The following is an archive of my albumoftheyear.org reviews with the scores attached to them. This post is dedicated to all reviews from 2023. I do not think any of these reviews hold up to my current writing quality, but it is nice to preserve all the ones I haven’t quite gotten to replacing. Any review edited after posting is labelled as such, and if necessary I put a clarification to try to explain what I meant.

The Strokes – Is This It (100)

My fav albums section I’m all posting on Day 1 of AOTY, so this is the last album. Fantastic indie rock.

AND ALL TOGETHER IT WENT WELL: All songs
THEY AIN’T TOO SMART: No songs, I just didn’t want to waste a good least fav track name

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (79)

Repetitive as all hell, worse mixing than Cherry Bomb, So much distortion it puts a 2017 meme to shame, vocals that make me want to tear my ears off, and yet it’s still pretty damn good.

Favs: Only Shallow, I Only Said, Soon
Least Favs: To Here Knows When, Come in Alone
Everything else doesn’t stand out but is pretty good.

David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s really good.

Fav tracks: Five Years, Soul Love, Moonage Daydream, Starman, It Ain’t Easy, Lady Stardust, Hang on to Yourself, Ziggy Stardust, Rock n’ Roll Suicide

Least fav: Suffragette City

Radiohead – Kid A (edited after posting, 100)

Everytime I listen to it, it gets better (it got better this used to be a 90)

This One’s Optimistic: Everything in it’s right place, Kid A, National Anthem, How to Disappear Completely, Optimistic, In Limbo, Idioteque, Morning Bell, Motion Picture Soundtrack

This One Just Came Out of The Swamp: Treefingers

Viktor Vaughn – Vaudeville Villain (90)

The opposite of Operation: Doomsday. Angry production, but still fun wordplay from the villian himself.

THE TRAVELIN VAUDEVILLE VILLIAN: Title track, Lickupon, The Drop, Lactose and Lecthin, A Dead Mouse, Can I Watch, Saliva (my favorite), Modern Day Mugging, Never Dead, Mr. Clean, GMC, Change The Beat

AIN’T NOT FEELING HIM: Open Mic Night 1 and 2, Raedawn (the beat only)

Madvillain – Madvillainy (95)

We already know how good this one is. But why does nobody talk about Raid, it’s probably the best one on here.

Doritos, Cheetos or Fritos: Everything but
Least fav: The instrumental tracks aren’t bad in the slighest but no Doom. Except Do Not Fire, the SSF2 Turbo SFX is genius there.

MF DOOM – MM.. FOOD (99)

This is like going to a nice place, and getting the best hamburger ever made. Perfectly cooked beats, beautifully sauteed bars, and it’s MF DOOM come on.

Favs: all
Least favs: none

The Strokes – Comedown Machine (100)

To quote Christoph Waltz in Django, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist.” How can someone say an album with 11 straight phenominal tracks is bad? Is it different? A bit, but I still felt a Strokes sound. In the end, great album.

Fav Tracks: All
Least Favs: none

Daft Punk – Alive 2007 (100)

Probably the best live album of all time. The vibes are immaculate.

A Tribe Called Quest – We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service (89)

I haven’t listened to any other Tribe album, but knowing the circumstances of it being made (R.I.P Phife), it’s a damn good album.

FAV TRACK: Solid Wall of Sound, The Killing Season
LEAST FAV TRACK: Whateva Will Be

Kanye West – The Life of Pablo (89)

ABSOLUTE INSANITY. Some of Kanye’s best, some of his mid.

TOP 3: Saint Pablo, Waves, No More Parties in LA
BOTTOM 3: Freestyle 4, Pt. 2, and IDK the rest is pretty good.

Green Day – American Idiot (85)

fun guitar riffs

TOP 3: Jesus of Suburbia, Homecoming, St. Jimmy
BOTTOM 3: Give Me Novacaine, Are We The Waiting (ok), Extraordinary Girl (bad),

Tyler, The Creator – IGOR (95)

S O U L.

HIGHLIGHT: ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?
WORST TRACK: RUNNING OUT OF TIME

My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade (85)

The greatest punk rock you’ve ever heard mixed in with a dud of an ending.

TOP 3: Dead!, Welcome to the Black Parade, House of Wolves
BOTTOM 3: Disenchanted, Famous Last Words, Blood

Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (100)

I don’t get why people consider this album sad, it’s too happy to be sad.

HIGHLIGHTS: King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1, 2, and 3, Holland 1945, Communist Daughter

Daft Punk – Discovery (edited after posting, 99)

groove

Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (85)

When will we admit this is the best of the trilogy?

TOP 3: Scott Mescudi vs. The World, Erase Me, GHOST!
BOTTOM 3: Don’t Play This Song, Wild’n Cuz I’m Young, The End

Kanye West – Late Registration (90)

Orchestral soul, but Kanye, you didn’t need to put two duds on what would’ve been your second best album. Now it’s 4th!

TOP 3: We Major, Diamonds from Sierra Leone (without Jay-Z), and Gone
BOTTOM 3: Diamonds but with Jay-Z (mid ahh verse), Crack Music, Addiction

Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon: The End of Day (85)

Nearly as good as Man on the Moon 2, just slightly less consistent.

TOP 3: Cudi Zone, Pursuit of Happiness, Up Up and Away
BOTTOM 3: Heart of a Lion, My World, Make Her Say

The Weeknd – Beauty Behind The Madness (85)

i have no idea what to write for a review, it’s pretty good though.

TOP 3: Real Life, The Hills, Can’t Feel My Face
BOTTOM 3: idk for 2nd and 3rd worst but the worst is the Ed Sheeran one.

Tyler, The Creator – Flower Boy (90)

I ROCK. I ROLL. I BLOOM. I GROW.

Top 3: Foreword, Where This Flower Blooms, Boredom
Bottom 1: Who Dat Boy

Tyler, The Creator – Cherry Bomb (edited after posting, 89)

I might be the only person who actually things this is the best Tyler album, but yeah IGOR’s better. But Cherry Bomb, the variation and experimentation on display…

TOP 3: DEATHCAMP, CHERRY BOMB, SMUCKERS
BOTTOM 3: RUN, FIND YOUR WINGS, KEEP DA O’S

SCORE ADJUST: 93 -> 89
I had a stroke reading my old review for this.

Nirvana – In Utero (100)

Nirvana has got to have one of the best discographies of all time. In Utero probably being the actual best album, I just like Bleach more.

HIGHLIGHTS: Serve the Servants, Heart-Shaped Box, Rape Me, Frances Farmer, Dumb, Very Ape, Milk It, Pennyroyal Tea, All Apologies

Nirvana – Bleach (score edited after posting, 95)

I can’t decide which Nirvana album is my favorite, but I can admit when something probably doesn’t deserve a 10/10 unless it’s any other album not gonna lie.

HIGHLIGHTS: Blew, Floyd the Barber, About a Girl, School, Love Buzz, Negative Creep
Rest is good too.

Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York (100)

OK, if Alive 2007 isn’t the greatest live album ever, this sure is. It’s like listening to someone’s funeral (but like in a way that it makes for some GOAT tier music)

HIGHLIGHTS: The Man Who Sold the World, On a Plain, Something in the Way, and All Apologies are especially good. Not to discredit the rest of the album, but these four in particular are just my favorites of 14 10/10 songs.

OutKast – Stankonia (80)

I’m not going to contribute to the Stankonia/Aquemini debate. Because ATLiens beats both and it’s debatable if Speakerboxx/Love Below does too. But masterful rap from Big Boi and 3 Stacks

HIGHLIGHTS: Gasoline Dreams, So Fresh So Clean, Ms. Jackson, BOB
LOW LIGHTS: I’ll Call B4 I Cum, We Luv Deez Hoes

OutKast – Aquemini (79)

The skits being at the end of songs sure is something I hate about old rap albums. Also Mamacita. But then on the other hand, this is still some great rap, just I might think it’s Outkast’s worst ATLiens, Aquemini, Stankonia, and Speakerboxx/Love Below.

HIGHLIGHTS: Rosa Parks, Da Art of Storytelling (Pts. 1 and 2), SpottieOttieDopaliscious
LOWLIGHTS: Mamacita

OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (70)

Maybe just slightly better than Stankonia, a combined rap album taking the best of both of these would be an inarguable best rap album of all time, but as it is, it’s OK, too long.

HIGHLIGHTS: The Way You Move, Church, Love Hater, Spread, Hey Ya!, Roses, A Day in the Life of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)

OutKast – ATLiens (89)

Outkast’s best.

HIGHLIGHTS: Two Dope Boys (In a Cadillac), ATLiens, Wheelz of Steel, Elevators, Babylon

Metallica – Metallica (70)

It’s more straight-forward and accessible than the first 4 albums, but part of me preferred the absolute insanity at crazy BPM that was Metallica doing thrash. This is fine though, just a bit more forgettable.

HIGHLIGHTS: Enter Sandman, Sad But True, The Unforgiven, Wherever I May Rome, Nothing Else Matters

Slayer – Reign in Blood (79)

Fine metal, and also the worst tier 8 song on Guitar Hero 3 there I said it.

HIGHLIGHTS: Angel of Death, Altar of Sacrifice, Criminally Insane, Raining Blood

The Weeknd – House Of Balloons (89)

The Weeknd: Episode I: The “Scaring the Hoes” Menace

HIGHLIGHTS: High for This, What You Need, House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls, The Morning, Wicked Games, Coming Down
LOW LIGHTS: The Party & The After Party

The Weeknd – Dawn FM (90)

Welcome to cooking with the Weeknd, today we are making one Dawn FM.

You take one scoop After Hours, twenty-seven extra scoops of 80s synths, a little bit of BBTM, and maybe if you’re feeling an extra kick, a spice of Trilogy on top, and congratulations, you’ve made the best Weeknd album.

HIGHLIGHTS: Gasoline, How Do I Make You Love Me, Take My Breath, Sacrifice, Out of Time, Here We Go… Again, Is There Someone Else?

The Weeknd – After Hours (85)

Synths!!! Yay!!!

HIGHLIGHTS: Alone Again, Too Late, Hardest to Love, Heartless, Blinding Lights, In Your Eyes, After Hours, Until I Bleed Out

Tyler, The Creator – CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST (85)

This is just one giant victory lap of an album (not that there’s anything wrong with that)

HIGHLIGHTS: CORSO, WUSYANAME, LUMBERJACK, HOT WIND BLOWS, SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE, RISE!, JUGGERNAUT, WILSHIRE, SAFARI

Parannoul – After the Magic (79)

This album feels like all of a sudden you just start floating and just go with it and it’s really good (which is a weird way of saying this is crazy good)

HIGHLIGHTS: Polaris, Insomnia, Arrival, Sound Inside Me Waves Inside You, After The Magic

J Dilla – Donuts (85)

43 minutes of straight production work that manages to keep me engaged throughout. Thank you, Dilla.

KIDS SEE GHOSTS – KIDS SEE GHOSTS (100)

If I have to pick one thing to highlight, it’s how 4th Dimension shows the sample forwards, normal, and then reverses it to how it is in the song. A moment that made me go “Ohhhhhhhhhhh oh oh!”

HIGHLIGHTS: Feel the Love, Fire, 4th Dimension, Freeee, Reborn, Kids See Ghosts, Cudi Montage

Kanye West – Graduation (85)

Even I’ll admit it’s a bit overrated, as a guy who thinks Kanye is in fact peak music.

Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak (89)

i don’t like pinocchio story there’s too many dinosaur fans

Kanye West – JESUS IS KING (35)

Follow God, God Is, and Use This Gospel are great, but the rest is so forgettable and just whatever. Kanye’s worst, especially when you consider Yandhi was right there.

Kanye West – Donda (75)

CLARIFICATION: I believe I’m trying to say that the following tracks would be my ideal tracklist for the album, and to cut the rest.

Cut stuff, and this is Kanye’s best album.
AKA Jail, God Breathed, Off The Grid, Hurricane, Believe What I Say, 24, Moon, Heaven and Hell, Never Abandon Your Family, Life of the Party, Keep My Spirit Alive, and Come to Life.

Kendrick Lamar – DAMN. (79)

CLARIFICATION: I believe I was trying to joke on the fact that all the songs on this album are formatted in all caps with a period at the end, so I wrote the review in that way.

PRETTY. GOOD. BUT. THE. SOUND. ISN’T. AS. GOOD. AS. THE. JAZZ. OF. SECTION 80. AND. TPAB. OR. THE. GKMC. SOUND.

Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (85)

I don’t think it’s controversial to say double albums are messy, and Mr. Morale doesn’t change that. But after 5 horrible
silent years according to Kendrick fans, (idk i got into him while there were only 2 horrible years left) Mr. Morale is a messy masterpiece that shows a realistic view of those last five years.

Daft Punk – Homework (80)

w e g r o o v i n
(but a bit less than discovery ram alive 07 and even haa)

Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (85)

I BEEN RUNNING THROUGH THE 6 WITH MY WOES

Drake – Nothing Was The Same (79)

This is like when you’re on a lift hill of a roller coaster knowing you’re almost at the peak and it’s all downhill past that.

Drake – Scorpion (30)

When I first got Spotify to get into music it was 2018, prime “THIS ACCOUNT HAS NOT LISTENED TO SCORPION. LISTEN TO SCORPION. IF YOU WOULD NOT LIKE TO LISTEN TO SCORPION, MAY WE RECOMMEND SCORPION?”

so i listened to scorpion and swore off rap until i got into eminem the next year this isn’t good.
but an enlightened me relistened and… it’s still bad but hey sandra’s rose mob ties and nice for what are cool

Drake – Certified Lover Boy (35)

Oops! All Filler!

Drake – Honestly, Nevermind (60)

You know, Drake trying house was an idea I was open to, and it’s not bad? 100% overhated it’s chill house and even though it’s decently forgettable, at least it isn’t all filler like the 2 albums preceding it.

Drake – Views (45)

To reuse the rollercoaster metaphor of Drake’s career, we have passed the lift hill, down we go.

The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (85)

This is the soundtrack to floating in space, would be an 100 if the last song wasn’t just OK.

Frank Ocean – channel ORANGE (89)

Channel Orange > Blonde and it’s not too close.

The Strokes – The New Abnormal (100)

CLARIFICATION: I’m not exactly sure what I meant here, because rock is my favorite genre. I should know it exists after 2007?

You know, maybe rock didn’t die off in 2007.

Ramones – Ramones (edited after posting, 60)

Wait this is just Blitzkrieg Bop and then Blitzkrieg Bop 12 more, worse times

Lil Uzi Vert – Pink Tape (60)

I actually didn’t mind the experimentation, I just thought the more “basic” songs were too repetitive and long because of repetition.

Radiohead – Hail to the Thief (80)

With how tight Radiohead releases are, it’s sad to see one even slightly bloated.

Mingus – The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (90)

I like how it feels so passionate yet effortless, like the music truly pops out.

Fine ambiance, just disappointing coming off Radiohead’s hot streak of The Bends through In Rainbows.

FIFTY FIFTY – THE FIFTY (50)

Tell Me is peak!

The rest is OK.

Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool (75)

I do not get this one.

Travis Scott – UTOPIA (edited after posting, 30)

On it’s own, it’s an OK album carried by production. With a 5 year wait, it’s slightly more disappointing.

SCORE ADJUST: 60 –> 30: Another album where I don’t know what I was thinking at first. This is just boring.

Daft Punk – TRON: LEGACY (99)

Daft Punk. I mean that’s all I have to say.

Fishmans – 98.12.28 Otokotachi no wakare (100)

The passion in the performance is unreal, sucking you in for a phenominal 2 hours.

Fishmans – Kuchu Camp (79)

I enjoyed this album. The dream pop sound was a type of sound I think the band nailed, especially on the songs BABY BLUE and Nightcruising. However, I was not as much of a fan of the more experimental songs which closed the album.

Justice – Cross (aka Justice, †; 80)

The synth-heavy sound mixed in with a more traditional bass was a sound I enjoyed a lot. However, I felt the album would have a run of 3 good songs, then a mediocre song, although the mediocre song comes first the 3rd time around.

DANGERDOOM – The Mouse and the Mask (95)

The finale to DOOM’s untouchable run from 1999 to 2005, I was a huge fan of the Adult Swim cartoon production, and of course DOOM’s bars are phenominal as always.

Paramore – Riot! (75)

Not as good as This Is Why, but still a very solid pop-punk album, though I would’ve liked the album to have a bit more variation.

Pink Floyd – Animals (100)

I don’t even know how or why they thought an Animal Farm-style critique of capitalism was a good album idea, but goddamn, it worked.