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    1. Album of the Week #26: Gang Starr - Moment of Truth

      This is Album of the Week #26 ~ This week's album is Gang Starr - Moment of Truth Year of Release: 1998 Genre(s): East Coast Hip Hop, Boom Bap Country: United States Length: 78 minutes RYM |...

      This is Album of the Week #26 ~ This week's album is Gang Starr - Moment of Truth

      Year of Release: 1998
      Genre(s): East Coast Hip Hop, Boom Bap
      Country: United States
      Length: 78 minutes
      RYM | Listen!

      Excerpt from Albumism:

      Instead, the crew thrived, slightly updating its sound, but remaining true to its roots. While the music was more melodic and a bit cleaner, the soul of the group remained intact. If anything, as Guru says to open the album, both the rhyme style and the style of beats are “elevated.” Behind the boards, Primo runs a clinic in hip-hop production, showcasing his superior sample chopping skills. Guru turned in the best lyrical performance of his career, and honestly one of the best lyrical performances of the past quarter-century. He even produced a pair of tracks on the album, the first time he had received the sole production credit on a Gang Starr album.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      15 votes
    2. Album of the Week #25: D'Angelo - Voodoo

      This is Album of the Week #25 ~ This week's album is D'Angelo - Voodoo Year of Release: 2000 Genre(s): Neo-Soul Country: United States Length: 79 minutes RYM | Listen! Excerpt from Pitchfork:...

      This is Album of the Week #25 ~ This week's album is D'Angelo - Voodoo

      Year of Release: 2000
      Genre(s): Neo-Soul
      Country: United States
      Length: 79 minutes
      RYM | Listen!

      Excerpt from Pitchfork:

      Details also give Voodoo its timelessness. The album's gentle avoidance of common song structures adds spontaneity; even after hundreds of listens, it's still possible to be surprised. The barely-heard words spoken in intros and outros give things continuity and a voyeuristic quality, like you're hearing it all through a city wall; listen again for the the sweetly awkward conversation with an ex that starts "One Mo' Gin" or the way "Greatdayndamornin'" is introduced with D'Angelo praising ?uestlove to journalist dream hampton: "I was like, 'You gonna be my drummer one of these days,'" gushes D.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      11 votes
    3. Album of the Week #23: Sam Rivers - Contours

      This is Album of the Week #23 ~ This week's album is Sam Rivers - Contours Year of Release: 1967 Genre(s): Avant-Garde Jazz Country: United States Length: 40 minutes RYM | Listen! Excerpt from All...

      This is Album of the Week #23 ~ This week's album is Sam Rivers - Contours

      Year of Release: 1967
      Genre(s): Avant-Garde Jazz
      Country: United States
      Length: 40 minutes
      RYM | Listen!

      Excerpt from All About Jazz:

      Joining Rivers on the date are trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, drummer Joe Chambers and, most significantly, pianist Herbie Hancock and bassist Ron Carter, two players who were also exploring a more intellectual avenue between tradition and invention with Miles Davis, albeit with a more elastic time sense thanks to drummer Tony Williams. Chambers, who emerged seemingly out of nowhere around '64, was no less investigative than Williams but, on sessions with artists including Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter and Hill, demonstrated a lighter touch, less of the explosive power that was Williams' inclination.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      6 votes
    4. Album of the Week #24: Rush - A Farewell to Kings

      This is Album of the Week #24 ~ This week's album is Rush - A Farewell to Kings Year of Release: 1977 Genre(s): Progressive Rock Country: United States Length: 37 minutes RYM | Listen! Excerpt...

      This is Album of the Week #24 ~ This week's album is Rush - A Farewell to Kings

      Year of Release: 1977
      Genre(s): Progressive Rock
      Country: United States
      Length: 37 minutes
      RYM | Listen!

      Excerpt from PopMatters:

      A Farewell to Kings is an important album in the trajectory of Rush’s career. Having just released the ambitious 2112 a year earlier, the trio didn’t settle with their power guitar-bass-drum hard rock formula, but decided to get even more experimental. Peart started playing with new types of percussion: tubular bells, orchestral bells, temple blocks, etc. At the same time, Lee delved into the Mini Moog and the signature bass pedal synthesizer, while Alex Lifeson experimented with different guitars and effects, most notably the wide, encompassing chorus effects that would fill out Rush’s sound for many albums to come. In many ways, the sound and instrumental experimentation on Kings set the tone and expectations for everything that would come after it.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      10 votes
    5. Album of the Week #21: Fiction - Dark Tranquillity

      This is Album of the Week #22 ~ This week's album is Dark Tranquillity - Fiction Year of Release: 2006 Genre(s): Melodic Death Metal Country: Sweden Length: 46 minutes RYM | Listen! Excerpt from...

      This is Album of the Week #22 ~ This week's album is Dark Tranquillity - Fiction

      Year of Release: 2006
      Genre(s): Melodic Death Metal
      Country: Sweden
      Length: 46 minutes
      RYM | Listen!

      Excerpt from MetalReviews:

      Dark Tranquillity stand as one of the few Gothenburg bands who have remained true to their roots throughout their careers, and it’s a welcome thing to know that such bands still exist and are putting out quality material without sounding the least bit stale or tired. On Fiction, Dark Tranquillity handles multiple strands of melody and atmosphere with a master’s touch, crafting something that easily stands against accusations of stagnancy in the genre. Simply put – this is one of the good ones.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      8 votes
    6. Album of the Week #20: Bruno Pernadas - Those Who Throw Objects at the Crocodiles Will Be Asked to Retrieve Them

      This is Album of the Week #21 ~ This week's album is Bruno Pernadas - Those Who Throw Objects at the Crocodiles Will Be Asked to Retrieve Them Year of Release: 2016 Genre(s): Progressive Pop/Art...

      This is Album of the Week #21 ~ This week's album is Bruno Pernadas - Those Who Throw Objects at the Crocodiles Will Be Asked to Retrieve Them

      Year of Release: 2016
      Genre(s): Progressive Pop/Art Pop
      Country: Portugal
      Length: 53 minutes
      RYM | Listen!

      Excerpt from RYM review by user DoubleMissMatt:

      But there's more in this melting pot of sound than jazz and pop, with touches of electronic music and sampledelia in the mix on tracks such as "Anywhere In Space Time". Building a groove off of analogue synths and a fuzzy chopped vocal sample gives this track a kaleidoscopic sound that reminds me a bit of the Avalanches' debut record. And this isn't exclusive just to this track, as there are a number of nostalgic lo-fi vocal samples that seem to be pulled from films/T.V shows from the 60's (forgive me if I'm wrong with that assumption) scattered across this album at the start/end of songs. That, alongside the two "poem" interludes breaking up the track list, give this album a film-like quality that adds to the wonder of the experience.

      Discussion points:
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      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      8 votes
    7. Album of the Week #19: The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity

      This is Album of the Week #20 ~ This week's album is The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity Year of Release: 1999 Genre(s): Mathcore Country: United States Length: 37 minutes RYM |...

      This is Album of the Week #20 ~ This week's album is The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity

      Year of Release: 1999
      Genre(s): Mathcore
      Country: United States
      Length: 37 minutes
      RYM | Listen!

      Excerpt from Sputnik Music:

      Wanna know why it all works? Because the insane technicality and the angular “prog-meets-punk” riffing ensure that each emotional catharsis is earned. The Dillinger Escape Plan somehow have the ability to turn technical prowess into atmosphere, weaving in and out of disturbing musical passages; Dimitri is simply icing on the cake with the chaos he spews over it all. But each emotional release works because the band members are incredibly skilled at building us up to those moments. Much like Converge’s Jane Doe, there’s a respect and care that’s given to each weird transition and tempo shift despite the hell being unleashed on top of the songwriting.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      10 votes
    8. Album of the Week #18: Portishead - Portishead

      This is Album of the Week #19 ~ This week's album is Portishead - Portishead Year of Release: 1997 Genre(s): Trip Hop Country: United Kingdom Length: 50 minutes RYM | Listen! Excerpt from Vulture:...

      This is Album of the Week #19 ~ This week's album is Portishead - Portishead

      Year of Release: 1997
      Genre(s): Trip Hop
      Country: United Kingdom
      Length: 50 minutes
      RYM | Listen!

      Excerpt from Vulture:

      The album makes total sense, but how does it sound? One could argue that Portishead can be more admirable in theory than in practice. Created in direct opposition to the twinned principles of quick profit and easy pleasure, it’s a masterpiece of painful rigor. With the exception of “Undenied,” the album’s exhilarations, though plentiful, are inseparable from its harrowing politics and embattled nature. Utley’s riff on “Cowboys” is fit to saw through steel; Barrow’s beat on “Elysium” counts its measures with an alarming or bomb-adjacent urgency; Gibbons’s voice, shorn of comforting accompaniments, is charged with a kind of grievous purity throughout, reaching heights of agony unheard on Dummy.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      20 votes
    9. Album of the Week #17: Canserbero - Muerte

      This is Album of the Week #18 ~ This week's album is Canserbero - Muerte Year of Release: 2012 Genre(s): Conscious Hip Hop Country: Venezuela Length: 70 minutes RYM | Listen! (Album.Link) RYM...

      This is Album of the Week #18 ~ This week's album is Canserbero - Muerte

      Year of Release: 2012
      Genre(s): Conscious Hip Hop
      Country: Venezuela
      Length: 70 minutes
      RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

      RYM review by ligetifan137:

      When you go to Venezuela, caserbero is everywhere you go. His mark not only on the Venezuelan rap scene but worldwide is so tangible it's almost impossible to process he is gone. The power with which he delivers each line, with so much anger as he describes such raw descriptions of daily venezuelan life is haunting, it's so poetic yet so realistic. He was very well read, which can be seen all through out the numerous references of various thinkers as well as laying a very grim philosophical and political groundwork present all around Venezuela. The concept of this album functions perfectly, each song flows so nicely and feels very natural. Even though the beats can be a but repetitive and under produced, they are so overshadowed by his performance you almost forget they're there: it's as if he's speaking to you face to face. A legend to many, gone too soon. Rest in peace

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      9 votes
    10. Album of the Week #17: Wormrot - Voices

      This is Album of the Week #17 ~ This week's album is Wormrot - Voices Year of Release: 2016 Genre(s): Grindcore Country: Singapore Length: 26 minutes RYM | Listen! (Album.Link) Excerpt from Angry...

      This is Album of the Week #17 ~ This week's album is Wormrot - Voices

      Year of Release: 2016
      Genre(s): Grindcore
      Country: Singapore
      Length: 26 minutes
      RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from Angry Metal Guy:

      Natural though it may be, there’s something very special about how Voices draws from outside the walls of grindcore. It’s adventurous but just sounds so… obvious. This is just the sort of thing Wormrot do: write so well, perform so tightly, that whatever they’re doing just seems inevitable. Effortless, perhaps. Voices is loud, violent, and brutal, but it also restrained, as if measured in micrograms of controlled adrenaline and delivered intravenously. Like last year’s offering from Beaten to Death, this is a unique and immensely enjoyable take on grindcore that’s a true flame-bearer of the genre and won’t be wanting for love on the year-end lists of the abrasively inclined.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      10 votes
    11. Album of the Week #16: Coil - Love's Secret Domain

      This is Album of the Week #16 ~ This week's album is Coil - Love's Secret Domain Year of Release: 1991 Genre(s): Industrial Country: United Kingdom Length: 61 minutes RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)...

      This is Album of the Week #16 ~ This week's album is Coil - Love's Secret Domain

      Year of Release: 1991
      Genre(s): Industrial
      Country: United Kingdom
      Length: 61 minutes
      RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from The Quietus:

      ... the combined musical impact of Love's Secret Domain remains undiminished: a sonic world erupting with mind-spinning ingenuity, that beneath its surface strangeness, holds more hooks and grooves than a Cenobite's playroom. As always with Coil, however, Love's Secret Domain is about more than music; it's an exploration of what it meant, in 1991, to be a deeply inquisitive consciousness, all channels on, all bandwidths open, trapped in a human body and surrounded by the joy, anger and madness of existence. It's a palimpsest of an incredibly potent time for London's underground cultures, a mindmap of spaces, now largely lost ...

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      7 votes
    12. Album of the Week #15: Mew - Frengers

      This is Album of the Week #15 ~ This week's album is Mew - Frengers Year of Release: 2003 Genre(s): Dream Pop Country: Denmark Length: 48 minutes RYM | Listen! (Album.Link) Excerpt from Drowned In...

      This is Album of the Week #15 ~ This week's album is Mew - Frengers

      Year of Release: 2003
      Genre(s): Dream Pop
      Country: Denmark
      Length: 48 minutes
      RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from Drowned In Sound:

      On the cherub face of it this album is a soaring, triangle tapping, kitten cuddling, debut; Mew have playground innocence down - lunchbox in hand, toothpaste on tie and scabby knees, all set for a day of holding hands with the pigtailed girl. Mew could market this to my 6-year old cousin to dance around to whilst munching her Sugar Puffs, and they'd sell a billion. Pop is Universal... aaaaaaah, that's the cookie, that's what everyone has forgotten!

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      8 votes
    13. Album of the Week #14: Love - Forever Changes

      This is Album of the Week #14 ~ This week's album is Love - Forever Changes Year of Release: 1967 Genre(s): Psychedelic Pop Country: United States Length: 42 minutes RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)...

      This is Album of the Week #14 ~ This week's album is Love - Forever Changes

      Year of Release: 1967
      Genre(s): Psychedelic Pop
      Country: United States
      Length: 42 minutes
      RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from AV Club:

      Forever Changes, for all of its gorgeous balladry, layered acoustic guitars, and silky string arrangements, is filled with passion and angst. 1967 may have been The Summer Of Love, but Forever Changes dismantles any notions of free love and social change. Opening track “Alone Again Or” boasts the overtly hippie line “You know that I could be in love with almost everyone.” Love pulls off a bait-and-switch though, undercutting that line just moments later with, “and I will be alone again tonight, my dear,” a line that closes every verse and positions the album as one of isolation and disconnect.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      6 votes
    14. Album of the Week #13: Don Cherry - Don Cherry/Brown Rice

      This is Album of the Week #13 ~ This week's album is Don Cherry - Don Cherry/Brown Rice Note that this album has been released under two names/artworks: self titled (Don Cherry) and 'Brown Rice'....

      This is Album of the Week #13 ~ This week's album is Don Cherry - Don Cherry/Brown Rice

      Note that this album has been released under two names/artworks: self titled (Don Cherry) and 'Brown Rice'.

      Year of Release: 1977
      Genre(s): Spiritual Jazz
      Country: United States
      Length: 39 minutes
      RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from The Quietus:

      Cherry transformed the rigorous improvisational ethos he developed and deployed alongside Ornette Coleman in the creation of free jazz as a crucial tool to communicate and collaborate with musicians far outside of his original milieu. Few before or since have demonstrated comparable ease in connecting with other musicians, regardless of background or ethos, like Cherry. His ability to locate the deepest, most humanistic, and spiritual links in disparate traditions remains sublime. Lots of musicians profess that they don’t recognise genre, but it’s hard to think of an artist who lived it as much as he did.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      9 votes
    15. Album of the Week #12: Ka - Honor Killed the Samurai

      This is Album of the Week #12 ~ This week's album is Ka - Honor Killed the Samurai Year of Release: 2016 Genre(s): Abstract Hip Hop Country: United States Length: 36 minutes RYM | Listen!...

      This is Album of the Week #12 ~ This week's album is Ka - Honor Killed the Samurai

      Year of Release: 2016
      Genre(s): Abstract Hip Hop
      Country: United States
      Length: 36 minutes
      RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from Stereogum:

      Ka raps in a desiccated mutter. His production, which seems to draw on half-forgotten film scores and haunted ’60s instrumentals, is pure headphone haze. Throughout history, most of the great rappers have brought an outsized, extroverted flair to what they’ve done, and Ka has none of that. Instead, his presence is a murky, monastic intensity. He does not make social music. He makes music for getting trapped in your own mind.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      8 votes
    16. Album of the Week #11: Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction

      This is Album of the Week #11 ~ This week's album is Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction Year of Release: 1984 Genre(s): Heavy Metal Country: United States Length: 39 minutes RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)...

      This is Album of the Week #11 ~ This week's album is Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction

      Year of Release: 1984
      Genre(s): Heavy Metal
      Country: United States
      Length: 39 minutes
      RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from Ride Into Glory:

      Ample Destruction is filled to the absolute brim with killer riff after killer riff. It’s difficult to pick out a highlight track as they all flow together in one, singular metalstorm. There is very few moments for reprieve as Jag Panzer keep it at 100% for nearly the entire album. The guitars, played by Joe Tafolla and Mark Briody, are masterful and a worthy match for Conklin’s performance. The bass, as became standard for most US power metal, is very prominent in the mix. John Tetley’s bass guitar works to compliment the guitars and drummer Rick Hilyard is certainly no slouch as his drums round it all out. The production is thick and undoubtedly old-school sounding. It does a wonderful job bringing together the instrumentation while letting Conklin take the lead with his soaring vocals.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
      Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
      Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
      Was there a standout track for you?
      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      9 votes
    17. Album of the Week #10: The Undertones - The Undertones

      This is Album of the Week #10 ~ This week's album is The Undertones - The Undertones Year of Release: 1979 Genre(s): Pop Punk Country: United Kingdom Length: 29 minutes Listen! (Album.Link)...

      This is Album of the Week #10 ~ This week's album is The Undertones - The Undertones

      Year of Release: 1979
      Genre(s): Pop Punk
      Country: United Kingdom
      Length: 29 minutes
      Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from BBC:

      Armed with seemingly rudimentary musical skills, the reason the Undertones stuck out was that, unlike their cooler older peers from London and Manchester, they didn't stick to the rigorous adoption of American garage and art rock like the Stooges to the Velvets. They were still in love with their elder brothers and sisters' Bolan and Bowie albums: their sound welded glam to pub rock, all topped off with Feargal Sharkey's Larry the Lamb warble. If they did take a cue from any USA acts it was the cartoon fun of The Ramones, Here Comes The Summer contains the same Beach Boys-on-amphetamine rush that 'da brudders' wielded so succesfully. At the same time, the accents definitely didn't stray across the pond. Never has the Northern Irish twang been so thrust into the face of our pop kids. Check out the deadpan backing vocals on True Confessions.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
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      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
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      7 votes
    18. Album of the Week #9: The KLF - Chill Out

      This is Album of the Week #9 ~ This week's album is The KLF - Chill Out Year of Release: 1990 Genre(s): Ambient, Sound Collage Country: United Kingdom Length: 44 minutes Listen! (YouTube) This...

      This is Album of the Week #9 ~ This week's album is The KLF - Chill Out

      Year of Release: 1990
      Genre(s): Ambient, Sound Collage
      Country: United Kingdom
      Length: 44 minutes
      Listen! (YouTube) This album isn't available on streaming services.

      Excerpt from Pitchfork:

      The interwoven pieces play out like a radio broadcast heard while half asleep, tapping into the same surreal aesthetic that David Lynch would explore in Twin Peaks’ debut just a few months later. Call it the American uncanny, in which familiar tropes are turned strange, and tantalizing snippets suggest hidden narratives—root systems of stories burrowing deep underground. Like the Swiss heritage of photographer Robert Frank, another eagle-eyed traveler of America’s backroads, the KLF’s foreignness gave them special purchase on American myths. It was all a product of the duo’s imagination; Drummond had never even been to the places they were evoking, and they only settled on the titles after recording. “We thought that it had the feeling of that sort of trip,” Drummond told X Magazine in 1991. “I love maps and atlases and I love place names, and I just sat down with the atlas and picked, you know, and saw the journey that it was and it all seemed to fit.”

      Discussion points:
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      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
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      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
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      12 votes
    19. Album of the Week #8: Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

      This is Album of the Week #8 ~ This week's album is Tame Impala - The Slow Rush Year of Release: 2020 Genre(s): Psychedelic Pop Country: United States Length: 57 minutes Listen! (Album.Link)...

      This is Album of the Week #8 ~ This week's album is Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

      Year of Release: 2020
      Genre(s): Psychedelic Pop
      Country: United States
      Length: 57 minutes
      Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from NPR:

      As a producer, Parker has more moving parts to balance this time, but he arrives at a deft auteur-pop synergy in which every last decision, down to the assorted cathedral-like reverb effects that lend his voice an otherworldly aura, become as intrinsic to the music as the melodies or the words. Though there's a lot going on in the latticework of the music — springy analog synthesizer arpeggios, guitars doing unguitarlike things, layers upon layers of pastel lushness — the post-psychedelic swirl of The Slow Rush registers as an organic blend, with the songs never feeling cluttered or too tightly scripted.

      Discussion points:
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      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
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      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

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      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      9 votes
    20. Album of the Week #7: Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else

      This is Album of the Week #7 ~ This week's album is Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else Year of Release: 2014 Genre(s): Post-Hardcore, Indie Rock Country: United States Length: 31 minutes...

      This is Album of the Week #7 ~ This week's album is Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else

      Year of Release: 2014
      Genre(s): Post-Hardcore, Indie Rock
      Country: United States
      Length: 31 minutes
      Listen! (Album.Link)

      Excerpt from The Quietus:

      And damn, the boy Baldi can write a hook. While Here And Nowhere Else is a noisy onslaught that rattles along at a cracking pace, there's a real sense of fun and catchy melodies that Billie Joe Armstrong would be proud of (especially album closer 'I'm Not Part Of Me'), which will probably see the album appropriated by beer-guzzling frat boys, despite lyrically being about life on the fringes – alienation, despair, heartache. More parallels with Cobain there, perhaps. Baldi told the A. V. Club around the release of Attack On Memory that he hadn't really listened to Nirvana, pinning any similarity in their sound to a mutual love of The Wipers. However, fans of Bleach and In Utero (and anyone yearning for what might have been as the circumstances surrounding Cobain's suicide are picked apart in ghoulish detail) should lap this shit up like milk-starved pussy cats.

      Discussion points:
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      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
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      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
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      10 votes
    21. Album of the Week #6: Moby - Play

      This is Album of the Week #6 ~ This week's album is Moby - Play Year of Release: 1999 Genre(s): Downtempo Country: United States Length: 63 minutes Album.Link Excerpt from The Quietus: Abandoned...

      This is Album of the Week #6 ~ This week's album is Moby - Play

      Year of Release: 1999
      Genre(s): Downtempo
      Country: United States
      Length: 63 minutes
      Album.Link

      Excerpt from The Quietus:

      Abandoned by a fickle and uncaring industry, Play was conceived as Moby’s swansong, a final gesture of creative surrender before sinking back into obscurity. And yet it’s precisely that sense of abandon which helped it eventually shift 12 million copies. Listening to the album through that personal lens, it becomes clear that this is not mere chill-out fodder, but a wistful and valedictory piece of work, a eulogy to opportunities squandered and a life (or one chapter of it) about to end.

      Discussion points:
      Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
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      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
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      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
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      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      16 votes
    22. Album of the Week #5: Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

      This is Album of the Week #5 ~ This week's album is Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP Year of Release: 2000 Genre(s): Hip Hop Country: United States Length: 72 minutes Album.Link Excerpt from...

      This is Album of the Week #5 ~ This week's album is Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

      Year of Release: 2000
      Genre(s): Hip Hop
      Country: United States
      Length: 72 minutes
      Album.Link

      Excerpt from Pitchfork:

      But the anger and trauma he conjured from his childhood of abuse and bullying felt uncomfortably real in all his performances. On The Marshall Mathers LP, he suits the action to the word and the word to the action. He picks the right tone for the right mood, the horrorcore of “Remember Me?,” the beleaguered artist on “The Way I Am,” the impish malevolence of “Criminal,” or the tortured, regretful, loving, deranged, murderous everything-all-at-once feeling of “Kim.” We don’t really believe it, but we believe Eminem really believes it.

      Discussion points:
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      --

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      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      16 votes
    23. Album of the Week #4: The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death

      This is Album of the Week #4 ~ This week's album is The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death Year of Release: 1997 Genre(s): Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap Country: United States Length: 109 minutes...

      This is Album of the Week #4 ~ This week's album is The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death

      Year of Release: 1997
      Genre(s): Hip Hop, Gangsta Rap
      Country: United States
      Length: 109 minutes
      Album.Link

      Excerpt from Stereogum:

      Perhaps the greatest testament to the power of Life After Death, the second and final album from the Notorious B.I.G., was that Biggie’s death somehow didn’t overshadow it. By all rights, that’s exactly what should’ve happened. Here, we had the single greatest talent of his generation cut down in his prime — or maybe, since he was only 24, before he’d even had a chance to reach his prime. It was sudden and shocking and violent, and the murder remains unsolved. Life After Death came out barely two weeks later. It is called Life After Death, which is, in retrospect, even weirder than Hole recording an album called Live Through This before Kurt Cobain’s suicide and then releasing it almost immediately afterward. It ends with a song called “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Kills You” — and in Biggie’s case, that turned out to be vaguely true. (Biggie was a star before his death, but he became a genre-transcending superstar afterward.) All these morbid, poetic coincidences should dominate the album’s narrative. And yet Life After Death took on a life of its own. It became a document of celebration, not sadness. It wrote its own narrative.

      Discussion points:
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      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
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      How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Missed last week? It can be found here.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      10 votes
    24. Album of the Week #3: PUP - The Dream Is Over

      Album of the Week #3: PUP - The Dream Is Over This is Album of the Week #3. This week's album is PUP - The Dream Is Over Year of Release: 2016 Genre(s): Pop Punk Country: Canada Length: 30 minutes...

      Album of the Week #3: PUP - The Dream Is Over

      This is Album of the Week #3. This week's album is PUP - The Dream Is Over

      Year of Release: 2016
      Genre(s): Pop Punk
      Country: Canada
      Length: 30 minutes
      Album.Link

      Excerpt from NPR

      Where PUP's 2014 self-titled debut was a turbulent affair, The Dream Is Over sounds more controlled. Not that there isn't emotional turbulence here — in fact, much of Dream is about disillusionment, growing up and realizing that you can't get everything you want, starting with your bandmates. "If this tour doesn't kill you, then I will," guitarist Stefan Babcock meekly deadpans in the first moments of the album, before the track explodes into a bar-brawling punk sing-along. It's a hell of a way to open, but it's telling that in the moments when PUP's members need each other most — especially when Babcock yells, "But every line, every goddamn syllable that you say / Makes me wanna gouge out my eyes with a power drill" — they've got each other's backs by shouting a response, no matter how thoroughly messed-up.

      Discussion points:
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      --

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      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      7 votes
    25. Album of the Week #2: The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt

      This is Album of the Week #2. This week's album is The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt Year of Release: 2010 Genre(s): Contemporary Folk Country: Sweden Length: 35 minutes Album.Link Excerpt...

      This is Album of the Week #2. This week's album is The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt

      Year of Release: 2010
      Genre(s): Contemporary Folk
      Country: Sweden
      Length: 35 minutes
      Album.Link

      Excerpt from Paste Magazine

      Matsson makes the acoustic guitar sound like an orchestra on “You’re Going Back” and the banjo like a full-throttled band on “Troubles Will Be Gone,” a song about goodwill written in the verbal style of Robert Frost. The entire album is full of these tiny orchestras and miniature choirs—a sound few of Matsson’s contemporaries were able to recreate. But many folk artists who’ve arrived in years after The Wild Hunt have seemingly been taking notes. The like-minded Joan Shelley treats her acoustic guitar with a similar reverence, instrumental artist and former Silver Jews musician William Tyler probably learned a thing or two about pacing and rhythm from Matsson and Hiss Golden Messenger’s M.C. Taylor carries on the legacy of curving his sultry, lilting vocals into a style resembling Dylan, as do Kevin Morby and Waxahatchee, who share that same distinct vocal formula. The Wild Hunt gave proceeding indie-folk artists something to aspire to in terms of both authenticity and craft.

      Discussion points:
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      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      15 votes
    26. Album of the Week #1 - Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See

      This is Album of the Week #1. This week's album is Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See Year of Release: 1993 Genre(s): Dream Pop, Neo-Psychedelia Country: United States Length: 52 minutes...

      This is Album of the Week #1. This week's album is Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See

      Year of Release: 1993
      Genre(s): Dream Pop, Neo-Psychedelia
      Country: United States
      Length: 52 minutes
      Album.Link

      Excerpt from Pitchfork

      The undertext of a decision to push a female frontperson further into the spotlight is that beauty (or, more cynically, sex) sells. But capitalizing on Sandoval’s image perhaps unintentionally trivialized her role in the band, making her seem like merely the Nico to Roback’s Lou Reed. (Nico, of course, spent a lifetime reclaiming her agency from the myth of the muse.) But So Tonight That I Might See is not about keeping one musician behind a curtain. The creative partnership between Roback and Sandoval is the heart of Mazzy Star. They knew that the band would wilt if pushed into the spotlight more than necessary. So they stuck to the shadows, two quiet, introspective souls deeply engaged in one dream. Together, they drifted into a hazy unknown.

      Discussion points:
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      What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
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      --

      Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
      Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
      17 votes