I saw this one the other day. To me it seems silly to make a ranking list for something this expansive. But I'm sure it gets more clicks than if they were to name the article "300 great albums in no particular order"

I need to give Soft Bulletin another listen now. It's been a while for me

I forgot how good this album is. This was the album that introduced me to this band and ever since then I've been a fan. For me, Big Thief is one of the best indie/alternative acts of the last decade.

This whole album kept my attention when I gave it a listen recently. But I'll give a special mention to the first three tracks. I love the more atmospheric and moody sound of Contact and UFOF. They are both great songs that set the mood for the album and let you know what's to come. And then I love Cattails. I'm not sure it fits with the entire album since it is a bit catchier and more upbeat but it's a great song and I find myself humming that one to myself a lot.

I'm not going to give specific examples but one thing I love about this band which i have noticed on a handful of songs is that they often use unexpected rhythms and cadences to keep things sounding fresh and interesting. Like sometimes they sound like they're in a weird time signature but then I start counting and realized it's just a cool layering of different 4/4 rhythms.

Also special mention to Adrianne Lenker. I'm not sure how much credit she should get for Big Thief's success but her solo stuff is also excellent.

Love this band. The new album Romance is set to release on August 23rd!

It had been a while since I listened to this band so I gave this album a fresh listen earlier this week and the whole thing is great. But I absolutely love the electronic freak out of the title track pt 2.

In the context of the album I interpret it as the robots response to pt 1 of the title track. It's a increbile way to introduce some more experimental sounds and also build up the world around this album.

I know what you mean. They totally sound like they should have been more popular

I haven't gotten into boygenius either but I like all three of them as solo artists. I think maybe it's because their solo material is more personal and vulnerable

Everything she does is so much fun! And Mac as the ice cream man? Awesome

Same. I don't care for most country but Chris Stapleton is very talented

It sounds like we had the exact same day! I listened to those 3 this morning

I just recently became a fan of this band when I got tickets to The National's homecoming festival a few months ago. They were the 2nd name on the billing but I had never really given them a listen. So I listened to all of their stuff before the show. This album stuck with me the most. Just great songwriting and a great vibe from front to back. And I love/hate the "oohooh ooh ooh ooh ooh" part of cut your hair lol.

Then when i saw them perform live they introduced themselves as the Pavement band and that stuck with me haha. They said it could be their last show ever. Their words, not mine. Sorry if that's news to you... So I got in on the fandom just in time! I swear half of the people at that show were bigger Pavement fans than The National fans. I learned that they have quite the cult following. And I can totally see why. It was an awesome show. Bob Nastanovich was a wild man running all over the place and a complete contrast to Stephen Malkmus. At one point Bob ran out into the crowd and Stephen remarked that it looked fun but he didn't want to catch MRSA lol. On top of the antics and banter their musicianship was really good too. I'm glad I got to see these guys and become a fan before they called it quits for good.

Like I said in the post this is one of my favorite albums of the 80s. However I was born in the 90s so I'd really like hear some perspective from anyone that lived through this period.

I probably first heard this album around 4 or 5 years ago when I first started diving into "older" music. For me this is one of those albums that feels like 20 minutes despite it's runtime being around 70 minutes. It just sucks me into this atmosphere and before I know it it's over and I'm hitting play again.

The highlight of this album is the guitars. Just unique and incredible tone, sound, and style from these guys. For me it's one of the best guitar albums out there. I don't pay much attention to the lyrics on this one but, when present, the vocals add a nice texture on top of the guitars.

I can't really say I have a favorite song on here. The album is very consistent and doesn't really have a high point or a low point. Maybe that's another reason it feels so short to listen to.

I was giving this album a fresh listen this morning and I kept thinking that this felt like an RTJ prequel.

I have heard this album before today but the only track I really remembered was Reagan. To me that track is an iconic "conscious rap" track and it remains my favorite on the album.

Others that stuck out to me today were Don't Die and Butane. Don't Die is just another awesome angry socially conscious track. And I personally like El-P's rapping more than Killer Mike's so I knew I would like Butane before I even heard it again.

Very cool! Hopefully you were able to get your assignments done another day lol. Music like this often has the opposite effect on me. It really puts me in a zone and helps me to focus on whatever I'm doing.

Really good album. I wasn't paying attention to the track list and I was surprised by the John Grant feature. His solo stuff is really good

In my opinion this is the best album that has come from the group of musicians that make up Broken Social Scene. I love everything about it. It's difficult for me to pick a favorite song. There's just so much going on with the wide variety of instrumentation and styles utilized across this album

I'm not familiar with them. But it sounds interesting enough. Will definitely listen to this later

I love that went out to the park and listened in your car in the dark. Thanks for taking my recommendation. Now go and listen to the Visions of Bodies Being Burned!

I haven't really listened to much Nick Cave beyond his last 2 or 3 albums and the song Red Right Hand (Thanks Peaky Blinders). So this is the first time I have heard Murder Ballads.

My first impression is that his voice and delivery is absolutely perfect for these gruesome lyrics. I wish there weren't any features on this album. I love PJ Harvey but her song and the song with Kylie kinda fell flat for me. They pulled me out of the atmosphere that Cave's voice pulls you into.

I really liked Song of Joy. A great opener for this album. The atmosphere is established right away and it gives you an idea of what to expect with the rest of the album.

Then Stagger Lee is next and it elevates the gruesomeness to the next level. Maybe a bit too much for some people. But what do you expect with an album called Murder Ballads. I really like the reggae style of this song. It was unexpected and really cool.

My favorite song was O'Malley's Bar. I wasn't sure at first when I saw that it was 15 minutes. But Cave utilizes the entire 15 minutes to tell a great story. That song probably sucked me into the storytelling the most with the amount of detail he was able to provide.

And then the album concludes with a cover of Death is not the End which I found to be kinda hilarious given the context of the rest of the album.

I'm on the other side of the planet and I know absolutely nothing about Melbourne so thank you so much for some extra context on some of her lyrics