Zaelos 30 Ranked.

I really think this is a great album, but it’s another example of how personal and silly these rankings are. The production is as good as anything Ye has done elsewhere, sure. But I’m biased. I grew up watching Yo! MTV Raps in a house in which my father listened to Phil Driscoll’s The Power of Praise repeatedly. I was shaped by late 80s/early 90s hip-hop, then I spent half a decade listening to DJ Wade-O’s Christian Rap podcast in the 2010s. This album was made for me.
Favorite track: Selah.
(Joel, if you haven’t listened to the Ye-produced Sunday Service EP Emmanuel, you should. I think it’s the best thing they’ve done.)

It becomes silly trying to rank these, so I do understand the list’s chronological order.

I was 30 years old when this came out and it just still feels like an important transitional album in my life. I still love a lot of smaller, more personal albums in the last 15 years, but I feel like this one might be the last big cultural consensus critical success album that I loved when it came out and still have affection for.

Radio One. Hendrix' electric blues rock has never been my thing, but this is quite good.

This used to be a ‘Top Ten of All Time’ album for me. Unfortuantely (fortunately?), I’ve come around to thinking that this is still a fine provocation and it’s the work of a musical genius, but... it’s not actually something I enjoy listening to anymore. I still love it, but it probably won’t make my own ’30′.

I hadn’t listened to this in a long time. It’s better than Ok Computer? I have no nostalgia for this one, but it’s good.

I don’t love this like I used to love this, but there’s still something pleasurable in how instantly familiar it is. Thom Yorke’s voice also grates on me a little now. Is it getting more grumpy or more wise that has me looking back at all this pop music, even the most celebrated, as so much ‘meh’.

This is my favorite Sonic Youth album, though like everyone else in the world, I prefer the “Diamond Sea” version on the Diamond Sea EP.

Joel made me listen to this when it came out. He’s right sometimes.

One Foot in the Grave is the early Beck that I really love, that I listened to repeatedly. For some reason, Odelay never grabbed me in the same way, but... it is a very good album.

I don’t know if I ever heard this before. I don’t think so. It’s quite good. I listened to it three times in a row while cleaning the basement.

1st listen. I liked this a lot.

It’s fun going through the list in chronological order instead of any ranked order because I get to experience the progression from The Who to Sonic Youth.

I like Case alright.

I need to listen to it again. It did make for good background listening while working.

I went into this knowing nothing about it. I don’t remember ever knowing anything about this band or this album. And? It’s good. I also think it was just refreshing to listen to an album that goes hard after so many sensitive indie albums.

I like it more than Tommy.

A few tracks still hit hard, but I’m mostly over Sufjan.

I have a limited tolerance for Vampire Weekend. I’m probably in the minority in thinking that their 2019 album Father of the Bride is their best album.

SS is someone I’ve always kinda liked and been kinda annoyed by at the same time. The soft, breathy singing can get on my nerves. That said, I’ve got a soft spot for the Illinois album and some of the tracks here are fine.

I didn’t write anything after listening to this. A couple weeks later, I barely remember this except that I thought it was something I’d be happy to hear played on the radio.

I should listen to this again. My first and only listen was when I was distracted and I was kinda underwhelmed by it.

I've never been a Tommy fan. I can't quite find a way to enter into it. Even as far as Who rock operas go, I prefer Quadrophenia.

It was probably Joel who told me to listen to this in college. I've tried listening to "The Band" over the years and always found them as generic and annoying as their band and album name. This wouldn't even be on my Top 30 Albums of 1969 list.

I’m not a Led Zeppelin fan. I’d rather listen to Joel pretend to be Robert Plant all day instead of listen to actual Robert Plant.

A bad soft rock album.

If you like the worst parts of U2, you might like this album.

Very late 90s in a way that I found grating. Also, that’s easily the worst album cover on the list.

The only thing I dislike more than rock opera is a cappella groups. :-p

It’s better than the other Bon Iver album on the list.

I have Zaelos 30 fatigue, I think, but mostly I just can’t stand this guy. More like Mal Iver, right?