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Apple Music 100 Best Albums

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ASTROWORLD

Travis Scott

98

Buy a ticket and take the ride.

Named for a now-closed Six Flags in Travis Scott’s native Houston, ASTROWORLD delivers on any good amusement park’s promise and premise, offering breathtaking peaks and drops and daring thrills. Perhaps the biggest hairpin turn: By stacking and expertly curating his third solo album with a sprawling and adventurous collection of both A-list and emerging musical, vocal and production talent, the rapper/superproducer emerges as the most exciting attraction in the park.

Scott says, “Psychedelics got me going crazy,” on opening track “STARGAZING”, and the rest of the album proves it; “SICKO MODE” features multiple beat changes and Drake halting mid-verse, playing like some kind of funhouse trip. Other must-see sideshows include Stevie Wonder playing harmonica, James Blake crooning, The Weeknd emoting and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker shredding. But the main draw is still Scott’s life and unique vision.

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Rage Against the Machine

Rage Against the Machine

97

Anger is a gift.

It would be interesting to see how many suburban kids learned about Che Guevara, or that the FBI targeted Martin Luther King for his opposition to the Vietnam War, from Rage Against the Machine’s first album. While other ’90s albums, like Nirvana’s Nevermind, helped bring underground styles into the mainstream, Rage brought The Weather Underground.

Like the revolutionaries, MCs and hard rock that inspired it, Rage Against the Machine exists in all caps. Its most lasting lyrics—“Some of those that work forces/Are the same that burn crosses” (“Killing in the Name”), “Anger is a gift” (“Freedom”)—have the instant memorability of a protest chant. The immediacy isn’t just a metaphor for their message; it’s a way to spread the word and put power into the hands of the people. It’s an album you could listen to at the gym or build a syllabus around.

Rage Against the Machine by Rage Against the Machine