#369 - Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon

"...charts his loss of faith in his parents, country, friends, fans, and idols. It's an unflinching document of bare-bones despair and pain, but for all its nihilism, it is ultimately life-affirming; it is unique not only in Lennon's catalog, but in all of popular music. Few albums are ever as harrowing, difficult, and rewarding as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band." (allmusic guide)

#368 - The Honesty Room, Dar Williams

"When an all-out rock song combines a gorgeous singalong melody with lyrical references to Ronald Reagan and Sid Vicious in the very first line, you know you've stumbled across something very special and you tend not to notice the quirks of delivery so much. And then there's "The Babysitter's Here," a song that manages to deal simultaneously with early childhood and incipient adulthood, that will make you bawl every time you hear it." (allmusic guide)

#367 - Little Plastic Castle, Ani DiFranco

"This is the most creatively produced Ani DiFranco album to date, combining her distinctively frenetic acoustic fingerstyle with computer samples, dance rhythms, mariachi brass and full-band rock jams. The result is colorful -- almost cartoony -- but almost never overshadows the emotional content." (allmusic guide)


#366 - Tim, The Replacements

"Leave it to the Replacements to hide their greatest collection of tunes behind a tossed-off title and a worthless cover painting. Not only are Paul Westerberg's songs wonderfully written (the autumnal beauty "Here Comes a Regular" alone would make the album special) but the 'Mat's ragged cohesion and sputtering energy is actually captured on tape. Definitive." (real music guide)

#365 - Mud Slide Slim & The Blue Horizon, James Taylor

"The songs were full of references to the road and the highway, and he was uncomfortable with his new role as spokesman. The confessional songwriter was now, necessarily, writing about what it was like to be a confessional songwriter: Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon served the valuable function of beginning to move James Taylor away from the genre he had defined, which ultimately would give him a more long-lasting appeal." (allmusic guide)

#364 - Us, Peter Gabriel

"Since the music is so muted, it's no surprise that the album failed to capture a mass audience the way So did, but it's foolish to expect anyone but serious fans to unravel an album this deliberate. Gabriel is as adventurous as ever, yet he is relentlessly sober about his experiments, burying exotic sounds and percussion underneath crawling tempos measured atmospherics." (allmusic guide)

#363 - Dixie Chicken, Little Feat

"Lowell George became infatuated with New Orleans R&B and mellow jamming, all of which came to a head on their third album, 1973's Dixie Chicken. Although George is firmly in charge - he dominates the record, writing or co-writing seven of the 10 songs - this is the point where Little Feat found its signature sound as a band, and no album they would cut from this point on was too different from this seductive, laid-back, funky record." (allmusic guide)