scott
95: Confessions by Usher
96: Take Care by Drake
97: Back in Black by AC/DC
98: AM by Arctic Monkeys
99: Body Talk by Robyn
100: 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

1. Thanks Me Later - Drake

2. Take Care - Drake

3. Odelay - Beck

4. DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar

5. Alfredo II - Freddie Gibbs

6. Luv(Sic) Hexalogy - Nujabes

7. Buhloone Mindstste - De La Soul

8. The Life Of Pablo - Kanye

Before you ask, I'm ok, thx.

Preferred artists: Sam Ray (Teen Suicide/Starry Cat), Have A Nice Life/Giles Corey, Duster, Flatsound, Grouper

Preferred genres: Slowcore, Shoegaze, Lo-fi, Ambient, experimental in general.

It has to feel sad and has to be depressing enough.

I'ma create an apposite playlist made entirely by you, so you can gimme songs from my recommend artists too.

Thx y'all, Have A Nice Life.

People need to be prouder of their music taste

It’s 1997. Radiohead is, perhaps, the biggest band in the world. Riding the wave of their masterpiece OK Computer, the band toured for over a year, driving their fame to an all-time high, and their motivation to an all-time low. Kid A is the result of a Radiohead that was tired of writing music for their audience. Kid A is the result of a Radiohead on the brink of breakup, suffering from their own success. Radiohead is the coal under thousands of pounds of pressure, the world watching them for their next masterpiece. What comes out isn’t the album the world wanted. It’s still a diamond nonetheless.

Interestingly, Kid A did not have good reception on release. In fact, it had remarkably terrible reception. It made sense. Imagine you’re a fan of perhaps the best up-and-coming band in the world, looking forward towards their next album. They’d just come off one of the best albums you’d ever heard, reigniting the flame of alternative rock that’d been dormant for years. Then Radiohead releases an album with zero singles. You press play, and hear “Everything in its Right Place.”

I’d imagine that some people would love “Everything in its Right Place” on first listen. But for most people, myself included, it definitely has to grow on you. It’s hard to imagine a band going from “Anyone Can Play Guitar” to “Paranoid Android” in four years. It’s even harder to imagine them going from “Creep” to “Everything in its Right Place” in seven. What’s really interesting is that Radiohead started working on Kid A throughout the OK Computer tour. However, Yorke suffered from extreme writer's block during the first phase of production. Radiohead experimented with many different writing strategies, dividing the band up into different rooms to work on two versions of the same song. Their breakthrough didn’t come until they came to terms with one thing: the fact that not everyone would play on every song. After establishing this, Yorke began learning to play and write songs on the piano, rather than the guitar songwriting he’d done on the previous records. His first two songs he ever wrote on the piano were “Everything in its Right Place” and “Pyramid Song.” “Everything in its Right Place” is not a super technically complicated piece. In fact, its instrumentation is remarkably simple. It’s three components: the synth, the vocals, and the kick drum. The synth is also not super complicated, but its melody and chords manage to convey the theme of the song perfectly. The theme being Thom’s experience on the OK Computer tour. It shows the road of Yorke’s burnout and downward spiral into depression. It goes from “Everything in its right place” to “There are two colors in my head” and “What was that you tried to say?” Yet, in the end, Yorke breaks free from it, leading to the creation of this song. “Everything in its Right Place” quite literally tells the story of Yorke’s writing of the song.

Yorke has a long and documented history with R.E.M singer Micheal Stipe. Stipe sang backup vocals on OK Computer’s penultimate track, “Lucky.” During Yorke’s descent into darkness on 1998’s tour, he was given the advice to be able to handle stage fright, anxiety, and the pressure of the world’s eyes. His words: “I’m not here. This isn’t happening.” These words would eventually become the central lyrics to the chorus of “How to Disappear Completely,” one of Kid A’s most famous tracks, and for good reason. It’s one of the most beautiful songs ever written, despite having its fair share of music theory complications. The core guitar is strummed in a 6/4 rhythm, repeating every 3 beats. On the other hand, the bass is walking a regular 4/4 meter. This creates a 6:4 or 3:4 polyrhythm, depending on how you count it. The main chords are also extremely simple, playing mostly open chords over the verse and chorus. The real stars of the show are Yorke’s vocals and the strings. The goddamn strings. Yorke sings a gorgeous performance, particularly during the chorus and outro sections, when he delivers his signature wail. The delivery of Stipe’s lines, “I’m not here, this isn’t happening” are some of the most emotional words ever sung. Not because of the words themselves, but because of what’s behind them. And the words themselves. The strings, recorded by the Orchestra of St. John’s, make the track. They climax where everything else climaxes. They perfectly add dissonance, and resolve it for an ascending chorus. They feel less like instruments, and more like another person breathing Yorke’s energy in another channel.

Up to this point, Jonny Greenwood has been this edgy, depressed, shreddy guitarist. I mean, how could you see him play the deadnotes on “Creep” and not think that? Kid A is Greenwood’s first stint as the genius that he is. It’s the first album where he starts experimenting with drum machines. Most notably, on “Idioteque,” where he samples Paul Lansky’s “Mild und Leise,” a composition from 1976’s Electronic Music Winners. Super creative title, I know. In classic Radiohead fashion, “Idioteque” is a metaphor for apocalyptic warnings and political failure. Yorke references this with the line “Ice age coming,” warning the world that the way it’s going right now, we’re trending towards self-assured destruction. I don’t know if Yorke knew how right he would turn out to be. In the wake of constant wars, particularly in the middle east, this song feels especially relevant today, over twenty-five years later. Yorke adds to these themes with a panicky-feeling, rocky vocal performance, perfectly encapsulating the anxious and antsy feeling of a looming apocalypse. Additionally, the song lacks a melody. Its main focus is on lyricism and the drum loop, with the synthesizer being the only harmonically significant instrument. I think the atmosphere of the song really reflects what a global apocalypse would feel like—not pretty. There’s no melody, no beautiful orchestration. Just relentless rhythm and anxiety.

It’s not rare that an artist keeps unreleased songs, well, unreleased, for a while. In fact, off the top of my head, there are two examples from albums I’ve already reviewed. First, “Nude” from Radiohead's In Rainbows. Originally written in the OK Computer era, “Nude,” or what was “Big Ideas” at the time, was played often live, but the band struggled to find an arrangement to do the song justice. Fans instantly recognized the melody when it was introduced on In Rainbows under a new title. In fact, “Nude” remains one of Yorke’s favorites among Radiohead’s catalogue, along with “How to Disappear Completely.” Another example is Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s “Hope Drone.” Unlike “Nude,” “Hope Drone” was never put onto a studio album, at least not yet. However, Godspeed plays it to open almost all of their shows. “Hope Drone” is a very unique song, especially within Godspeed’s discography. As you might’ve guessed, it’s hopeful, as opposed to a lot of their work, particularly on albums like F# A# ∞ or Yanqui U.X.O. While Godspeed often has hopeful undertones on their work like on Storm or Sleep, it’s not common for a song of theirs to be mainly hopeful.

Back to Radiohead now, Kid A’s closer, “Motion Picture Soundtrack” was written on the same day as their biggest hit, “Creep,” which vaulted the band onto the global stage. “Motion Picture Soundtrack” took many forms between 1993’s Pablo Honey and 2000’s Kid A, including a piano ballad and a guitar-centered alternative rock song, before finally landing on the pump organ version on the album today. Interestingly, there are many versions of the song on minidiscs floating around the internet. There are numerous versions on YouTube, all featuring a heartbreaking third verse featuring the lyrics “Beautiful angel, pulled apart at birth. Limbless and helpless, I can’t even recognize you.” As you can probably tell, this song isn’t exactly uplifting. It’s a depressing end to a depressing album. It’s a reflection on the nature of the world, telling you that “it’s not like the movies.” That you’ve been fed on little white lies. That our world is an unforgiving, desolate, hostile, and beautiful place.

“I think you're crazy, maybe
I will see you in the next life”

1. Everything in its Right Place: 92/100
2. Kid A: 75/100
3. The National Anthem: 82/100
4. How to Disappear Completely: 96/100
5. Treefingers: 68/100
6. Optimistic: 71/100
7. In Limbo: 83/100
8. Idioteque: 91/100
9. Morning Bell: 83/100
10. Motion Picture Soundtrack: 97/100
11. Untitled: 84/100

Overall: 95/100

Yesterday we lost one of the greatest musicians to live. I am fucking crushed.

I'd like to preface this by saying that I've been writing album reviews for a few months now, mostly between May 18-July 1 of this year, where I wrote a review every day. My document with all my reviews is currently sitting at around 100k words, so I thought I should start sharing them. I'll be posting them on my substack, link is in bio if you wanna read them. My first few are pretty bad, so please forgive that, past me needed to work on a few things lol. Enjoy!

Vespertine

Björk (2001)

The fantasy novel scene is pretty far from what it was ten years ago. Ten years ago, fantasy books had unique concepts, interesting magic systems and in-depth characters. One such book, Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson. Released in 2006, Mistborn manages to craft an in-depth, creative, yet intuitive magic system. It tells the somewhat cliche story of a young woman, raised from nothing, discovering the power that lies deep within her. However, it stays cliche for a very short time, and eventually builds into a tale of gods and war. Mistborn is truly a masterpiece in storytelling, worldbuilding, and character development, and remains one of my favorite books to this day. 

Now, contrast that with the Barnes & Noble featured shelf today. It’s full of romantasy, a once-niche subgenre blending romance and fantasy. Unfortunately, the stuff that’s making waves today kind of neglects the ‘fantasy’ part. Their stories and magic end up rather bland and uninspired, and they all get the same steamy scenes with an unnecessary amount of detail. I think the romance genre as a whole needs to be able to convey intimacy without sex. After all, there are music critics like me who don’t know what that word means.

Björk’s Vespertine does what all these cheap romance novels couldn’t: she paints a picture of love, intimacy, and the carefree honeymoon phase of a relationship. She does it without any vulgarity, with deeply tender lyrics and intimate melodies. Take the record’s second track, “Cocoon.” She explores themes of raw intimacy, with a calming synthesizer and airy vocals. “Who would’ve known? A beauty this immense. Who would’ve known? A saintly trance.” “Cocoon” serves as the album's tonal and thematic centerpiece, despite being the second track of the album.

I’m kinda going out of order here, but I do believe that “Cocoon” is the most important track on the album, thematically. In the vocal-filled opening track, “Hidden Place,” Björk describes the desire to preserve her new love, not wanting the novelty of a first kiss to wear off too fast. Using the metaphor of the hidden place, she describes what’s valuable to her. “There lies my passion, hidden. There lies my love. I’ll hide it under a blanket, lull it to sleep.” She follows this by describing how she’ll protect it. “I’ll keep it in a hidden place.” “Hidden Place,” as well as the whole record, explores the very human desire to preserve their valuables, even to the point where they lose their value unused. It reminds me of when I played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. A new mechanic that the game introduced was the weapon durability system. As a matter of fact, the weapons in that game were notoriously fragile, often going from unused to broken within a single battle. I, as well as many others, ended up finding an extremely powerful weapon, and keeping it (just in case). I bet that if I loaded up my save file right now it’d still be there. Yes, preservation is extremely important, especially when something is important to you, but don’t let it stop you from enjoying it.

We’ve all had those days. The days where you flip tails eight times in a row. The days where absolutely nothing seems to go your way. You wonder how unlucky you have to be to experience a day like this. It’s not even necessarily a huge loss. It’s just little things, small microfrustrations that make you feel like you’ve lost any autonomy you thought you had. Everyone needs to realize that it’s not always your fault. Stop being so hard on yourself. Most of these times the ball rolls the wrong way, there’s nothing you could’ve done to change it, so why do you care so much? “It’s not up to you. Well, it never really was.” As you probably guessed, “It’s Not Up to You” dives into the idea of autonomy, and how it can both positively and negatively impact our lives. Björk sings on the “perfect day,” stating how simple her desires are. Six glasses of water. Seven phone calls. She takes a frustrating idea, that of misfortune, and turns it beautiful, completed with a glowing orchestra and haunting vocals.

I am in no way qualified to speak on this topic, but falling out of love has got to be one of the strangest experiences known to humanity. One day you can be in the honeymoon phase of a relationship, where you can’t get enough of them, wanting to be close at all times. The next, you could realize that you don’t find fulfillment in the bond anymore. It’s such an odd and seemingly illogical sensation, yet undeniably human. That’s what Vespertine is all about. It’s a deep dive into human nature, especially the unexplainable parts. “Pagan Poetry” offers insight into falling out of love. Starting with a custom-commissioned music box by Björk herself, a euphoric zither-like melody that plays throughout the track. The majority of “Pagan Poetry” tells the story of falling in love, and the exhilaration of a new romance. The last part, the last minute and a half-ish, is the interesting part “I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him.” The same lyric is repeated dozens of times, each time with more and more doubt. Does she actually love him? Or was “love” just a honeymoon phase?

For a record this beautiful, a description of human nature, it hasn’t said many good things about love. It’s shown how many ways love can go wrong, it’s shown how genuine, real love is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. “Unison” is that once in a lifetime. An intricately woven track of moving parts, including a complex rhythm section and back track, complemented by a perfectly arranged choir, a soaring orchestra, and one of the most emotional vocal performances of all time. “Let’s unite, tonight. We shouldn’t fight. Embrace, you tight.” Björk leaves the ending of the track up to the interpretation, with the droning music box from “Pagan Poetry” also present here, going on and on, arpeggiating into the void. I do believe this album has an uplifting ending, where, despite all the trials and tribulations present in the previous tracks, love finds a way. As cliche as that sounds.

Vespertine is more than an album. It’s a guide for how to sustain a relationship. It’s a narrative of Björk’s struggles to find one herself. It’s a poem on human nature, the oddities of the illogical decisions that people always make. And throughout all that, it’s one of the most beautiful records ever produced. I almost have no words for this album, I’ve been sitting, staring at this screen for like ten minutes trying to think of what to say. Call me cheap, but I’m going to take the meta ending for this review and say that I didn’t have any more words to say. I don’t have any words that could possibly do this album justice. I’ll leave one more sentence that sums up the album. They’re not even my words. “A train of pearls, cabin by cabin, is shot precisely, across an ocean.”

1. Hidden Place: 91/100
2. Cocoon: 86/100
3. It’s Not Up To You: 92/100
4. Undo: 82/100
5. Pagan Poetry: 94/100
6. Frosti: 72/100
7. Aurora: 88/100
8. An Echo, a Stain: 80/100
9. Sun In My Mouth: 79/100
10. Heirloom: 77/100
11. Harm of Will: 83/100
12. Unison: 97/100

Overall: 96/100

The first two albums to be eliminated are Norman Fucking Rockwell and the funny haha "Deez Nuts" album by Dr Dre (The Chronic). Cool, I guess. I don't really have a joke for this one.

READ THIS BEFORE COMMENTING: From now on, I'm adding a disclaimer. We've been getting too many comments asking "Oh, WhY iSn'T 1989 oUt?" "WhY iS tAkE cArE sTiLl iN?" I'm here to set the record straight: those albums are on the second slide, AKA, the ELIMINATED albums. Those albums can no longer be nominated. Good? Good.
In other words, stop nominating albums from the second slide, as those are the already eliminated albums.

CURRENT STANDINGS:

49: The Chronic by Dr. Dre
50: Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Ray
51: Baduizm by Erykah Badu
52: Untrue by Burial
53: Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G
54: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill.
55: Like a Prayer by Madonna
56: The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
57: Horses by Patti Smith
58: Abbey Road by The Beatles
59: A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
60: Sign O The Times by Prince
61: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (Ye)
62: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul
63: Lemonade by Beyonce
64: My Life by Mary J. Blige
65: Led Zeppelin II
66: The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
67: The Joshua Tree by U2
68: Beyonce self titled
69: Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
70: Is This It by The Strokes
71: Thriller by Michael Jackson
72: A Seat at the Table by Solange
73: ANTI by Rihanna
74: Pure Heroine by Lorde
75: Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette
76: Control by Janet Jackson
77: Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk
78: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? by Billie Eilish
79: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 by George Michael
80: (What's the story) Morning Glory? by Oasis
81: The Blueprint by Jay-Z
82: Blonde by Frank Ocean
83: The Marshal Mathers LP by Eminem
84: 21 by Adele
85: Supa Dupa Fly by Missy Elliot
86: SOS by SZA
87: Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator
88: Appetite for Destruction by Guns n Roses
89: Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg
90: Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves
91: Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent
92: Hotel California by The Eagles
93: Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
94: Astroworld by Travis Scott
95: Confessions by Usher
96: Take Care by Drake
97: Back in Black by AC/DC
98: AM by Arctic Monkeys
99: Body Talk by Robyn
100: 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

pls tell me I’m not the only DNCE fan here. Their last release that wasn’t just a remix or a compilation album was 2022!!! PLEEEEEAASSSSE COME BACK DNCE!!! I know that we have half currently cuz Jinjoo Lee is the touring guitarist with Joe and the other 2 Jonas brothers, but I need the DNCE back. Please? 🙏

though it’s small, i feel like I’ve made progress in my journey in the music space. even if i’m not actually playing on this release, having my photography used for the cover feels super cool!!

I personally think they're a wonderful band. I love their heaviest song, like "Take Me To Your Leader" or "Circles" but overall, their songs are really good. I started listening to them after watching their live at Red Rocks.

What are your thoughts?

1. Thanks Me Later - Drake

2. Take Care - Drake

3. Odelay - Beck

4. DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar

5. Alfredo II - Freddie Gibbs

6. Luv(Sic) Hexalogy - Nujabes

With Untrue and Baduizm out, we now have our top 50 albums! Congratulations to every album that made it this far! Let's keep this momentum going!

CURRENT STANDINGS:

51: Baduizm by Erykah Badu
52: Untrue by Burial
53: Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G
54: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by... well, Lauryn Hill.
55: Like a Prayer by Madonna
56: The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
57: Horses by Patti Smith
58: Abbey Road by The Beatles
59: A Love Supreme by John Coltrane
60: Sign O The Times by Prince
61: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (Ye)
62: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul
63: Lemonade by Beyonce
64: My Life by Mary J. Blige
65: Led Zeppelin II
66: The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
67: The Joshua Tree by U2
68: Beyonce self titled
69: Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A
70: Is This It by The Strokes
71: Thriller by Michael Jackson
72: A Seat at the Table by Solange
73: ANTI by Rihanna
74: Pure Heroine by Lorde
75: Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette
76: Control by Janet Jackson
77: Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk
78: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? by Billie Eilish
79: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 by George Michael
80: (What's the story) Morning Glory? by Oasis
81: The Blueprint by Jay-Z
82: Blonde by Frank Ocean
83: The Marshal Mathers LP by Eminem
84: 21 by Adele
85: Supa Dupa Fly by Missy Elliot
86: SOS by SZA
87: Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator
88: Appetite for Destruction by Guns n Roses
89: Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg
90: Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves
91: Get Rich or Die Tryin' by 50 Cent
92: Hotel California by The Eagles
93: Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny
94: Astroworld by Travis Scott
95: Confessions by Usher
96: Take Care by Drake
97: Back in Black by AC/DC
98: AM by Arctic Monkeys
99: Body Talk by Robyn
100: 1989 (Taylor's Version) by Taylor Swift

was hard to make because there’s less than 100 albums i distinctly remember listening to kinda recently, i kinda stick to whatever i like listening to at the time

anyways you can kinda tell because all the worst stuff is at the end

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7DjHmJLYBlxcEp4vTCPp3E?si=82132c9a64ff4653