AllMusic

Albert Ayler

New Grass

1969

Free Jazz

Released in the height of the late '60s hippie uprising, Albert Ayler's New Grass (and to a lesser degree his harpsichord-heavy 1967 album Love Cry) saw the free jazz giant embracing flower power culture in a way that turned off many die hard fans. What was seen by many at the time as an attempt to sell out has aged into a truly bizarre document of awkward jabs at pop by a musician way too far outside of the mainstream to end up anywhere besides his own alien territory.

- Fred Thomas

Kanye West

Yeezus

June 18, 2013

Left-Field Rap

Angry, egomaniacal, and completely revolutionary, Kanye's dark sixth set has aged very well, ahead of its time upon release but soon eclipsed by his public antics and a messy follow-up. Continuing his descent into vulgarity, excess, and opulence, Yeezus is also a production highlight in West's catalog, presciently employing industrial, electronic, and gospel for an experience that influenced a generation of young rappers with its hybrid thrills and those damn croissants.

- Neil Z. Yeung