The opening track so perfectly encapsulates what Elvis Costello does well - the desperate, breathy opening vocal, the pulsing explosion of sound, the sneer and scorn of "I don't wanna see you 'cause I don't miss you that much", the layered poppy backup vocal on the chorus, the swirly carnivalesque feel of the instrumentation, all this happening in a 2 minute track.. a track that packs in more than most songs in the first 1:40.. but then gives you an extra 20 seconds of vamp and swell and crash to wrap it all up perfectly. I wouldn't even say it's my favorite track on the album but it's such a great encapsulation of his ability to grab you by the collar and take you on a surprising ride. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea is another standout. The rest of the album - I don't think there's a bad song here, though there's some that work better as part of the album than they would as singles. In some ways, I think this might be the strongest complete album of the era for him. There's bigger hits on some of the other ones, but this is the most cohesive feel overall. To own my bias, this is definitely one of the records that got me into him. I think I first discovered him through a good review of Spike (also a great album) when it came out, and then found a copy of this one, maybe on vinyl? Anyhow, I've spent more time with it than either My Aim is True before it or Armed Forces after, but I've definitely given good listens to all three and still think this one is the most compelling. This anecdote (from Wikipedia listing) is a good one: ""The concept of him behind a camera for the sleeve of This Year's Model had already been chosen, so I decided to equip Elvis with exactly the same tripod and camera as I was using to create a 'mirror' for him. Alongside a powerful stereo I kept a large record collection at my Camden Studio, and artists would choose music they enjoyed or were interested in for their sessions. Just as we were about to start shooting, Elvis asked me if I had "Hotel California" by The Eagles, and could I play it? I was puzzled by his choice – until he told me that he loathed the record, but wanted to look really pissed off and angry in the shots! We played the record several times during the session and whilst I directed him, I was also aware of his copying some of my own actions as I took the photographs"" Also from Wikipedia, Robert Smith (from The Cure) listed this as one of his 5 favorite albums on a French TV show in 1985.

Just such a good album. It's clearly one of the top albums for the band, as well as one that defines a particular moment and genre of music. People who love the Cure mostly love Disintegration, but it's also the sort of album that someone who doesn't really like the band and who doesn't listen to any of their other music might still have in their collection and love. It's also pretty perfect as a complete album, the songs are great but the flow and feeling of the whole thing is also clearly carefully considered.

Probably the most open and boundary pushing VU album. John Cale's influence is felt the most here, both on tracks like The Gift and in the instrumentation. Each VU album has it's own special place in my heart, and while I don't know if I could choose a favorite, this is always a fun one to put on because it's very much not the "greatest hits" but still makes a very compelling argument for what a great band they were.

I'm not going to get into whether this is Dylan's BEST album. That just feels like too weighty of a proclamation for anyone to make, and I'm pretty sure that personally, there's one or two I'd pick over this one. Probably. Depending on the weather and the day of the week. That said, there is almost no potential for argument that this is among his best and most important work, and that he is one of the most important musicians and artists of the past century. So, no way I'm rating this anything less than 5 stars. One thing I love about this one is the variance in the tracks included - which feels pretty different than, say, Blood on the Tracks or Desire. There's epic ballads like Visions of Johanna or Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, there's raucous romps like Rainy Day Women and Leopard Skinned Pill-Box Hat, there's the more likely radio friendly singles like I Want You, Stuck Inside of Mobile.., and Just Like a Woman, and also the sleeper tracks, songs like Fourth Time Around and Obviously Five Believers, that are maybe less memorable or iconic, less likely to make a greatest hits comp, but still very strong and interesting songs on their own. It's worth clicking through to the Wikipedia link, assuming you're listening digitally, to take a look at how the track listing splits up over four sides of a vinyl double album. The whole flow works pretty amazingly, with the bulk of the album switching up tempo and feel nicely, bookended by some of the more rocking songs (Rainy Day Women and Obviously Five Believers open side one and end side 3) and then Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands tacked on as the fourth side all by itself, feeling almost like a "hidden track" on a CD release, an interesting and epic coda on the whole thing. Look, if you are into Dylan, you can feel one way or another about where this album fits into his body of work, but I'd be surprised if anyone who likes him thinks it's crap. If you aren't into Dylan, it's worth making some effort to dig a little deeper into his music, and if this doesn't work as your starting point, I'd say it's well worth checking out some of his other stuff.

Definitely one I have listened to all the way through before - did I have a cassette version of this one? Can't remember. . The floaty backup vocals on Hey Joe are nice, noticing those in a new way. I Don't Live Today is a great example of an \"album\" track, not something I'd love on it's own but a nice edgy transition between May This Be Love and Wind Cries Mary. Note that the Spotify version includes a bunch of bonus tracks, I feel like stopping at the end of the original album (after the title track) is more true to the spirit of the project.

I like Pavement and I like this album, but I feel like they were in a lot of ways about experimenting and messing around. They switched genres and styles like a great bar band, brought their own flavor to it all, but there's also not a lot for me that really elevates them to any transcendent moments. That's not a bad thing, they are great and really paved the way for a lot of other music, just hard to rate them too high when viewed among so many classics.

I guess this could be just the right album for a really specific moment where I'm driving a convertible Trans-Am and reliving a scene from Dazed and Confused, but most of the time, it's not what I want to listen to.

Probably the most open and boundary pushing VU album. John Cale's influence is felt the most here, both on tracks like The Gift and in the instrumentation. Each VU album has it's own special place in my heart, and while I don't know if I could choose a favorite, this is always a fun one to put on because it's very much not the "greatest hits" but still makes a very compelling argument for what a great band they were.

I mean, what's not to like about Willie doing standards from the American Songbook? Sweet stuff, nothing mind blowing but good renderings of the classics.

This and Lady Soul are probably the top contenders if you had to pick a must-own studio release from the Queen of Soul. For me, the slow, sultry, bluesy songs here are really what makes it the one to have. Honestly, I think a lot of R+B and Soul music from this era was much more focused on singles than full albums, and I'm sure you could argue there's better versions of some of these songs to be found, but I'd still say this is a solid album all the way through.

Truly a first listen for me, probably my first album on the list that I really didn't have much context on. Like, heard of the band before, had some sort of indie rock context, but that's it. And, I'm liking it - a good surprise. Not sure how much I'll want to stick with it over time, but I could see it growing on me (the way Of Montreal's "Hissing Fauna.." did, or could see it getting old. But, for now, I like the layered vocals, the mix of soft and hard, the general feel of orchestration to the whole thing.

One song in, had to look to Wikipedia to learn more about this. It feels like it should be on a special list of, say, 100 weird albums that were hugely influential or otherwise served as turning points in music". Honestly, much of what I'm hearing feels like it was done elsewhere and I don't know whether the other stuff references this or the other way around. There's a quality of pastiche that is interesting. It feels like it's probably not a widely know album for good reasons, but it's still an interesting one to learn about. But, yeah, the more I listen.. it's good. Not one I'd necessarily turn to, but not one I'd turn off either.

There's some great music on here - by which I mean "Take on Me", mostly. And some other good moments I guess, but it's a 37 minute album I'm impatient for it to end only halfway through.

I'm on a string of albums making me think maybe 1001 is too many in terms of a review of canon. This is a fine Aerosmith album, but I'd bet it's not even their best one. Maybe others would disagree. I'm ok with this one, but not in love.

Just such a good album. It's clearly one of the top albums for the band, as well as one that defines a particular moment and genre of music. People who love the Cure mostly love Disintegration, but it's also the sort of album that someone who doesn't really like the band and who doesn't listen to any of their other music might still have in their collection and love. It's also pretty perfect as a complete album, the songs are great but the flow and feeling of the whole thing is also clearly carefully considered.

Dan-Fan here, and Can't Buy a Thrill is definitely in their top 5 best, but for me, I'm more likely to put on Aja, Royal Scam, Countdown to Ecstasy, or even Gaucho, or one of their Greatest Hits (Citizen Steely Dan) before I play this one. Nothing specific I don't like - in fact, I do like it, just not the one I love most of the time. It was good to give it a re-listen here, inclined to rate between 3-4 stars and wish I could go 3.5..

I think I'd go to bat for this as the most essential and best Metallica album, definitely a classic, definitely belongs on the "must listen" list.

The opening track so perfectly encapsulates what Elvis Costello does well - the desperate, breathy opening vocal, the pulsing explosion of sound, the sneer and scorn of "I don't wanna see you 'cause I don't miss you that much", the layered poppy backup vocal on the chorus, the swirly carnivalesque feel of the instrumentation, all this happening in a 2 minute track.. a track that packs in more than most songs in the first 1:40.. but then gives you an extra 20 seconds of vamp and swell and crash to wrap it all up perfectly. I wouldn't even say it's my favorite track on the album but it's such a great encapsulation of his ability to grab you by the collar and take you on a surprising ride. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea is another standout. The rest of the album - I don't think there's a bad song here, though there's some that work better as part of the album than they would as singles. In some ways, I think this might be the strongest complete album of the era for him. There's bigger hits on some of the other ones, but this is the most cohesive feel overall. To own my bias, this is definitely one of the records that got me into him. I think I first discovered him through a good review of Spike (also a great album) when it came out, and then found a copy of this one, maybe on vinyl? Anyhow, I've spent more time with it than either My Aim is True before it or Armed Forces after, but I've definitely given good listens to all three and still think this one is the most compelling. This anecdote (from Wikipedia listing) is a good one: ""The concept of him behind a camera for the sleeve of This Year's Model had already been chosen, so I decided to equip Elvis with exactly the same tripod and camera as I was using to create a 'mirror' for him. Alongside a powerful stereo I kept a large record collection at my Camden Studio, and artists would choose music they enjoyed or were interested in for their sessions. Just as we were about to start shooting, Elvis asked me if I had "Hotel California" by The Eagles, and could I play it? I was puzzled by his choice – until he told me that he loathed the record, but wanted to look really pissed off and angry in the shots! We played the record several times during the session and whilst I directed him, I was also aware of his copying some of my own actions as I took the photographs"" Also from Wikipedia, Robert Smith (from The Cure) listed this as one of his 5 favorite albums on a French TV show in 1985.

I went into this with some pre-conceived feelings about the album. I've heard it before and it never really clicked. I can tell she's really a solid songwriter, in that same vein as Townes VanZandt and John Prine and Iris DeMent, but something about the 1990's rock instrumentation just feels a bit lazy and formulaic and I never really clicked with this one as a whole. Still, glad to be giving it a play through as there are some really good songs here. I don't think I'm ever going to love this album, and I don't think it would make the cut on a list of say, 500 albums, but I still think it's worth knowing more about who Lucinda Williams is and some of the great songs she has written, and this is certainly one of her more well know efforts.

I think there's a lot to recognize about the importance and value of British Folk music from this era - Pentangle as well as these guys. It can feel a bit over the top in a white hippy renaissance faire kinda way at times, but it also took the folk revival of the 60's (all the bands that were inspired by Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music) in a new direction for the psychedelic era. Honestly, I find most of it too boring to listen to a full album of in any given sitting, but there's some gems of tracks in there that work well on a mix tape / playlist for sure, and I think these records and the musicians on them ended up seeding some pretty interesting directions in music over the decade to come.

I'm not going to get into whether this is Dylan's BEST album. That just feels like too weighty of a proclamation for anyone to make, and I'm pretty sure that personally, there's one or two I'd pick over this one. Probably. Depending on the weather and the day of the week. That said, there is almost no potential for argument that this is among his best and most important work, and that he is one of the most important musicians and artists of the past century. So, no way I'm rating this anything less than 5 stars. One thing I love about this one is the variance in the tracks included - which feels pretty different than, say, Blood on the Tracks or Desire. There's epic ballads like Visions of Johanna or Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, there's raucous romps like Rainy Day Women and Leopard Skinned Pill-Box Hat, there's the more likely radio friendly singles like I Want You, Stuck Inside of Mobile.., and Just Like a Woman, and also the sleeper tracks, songs like Fourth Time Around and Obviously Five Believers, that are maybe less memorable or iconic, less likely to make a greatest hits comp, but still very strong and interesting songs on their own. It's worth clicking through to the Wikipedia link, assuming you're listening digitally, to take a look at how the track listing splits up over four sides of a vinyl double album. The whole flow works pretty amazingly, with the bulk of the album switching up tempo and feel nicely, bookended by some of the more rocking songs (Rainy Day Women and Obviously Five Believers open side one and end side 3) and then Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands tacked on as the fourth side all by itself, feeling almost like a "hidden track" on a CD release, an interesting and epic coda on the whole thing. Look, if you are into Dylan, you can feel one way or another about where this album fits into his body of work, but I'd be surprised if anyone who likes him thinks it's crap. If you aren't into Dylan, it's worth making some effort to dig a little deeper into his music, and if this doesn't work as your starting point, I'd say it's well worth checking out some of his other stuff.

I dunno, this album just feels pretty "basic" to me. Not my thing so I won't judge too harshly. It seems like goofy fun spring break music for white college kids who like to drink beer. Probably not a fair comparison but given the music coming out around this time from Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Kruder + Dorfmeister, Third Eye Foundation, or Nightmares on Wax this just feels really Half-assed.

I want to say 1001 albums is too many, but I don't think that's true. I guess I just think this one should not have made the cut. I feel like I want to check the credentials of whoever complied this list. I guess if you look at it strictly through the lens of whether you should listen to this album before you die, there is something interesting to note in remembering a moment in history where this was a reasonably plausible creative endeavor.

It took me a little while to come around to appreciating Bruce. Some of the overproduction / radio hit friendly aspects of this album, which was my first real exposure to him as a kid, was a bit too much. Later in life, I found Nebraska and it really opened up the doors to taking him more seriously. Not that I disliked him prior, it just felt a bit too much like posturing. Relistening to this, yeah, the production is still a bit too glossy for me, but the songs and feel are solid and strong.

I don't think I've listened too or thought that much about these guys since the 1990s. They did put together a pretty nice formula, with bits of house, trance, but also funk and psychedelic sounds, very catchy stuff over all. Somehow I also think of Jesus Jones when listening to them - the edge between rock/pop and electronic music seems a bit blurred with both of them. Overall, it's fun to revisit this and it could be an interesting surprise to have a track come on at a party or something, but not really something I want to listen to a whole album of, and not something I'd consider really essential listening.

Not a band or album I've really checked out before. I guess for context I'd say this sound fits in with music from The Buzzcocks, X, or Talking Heads from around this era. Maybe a bit on the poppier side, and definitely a more British feel. Production feels a little rough in a good way, like this is a "Peel Sessions" release from that era. The driving but basic bass lines and crashing cymbals and drums remind me of some early tracks from The Cure. I don't see myself falling in love with this one or coming back to it with much frequency, but it's interesting to check our and fleshes out some musical context for other bands in this era for me. Clicking though to Wikipedia links has been a fun part of this project for me in that regard. For example, I learned that Paul Weller described this is a pastiche of Revolver (Beatles) and Off The Wall (Micheal Jackson) when it was released, and that The Jam toured as a supporting act for The Clash in 1977, and that Weller played on Peter Gabriel's third album. Still, for me this feels like more of a good album to know about and a way to expand my knowledge of music than something I'm really going to fall in love with and want to play.

Is it a brag or flex to say I listened to my CD copy of this one? Pretty sure I have a vinyl copy tucked away too. I know this one and like it. Solid argument that it's Steely Dan's best album, though there is obviously room for debate and it's not my hill to die on. As far as I can tell, I can't rate in half stars but I'd probably go 4.5 on this if I could.