Catching up a bit here again.
Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise. One of those artists that I've always thought I would really like, but everytime I try to listen I quickly pivot back to something I'm familiar with in the same vein, like Bon Iver or The National. This album was really nice though and something I will probably need to return to. Score: 4 stars
Robbie Williams - Life Thru A Lens. Ok, a bit of a hot take: Remember that I suggested Garbage being a gentrified version of grunge and alternative rock? Well, Robbie Williams was the same thing for britpop (although I do think Garbages' album is much better than this). It was a bit strange to read your comments here about not really knowing any of his songs, because in Sweden (and I guess whole of Europe) Robbie Williams was huge, (and I'm talking Madonna or Prince in the 80s huge, here) in the late 90s/early 00s. This album was pretty much the commercial zeitgeist of the whole britpop wave, with lush arrangements, big hooks and ironic, tongue in cheek-machismo borrowed from James Bond and Liam Gallagher in equal measures. After this, the indie bands that built the scene either got with the program and beefed it up, or withered away and perished. He was also a former boyband member that broke out and tapped into the big trends of the day and in that process building a lot of cred, making him a precursor to artists like Justin Timberlake and Harry Styles. So, I get why they included this album in this book, based on the sheer commercial and cultural impact it had. But is it an essential album and one you need to hear before you die? Nah. I don't really hate the album, but it doesn't really do anything for me either. Mostly harmless, I guess. Score: 2 stars.
Now I'm gonna listen to Bad Company, which is a band I (as a swede) don't really know anything about, and I can't really name a single song by them.