1001 Albums Summary

I like prog rock like King Crimson, Genesis and Pink Floyd, but Yes is much too pretentious and boring. It’s all thought out and missing any form of spontaneity or emotion.

Great old school hiphop

A masterpiece by Maxwell and yes, the boy can sing.

A fantastic dance album with a lot of distorted sounds that make it also appealing to a rock orientated audience.

I always thought I didn’t like Iron Maiden apart from some songs. This album with Paul Di'Anno on vocals took me by surprise. Later on I realised Bruce Dickinson needed some getting used to, but he’s also great.

Song number 1and 4 are ok, the rest is mediocre, boring, slick and emotionless.

Nice old school garagerock, but a lack of original material.

One of the best metal albums. Certainly Fucking Hostile and Walk are incredible.

At the time I was really impressed, but nowadays the weak vocals tend to annoy me a bit.

One of the best albums ever made. Covers nearly every style and genre and excels in it. Also one of the few double albums that would not improve by turning it into a single one.

Fagen and Becker named the band after a "revolutionary" steam-powered dildo mentioned in the William S. Burroughs novel Naked Lunch. ROFL. One of the bands i never listened to before this challenge, what a mistake…

The only mambo album on the list is a quite mediocre one.

Good album, but hardly a real classic. Still 4 stars for being comfort food for my ears.

An all-time jazz classic by saxophonist John Coltrane.

This album consists of great songs (Goldfinger, Girl From Mars, Kung Fu) played with lots of energy and joy.

A big fat No to Yes certainly to this boring example.

Important album for drum and bass music. Timeless: Inner City Life/Pressure/Jah and Angel are great songs. I attend a concert of his at the time as support act for Björk.

One of my favorite electronic music albums, reissuid with Born Slippy on it. Taking concepts of Techno and Jungle and slowing it down to an intelligent, but not soulless sound.

Outstanding debut album with the outstanding Take Me Out song (I like the Scissor Sisters cover version even more). Matinée and Michael are also splendid.

Ryan Adams is not a pleasant guy. I saw him live this year and it was a bummer to see a guy on stage that was mainly complaining about the audience and making very depressing cynical jokes. Still Heartbreaker and Gold are terrific albums with great songs.

One of the many 1960s albums on the list that does not leave a strong impression on me. It's fine, not good or great.

The last album of Leonard Cohen is about saying goodbye and leaving it all behind. Very impressive with moving lyrics and a voice so low and broken it is almost not human anymore.

I tried Listen Without Prejudice and it was quite boring with mediocre songs (unlike the Faith album)

An unpleasant and boring 1960s pop album.

The album starts and ends and in between there is some electronic music that sounds indistinctive and generic.

Great debut album with the hits "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City", and "Sweet Child o' Mine". Fantastic guitar work by Slash.

Live albums should not be on this list, but this is a nice one.

I don't like this kind of bland and MOR pop. Also it sounds really outdated and the songs are of poor quality.

An ok album of singer-songwriter Beth Orton. A bit bland and nothing sticks.

Fire Of Love is a fine rock album of The Gun Club. I prefer The Las Vegas Story album which has a wider range of styles and better songs.

Before listening to it again after a long time I thought Slippery When Wet would be more fun and enjoyable. I guess it did not age well.

This is another ska album of The Specials with fine songs, but the quality and energy compared to their debut album makes it a bit disappointing.

Awful smooth and overproduced 1980s soul that aged terribly.

Good classic Neil Young rock album. Not the one I most prefer compared to the other albums he produced in the 1970s.

Apart from the hit singles "Money's Too Tight (to Mention)" and "Holding Back the Years" the album lacks good songs. The production and overall sound has aged better than expected and the vocals are still fantastic.

One of the best albums in this list. Great performance, fantastic songs and an important shift in music for Miles Davis and Jazz Music as a whole.

Avantgarde folky pop album by weirdo John Martyn. It takes some getting used to, but rewards you in a great way for your efforts. I like the album cover too.

Classic West Coast hip hop album by The Pharcyde. Playful and comical eccentric lyrics and incredible rapping skills.

Good indie rock album. They have a distinctive own style of music and fine songs.

Debut studio album by PJ Harvey with great personal songs. I back this quote of a critic: "a volcano and the scorched earth surrounding it, ripped with landsliding guitars, cowpunk mania, twisted blues, profound extremes, and power chords that hit like boulders dropped from on high."

While I like Jeff Buckley a lot, the music of his father does not strike me as interesting. I find his mediocre folk/pop songwriting and performance rather boring.

Of course "Freddie's Dead" is a great cover. This rest over this album is fine, but I like The Reality of My Surroundings a whole lot better. Wrong album pick.

Great third album with power pop songs by Big Star. Their previous two albums have more highlights, but this one has a more constant quality.

My favorite The Fall album with several post-punk classics on it. Mark E. Smith is screaming and talking about all of his frustrations as usually. And frustrated he is...

Great slow mystical debut album post-rock album by Sigur Rós. The lyrics are in Icelandic, but also in their own gibberish language. Not that a would notice which is in which language. The cello-bowed guitar work gives the album a very specific sound.

The album title describes the state the album exists in with a mix of space rock and brit pop/rock. It's a lot of fun, but maybe a bit long.

I enjoyed this album by Van Morrison. The songs are great and of consistent quality. His vocal performance is amazing.

Some good songs, al lot of mediocre ones, 3 stars for the fabulous guitarplay

Very important album for electronic music, but also very outdated and a drag to listen to

Live albums should not be on this list. It's an rather generic jazz album by singer Sarah Vaughan. Nothing wrong, nothing remarkable about it (Why is it on this list).

It's a good soul album by Marvin Gaye, but it lacks the real blockbuster songs that are on What's Going On.

Great metal album by Faith No More with classics like "From Out of Nowhere", "Epic" and "Falling to Pieces". As always great guitar riffs and the vocals are excellent.

"Cybele's Reverie is an excellent song with French lyrics. The other experimental pop is not that bad either.

This East Coast hip hop album consists of legendary classics. Sadly the only real album by The Notorious B.I.G.

The "Sweet Baby James" song is a classic. The other songs are so so on this folk rock album by James Taylor.

I have no idea why this album is on the list and the earlier Madonna albums, f.e. Like a Virgin, are not. I also do not like the song Like a Prayer that much. Cherish and Express Yourself are catchy tunes though.

Waterfalls is a catchy tune, but not a good one. The other songs on this TLC album are forgettable.

On their second album you can already get an impression of the things that will make Queen of of the greatest rock bands later on. This album is not nearly on the level they will achieve years later.

This debut solo album of Method Man is a good album. Not as great as Wu-Tang Clan, but great anyway. Nice east coast hip hop of a rap arist with a perfect rhythm and flow. Dark music support the distorted lyrics.

Live albums should not be on the list as these are more or less greatest hits. But if you put one on it, this is a good candidate. Good banging hard rock by a band with a lot of drive in their performance.

I remember this as a better album than it is nowadays. It's a nice collection of proper punk rock songs. The problem is that there are so many such albums. It does not really stand out.

This is probably the best Iron Maiden album. Great Heavy Metal songs with a band in peak form. Run to the Hills and The Number of the Beast are all-time metal classics.

A true classic album with amazing songs. The performance of the band is excellent. It sounds like everyone has had a long night and lots of booze while every note is played spot on.

Ballads and blues from the gutter. Nobody can visualize the moment that you are in a pub at closing time drunk enough to kiss someone you would try to avoid at daytime like Tom Waits can.

An album with covers of songs that were for the most part performed by black artists earlier. That is not a problem or a crime, but the versions on album do not add anything.

EVOL is the start of the top years of Sonic Youth. Great post-punk and noise, soundscapes with distorted and detuned, screeching guitar noises. A bit darker atmosphere than on their later albums.

Nice album by The Verve. I only knew Urban Hymns. Good brit pop songs, nothing really stands out though.

Uninteresting generic 1970s guitar rock. I like their later work much better, this is a bad Rolling Stones rip-off.

The debut album of Björk with eclectic pop songs like she already made with the Sugar Cubes. The material and performance matured and Nellee Hooper also added some dance elements. Very impressive record!

Nice garage rock album. I like the raw production and the combined vocals of the female and male singer.

Eclectic sample album of David Byrne and Brian Eno. All kinds of musical styles from all over the world combined to danceable songs with spoken word vocals samples from all kinds of sources. Intelligent, but also very funny.

Though I like rai, I never really got Khaleb. His music is too generic and slick compared to other musicians in this genre (like Cheb Mami). This album is not bad.

Great rock album by Manic Street Preachers with the sublime songs A Design for Life and Everything Must Go.

The third album by Portishead was release 13 years after their debut album Dummy. The albums shows various musical genres (not only trip hop anymore). The music is laid back, slowly progressing and full of grandeur.

I never heard of William Orbit of this Strange Cargo III album. I don't think it's something you must listen to before you die, but it was a nice break between all the pop and rock albums filling up this list.

The debut album of Chicago was a disappointment to me. Most of the songs are dragging on in an uninspired jazz rock format.

I expected to like this album more than I did in the end. The vocals are great, but the songs are all covers and the k.d. lang versions don't really stand out. The instrumentation and production are somewhere between bland and boring.

This fith album of Beck is a blast. Great alternative rock songs (Devils Haircut, Where It's At) on an album that's catchy as hell.

Very impressive rock 'n roll album by Buddy Holly considering he was only 20 years old at the time. Several songs are rock standards now (That'll Be the Day, Not Fade Away). What would have become of him if...

Lucinda Williams has made a great country album from a singer songwriter point. The songs are solid and the production is spot on.

This country album aged very poorly. Maybe in 1967 these lyrics were interesting, but in 2024 they are boring as hell.

This debut album of Pink Floyd contains psychedelic mostly written by Syd Barrett. It is a good album, but sounds a bit dated now. Also the legend of Syd Barrett (due to the very sad life story) has grown bigger than his contribution to music history.

Gooddebut album by French rapper MC Solaar. Also great lyrics (which most of you will miss out on, please use google translate).

I like Jane's Addiction as a band and Nothing's Shocking and various individual songs, but this album is merely ok to me. The songs are not that outstanding and the production is a bit messy.

This is an album about war by by PJ Harvey and it is great with dark and very England themed lyrics about The Great War and other horror.

One Meatloaf song at the time like Paradise by the Dashboard Light is ok, an album full of wagnerian rock is a crime. Over the top is an understatement. If Phil Spector makes Wall of Sound productions, what should we call what Steinman does?

Broken English is considered the best album of Marianne Faithfull. If the songs are not written by the artist itself most of the time the artist has great qualities in performance (vocals, instrumentation, deliverance). I cannot find these on this record. It's ok and the songs don't stand out either.

Tina Turner is a fantastic singer and performer, but she depends on songs of others. Private Dancer and What's Love Got to Do with It are good songs written for this album. The cover of I Can't Stand the Rain (Ann Peebles) is ok. The covers of 1984 (David Bowie) and Let's Stay Together (Al Green) are poor. Other songs are filler.

Fantastic album by the king of pop. Almost every song was a hit single as they all are great catchy tunes. Top production by Quincy Jones.

The best solo album of an ex-Beatle. Several great rock and pop songs (Jealous Guy, Imagine, I Don't Want to be Aa Soldier, Gimme Some Truth) and a consistent production.

The last classic album by the Beatles. On this one the contribution of George Harrison is larger (Because, Here Comes The Sun, Something). Every song is sublime.

The debut album of The XX combines indie pop, dream pop and electronica. The whole package sounds great. Islands is a highlight.

As bassist Peter Hook said: "Technique [is] not an Ibizan dance record". It perfectly shows how to incorporate rock in synthpop and visa versa. A true classic.

It's the classic cool jazz album that actually sounds cool and not over complex. And it contains the famous Take Five song. What's not to like?

A lot of people get confused by the name of this album and assume it's a compilation. This is understandable as it has so many great classic pop songs.

This debut album of Magazine is full of post punk songs that capture the energy of the David Bowie and Iggy Pop rock it's inspired by. It sounds as offbeat as it's album cover, but in the end it works.

A lot of people hate this album. I agree that it sounds as a dirty mess. Why do you expect something else with this album name? It's a perfect album to listen to after an awful day at work or a fight with a friend or your partner. It's raw, foul and is always on your side. Even if you are unreasonable.

Station to Station is a funky David Bowie rock album containing various classics like the title song, Golden Years, TVC 15 and Stay. The sound of the album is certainly not warm and appealing, but that fits the lyrics and the alien impression of The Man who fell to Earth very well. Wild is the Wind is a beautiful cover and Word on a Wing is a good ballad too.

The debut album of Run DMC is a hip hop classic. The music is basic and direct and the raps are to the point. This album has not aged a bit.

I did not know that the debut album of Spiritualized was this good. I only focused on Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, while Lazer Guided Melodies is also a blast. The space rock and shoe gaze songs are a bit more structured and compact than on the later album.

If I Should Fall From Grace With God is the magnus opum of Shane MacGowan. It a collection of classic songs touching all styles within the Celtic folk rock punk genre. Fairytale of New York and Fiesta sound exactly as the titles predict and show the diversity of this album full of high quality material.

Black Sabbath had already made 3 classic albums, but still had one left in them. This album contains two of their best songs with Supernaut and the ballad Changes.

Darkness on the Edge of Town never has been of of my favorite Springsteen albums. I don't know why. If I look at the track listing and I see Badlands, Adam Raised a Cain, Racing in the Street, The Promised Land and Darkness on the Edge of Town, I must admit it's my mistake.

Tonight's The Night is a classic Neil Young rock album. It was created while grieving over the loss of Danny Whitten (guitarist) Bruce Berry (friend & roadie) who both died of drug overdoses. "The whole thing is about life, dope and death" and you will notice it. That is one of the reasons I don't listen to it that often. The sheer quality of this album cannot be denied though.

Third Beatles album and the one that changed music history by using complex compositions and complicated chords in pop/rock songs (like the famous opening chord of A Hard Day's Night). Also the first Beatles album with only original material and no covers.

The Joshua Tree is the fifth album of U2. It contains the classics : "Where the Streets Have No Name", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "With or Without You". The sound of the band evolved in a sort of alternative stadium rock. Something that is not necessary bad and too great commercial success, but I lost my interest.

Pink Moon is the third and final studio album by Nick Drake before he took his own life. The folky songs are performed without backing band (only vocals, guitar and piano by Drake). This makes it a very personal and a bit sad with all the unfilled space and silence in production. It results in fabulous songs.

My father had two Eric Clapton albums when I was a kid: 461 Ocean Boulevard and Behind the Sun. At the time I liked the latter one. Nowadays I appreciate the laid back vibe of this one more. Songs like "Let It Grow" and "I Shot the Sheriff" are like a big tank of oxygen in a busy life. Of course the Bob Marley original is better, but this one is magnificent too.

Some bands have a debut album that can't be topped. Rage Against The Machine is one of them. It's full of passion, aggression, relevance and activism. Everything screams of urgence from the album cover to the music, vocal and lyrics.

One of the most despised albums on this list. I understand the fact that it's strange that an interpretation of an artist (Ornette Coleman) is on it, but the original is missing. Maybe we could swap out an Costello album for him. And personally I would have entered an original album of John Zorn or one of his projects like Naked City (with songs like "Igneous Ejaculation" 0:20). Apart from these considerations this is still a great avantgarde jazz album. Not for the faint of hearted, I guess.

You're Living All Over Me is a good indie rock album of Dinosaur Jr. I especially like Sludgefeast and Little Fury Things (with Lee Ranaldo).

I have no idea why this album of Prefab Sprout is on the list. Uninteresting jazz pop from the 1980s and very very boring.

Rum Sodomy & the Lash is the best album of The Pogues containing a great selection of their folk punk songs. "Dirty Old Town" and "A Pair of Brown Eyes" are absolute classics in music history.

This debut album of the guitar god is an unbelievable treasure. It is full of classic rock songs ("Foxy Lady", "Manic Depression", "Red House", "I Don't Live Today", "May This Be Love", "Fire", "3rd Stone from the Sun", "Are You Experienced") and CD / USA reissues also contain the hit singles "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze".

Sea Change is not of of my preferred Beck albums. After listening to it once again for this list, I must admit it is still a solid piece of music. It's sort of a back to the basics idea with simpler lyrics and real instruments and less electronics/sampling. It is lacking a real classic song though.

Another Roxy Music album is another great cover. A cover is great way to get some free publicity and the guys knew that. "The Thrill of It All" and "All I Want Is You" are the best songs on a solid rock album.

The disco Bee Gees are a guilty pleasure of mine. The pre-disco band is not. All songs are mediocre, down tempo ballads and it goes on and on and on… 😱

Another album by the Liverpool band The Beatles. Maybe you heard of them before. Many great songs. Some consider this their best (not me). "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "Eleanor Rigby" are two of their classics. "Yellow Submarine" is not one of my favorites, but reminds me of the version of the german artist Klaus Beyer ("Gelben Unterwasserboot") and makes me very happy anyway.

This folk rock album is not something that stands out in any way as being original or groundbreaking. This reason it is on the list is the unbelievable quality of the songs, great instrumentation and fantastic vocals. "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" is one of my all-time favorite songs. The album cover by Pieter Bruegel is so fitting and the story about getting permission to use it by the museum is heartwarming. It's filling a hole that I was not aware it did exist.

Metallica has made great music, but this combination with an orchestra transforms their trash metal music into MOR daddy rock.

this is the debut album of A Tribe Called Quest and it made great impact. This record is full of jazzy and laidback hip hop. "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo" and "Can I Kick It?" are classics.

One of the two albums of post-punk band Joy Division on this list. You can feel the tragedy and desolation of Ian Curtis and it hits so hard.

This is the best album of Cat Stevens. Despite the very ugly album cover it contains some pretty songs like the classics "Father and Son" and "Wild World". Also nice is "Where Do the Children Play?". The rest of the tracks are rather unremarkable.

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is a fantastic avantgarde jazz album. I understand that it is not for everybody, certainly not listening to it for the first time. So just give it a try and after a few spins you will understand that it has a lot of quality.

On Psychocandy beautiful songs and great lyrics are hidden in a structure of noise and distortion. You could even say that a lot of the songs are rather tender and emotional.

Rid of Me is a back to the basics album of PJ Harvey. Unlike her later music it contains raw rock tracks that are based on simple bluesy structures. Her later records also have beautiful ballads and great vocals. The ballads are not on this one and the singing is angry and to the point screaming about personal experiences often resulting in anger and disappointment.

White Ladder is a fine electronic music album. Too bad it did not age that well and sounds a bit dated. Combined with several songs of mediocre quality and no classics, I cannot consider this a must listen album for anyone.

Jagged Little Pill is a great indie rock album. At the time I was really impressed by its quality. Listening to it now the songs remain great only the lose vocals of Alanis annoy me from time to time. Some of the slower songs have vocals that are too often off-key in a not a nice way. That's too bad as she is a great singer.

The Fat of the Land is a good album, but the start of the demise of The Prodigy. The singles ("Firestarter", "Breathe" and "Smack My Bitch Up") are great songs, but the record also contains a lot of filler material.

Daydream Nation is the best album of noise rock legends Sonic Youth, though it's not my favorite (Sister). "Schizophrenia" and "(I Got A) Catholic Block" are classic rock songs and the other tracks are great too.

"The title refers to a fever suffered by sailors during long hot voyages". Seems to me the album has the same effect on me. Is an album of the 1001 you SHOULD NOT hear added to the MUST hear list? We will never know, but this is a 1980s rock album and production you can certainly live and die without.

For me New Forms by Roni Size is one of the best dance albums ever. I personally am a great fan of Drum and Bass and if you want to listen to one album of that genre, this is it.

Who's Next is the best album of (hard) rock legends The Who. They have never really been my cup of tea, but an album containing "Baba O'Riley", "Behind Blue Eyes", "Won't Get Fooled Again" and several other good songs is a must listen indeed.

Beautiful small rock and folk album by Bruce Springsteen following the big stadium rock of Born in the USA. None of the songs really stands out, but the consistency of the quality makes it great nonetheless.

I have never been the biggest fan of the song "Bohemian Rhapsody". To me it's just a messy mix of styles are are glued together poorly, though I won't deny it's quality. The rest of the album is overshadowed by this song and that is too bad as other songs ("Love of My Life") are also great. It's a nice mixture of ballads and power rock songs and a unicorn.

An ok Paul Simon album, but no idea why it is on this list. Mostly harmless and not bad.

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is probably the best album of The Smashing Pumpkins, I just like Siamese Dream better. But my opinion is rather irrelevant as both albums are a fantastic and five star choice. This very lengthy albums is one of the exceptions that confirm the rule that albums should not be too long. This one is long, but not too long. The large number of songs make it possible to explore various styles and genres (while still maintaining a high quality). Highlights are of course "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "Tonight, Tonight" and "1979", though the greatness of this album is the fact that all of the songs are interesting at least and good most of the time. I know the voice of Billy Corgan is an acquired taste, but just learn to love it. It is worth the effort.

Yet another timeless classic of Steely Dan. Great Jazz rock with intriguing lyrics. Highlights are "Bodhisattva", "The Boston Rag" and "My Old School".

An album full of uninspired daddy rock. Boring and commercial. I despise everything it stands for.

Treasure is a great dream pop album by the people that personally invented the genre. To be honest often too sweet and slow for me (I prefer shoegaze), but you must give credits to the legends. Compositions and arrangements are impressive.

Goodbye and Hello is a decent album by Tim Buckley, but I don't know what the fuzz is about. I find the music of his son Jeff Buckley far more impressive. This is just average singer songwriter stuff and I can't find anything that really stands out in music, lyrics or performance.

Despite the album title, Machine Gun Etiquette is the first album of The Damned that is not just straight early punk rock, but also provides variation and depth. The lyrics are also interesting and witty. It's for me one of the top 10 punk rock albums.

The Atomic Mr. Basie is a jazz album in a style I normally do not like: big band. The fact that it's still a four star experience to me, says it all. The songs are great and the production is flawless. The album cover misleads you in to thinking that it's something avantgarde or aggressive. That is not the case, still it is a wonderful classic.

The problem with 1984 is that it sounds like 1984: stupid masculine hard rock from the 1980s. It aged like milk. "Jump" and "Hot for Teacher" are great songs, the guitar playing of Eddie is fabulous and David sounds like an on stage must see. Too bad the rest of the songs are subpar and uninteresting.

Maybe Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, but if this is nowhere, that is where I want to be. It is the best album of Neil Young. As Neil has made so many classic albums, this one is really special. Of the seven songs of this album only "Round & Round (It Won't Be Long)" is a good song. The other six songs are even far better and all classics. Also the performance of Neil and his band is of the highest level. His vocals on "The Losing End (When You're On)" are his most fragile ever and the guitar work on "Cinnamon Girl", "Down by the River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" is legendary.

Purple Rain is one of the best Prince albums and the soundtrack of the film with the same name. The film is forgettable, the album is not. It contains of course the magnificent ballad "Purple Rain", but also classics like "Let's Go Crazy", "Darling Nikki", "I Would Die 4 U" and "Computer Blue". A perfect example of all the things that make Prince a legendary artist.

Paul's Boutique is the second (and best) album of Beastie Boys. It is impressive what a step the guys made from Licensed to Ill to this album. The songwriting is still catchy, but the songs are so much more refined. No one dimensional hip hop rock tracks inspired by hip hop legends, but mature songwriters becoming legends themselves.

Kiwanuka is a modern classic with a modern version of soul that is a natural successor of the music created by sous legends like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. The arrangements are fabulous and the production is great.

Cosmo's Factory is the fifth album of Creedence Clearwater Revival. The only bad part of the album is the album cover photo. I've read the background story and still not get the joke. The music itself is fantastic with great soulful rock. Classics like "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Up Around the Bend", "Long as I Can See the Light" and of course a sublime cover of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine".

The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett is THE ultimate jazz piano album. To quote Wikipedia: "It is the best-selling solo album in jazz history and the best-selling piano album". So yes, it is a five star classic and you should enjoy it. If not, please reconsider your openness to something that is apparently a bit out of your normal music scope and give it a second, third, fourth, fifth... listen. You will thank me later.

Something Else by the Kinks does not fit the music on the album. And I'm glad it doesn't. It's just another album full of classic British pop/rock songs by Ray Davies. On this album highlights are "Death of a Clown" and "Waterloo Sunset" (probably his best composition). Pure gold!

Exit Planet Dust is the best album of The Chemical Brothers. Great Big Beat tracks that are bombastic and over the top in a good way. If you can listen to it without the urge to move your body there is definitely something wrong with you.

This album is another masterpiece by Prince. Fantastic synth-pop and funk. It contains the classics "1999" and "Little Red Corvette"

One of my favorite albums ever. The songwriting is so impressive and also the vocal delivery is fantastic. Rick Wakeman also provides impressive piano play making the songs (Changes, Oh You Pretty Things and Live On Mars) some of the best Bowie has created.

Melodrama is a good synth-pop album by singer-songwriter Lorde. The songs "Green Light", "Perfect Places", and "Homemade Dynamite" were released as singles. The album sounds a lot more mature than her previous (debut) album.

I never got the buzz about this album. I adore The Kick Inside (1978), The Dreaming (1982) and Hounds of Love (1985), but this is just a bit mediocre to me. Kate Bush standards of course. The songs are ok to good, but the performance and production is uninteresting. "This Woman's Work" is nothing on this album while the Maxwell cover of this song is one of the best song covers ever.

This is what you get when a white suburban songwriter goes wild on Afro-American polyrhythms. It's strange disruptive and groovy as hell. One of the best albums of the 1980s and in my personal top 25.

Back in black is a great album. This one only has "Highway to Hell" and the rest of the songs are mediocre.

ABBA are a miss and hit band to me. This is a miss. No outstanding songs or hits and the production is much to smooth.

I thought this album to be better than it was after listening. From my youth I remembered some of the hits, but not the weak tracks. "Faith" is a great song in every way. "I Want Your Sex" is also quite good. "Kissing a Fool" and "Father Figure" are ok. The other songs are forgettable.

I like the track "We Are Family", but the rest of the songs are boring and uninteresting.

Paul Simon was in the doghouse when he decided to record this album in South Africa during the international boycott. Also people accused him of stealing ideas from (African) musicians as he had none. In the end it was a great musical and commercial success and it helped a lot of African music to get in the picture again. It songs are fabulous. "You can call me Al" is maybe one of the weaker ones, but the thought of the accompanying video always makes me very happy.

James Brown Live At The Apollo really captures the feeling of a James Brown performance at his peak. Of course it's cheating to put a line album on the list. It's also cheating to exclude it as his studio albums often lack the spirit and intensity that bring his songs to the next level.

Sunday At The Village Vanguard is an ok jazz album. It's a live album, but I do not really get if that factors in to it. No punishment to listen to it, but it does not stick. More like a high quality background sound setting a mood.

Beautiful Freak, the debut album of Eels, was an epiphany at the time of its release. A complete unknown artist debuting with such strong material. The strength of this album is in the weakness and uncertainty it shows in its lyrics in mesmerizing songs like "Novocaine for the Soul", "Rags to Rags", "My Beloved Monster" and "Manchild"

Deloused in the Comatorium is the kind of progressive rock that I like. It's complex, raw, naughty and exploratory, but not overthought and full of jerkoff solos. To quote an review of Uncut: "Imagine a jam session between King Crimson, Fugazi and '70s Miles. Now imagine it working. That's the Mars Volta."

Document is the album that introduced me to R.E.M. as a 13 year old in 1987. "The One I Love", "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and "Finest Worksong" belong to their best songs. To me the album has always sounded a bit more open and straightforward than the albums preceding it. Like the band was finding its ground.

Phil Spector was not a nice guy. If we can't separate the music I allowed to create from his person we are denying a lot of the involved artists from their credits. This is just a smasher of an album and one everybody should listen to during the holidays instead of Wham and Mariah Carey.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the second album of Dylan. It is one of his best. To be able to write classics like "Blowin' in the Wind", "Girl from the North Country", "Masters of War" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" when you're 21 years old... and those lyrics are from an old soul.

If You're Feeling Sinister is certainly not one of my favorite Belle & Sebastian albums. The middle sector ("Like Dylan in the Movies", "The Fox in the Snow", "Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying" and "If You're Feeling Sinister") is good, the other tracks are not that impressive.

A Grand Don't Come For Free is a great brit rap album by The Streets. It may be his best album album, but I prefer Original Pirate Material as it is more original and I was more surprised at the time of its release. "Has It Come to This?", "Let's Push Things Forward" and "Weak Become Heroes" and impressive tracks.

Nice electronic album supporting the film like a soundtrack should do. It does not contain any remarkable songs apart from Playground Love.

Music from Big Pink is the debut album of The Band. It's roots rock with a certain organic quality of the instrumentation. None of the tracks stands out, as a whole it just fits like a glove though.

At the time of the release I skipped Disintegration. I thought the looks of Robert Smith were pathetic and the fact that my elder sister was a fan, was also a major factor. Listening to it now, it's clear I made a big mistake. This is a fantastic album with great songs and an overall feeling of grandeur. There are some really heavy songs, but lighter works are in between to keep it balanced.

Fever To Tell is a nice indie rock album. I like some other albums of Yeah Yeah Yeahs better. This is nothing shocking in quality or deliverance. Still it's good fun to listen to for a couple of times.

This is maybe the best pop album of all times. Compared to peak Beatles the songs have the same quality and complexity, but sound more effortless and natural. That may be due to the often childish lyrics of Brian Wilson. These (and the album cover) give the album a feeling of pure innocence.

I like the album cover and I thought this would have some "classic" value. In the end I was disappointed that only "California Dreamin'" is a great song on this album and the other songs are mediocre at most.

"What Have I Done to Deserve This?" is the question that i asked myself when i started listening. In the end it's not that bad. Three good songs ("What Have I Done to Deserve This?", "Rent" and "It's a Sin") and some filler.

Brilliant Corners is the tour de force of jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. The compositions are complex, but still sound accessible. Sonny Rollins on saxophone makes this album a true hard bop classic.

Crocodiles is the debut album by Echo & the Bunnymen. The Wikipedia page states it is post-punk , but I would call it new wave. “Rescue” and “Pictures on My Wall” are highlights on an album with Bowiesque melodies and poetic lyrics.

The Colour Of Spring is the third album of new wave band Talk Talk. It contains the hit singles "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World". I must say the rest of the album is not that interesting and the nasal voice of Mark Hollis gets on my nerves after half an album.

It's disappointing that this list contains two albums of the genius that Ray Charles is. The Genius Of Ray Charles: an album with big band and singing pop arrangements and the other: Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music with country and folk songs. That is not who Ray Charles is. He is the man that almost singlehandedly invented soul as a music genre combining gospel and blues in songs like "I Got a Woman". Why is a fantastic album like Ray Charles - Ray Charles (1957) not on this list containing the genre he defined. It is a Shame, Shame, Shame (I know that is not a Ray Charles song, but it is more Ray Charles than the two albums on this list). Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is still a good album, but it's not one of his best.

As a whole album The Stranger is the best of Billy Joel. His other album are far less consistent in quality. To mention which song is the best ("Scenes from an Italian Restaurant") is almost a crime considering that apart from the last two songs (being only solid) they are all great.

Modern Life Is Rubbish is the second album of brit pop band Blur. Some regard it as their first masterpiece. I'm not one of them. I listened to it over ten times in my life and still can't remember an individual song. So I don't understand why it's on this list. Blur has made better albums that are not on it.

The title of the album (and the cover) say it all: Surf's Up. This is not the Beach Boys making (un)complicated happy surf songs anymore. This is far more complex and less happy. Beautifully arranged progressive pop songs.

Whatever by singer-songwriter Aimee Mann is another album on this list that I did not expect. She has made several better albums. Maybe because it's her solo debut. Anyway, "I Should've Known" and "Stupid Thing" are the best tracks and it is fine as a whole but not outstanding.

Great jazz rock album by Weather Report with the legendary bass guitar player Jaco Pastorius. To quote Wikipedia "Teen Town", a Pastorius composition where his bass takes the lead instrument role, is often considered a highlight of the album and of Pastorius's career."

Frank is the debut album of Amy Winehouse. This album shows that Amy is not only a hype due to her tragic life and death, but that she was indeed a great singer performing with a great personality. She really elevates the mostly old compositions to another level.

Super Fly is a fantastic soul album by Curtis Mayfield for the blaxploitation film with the same name. I really like this kind of soul from the 1970s with a blaxploitation connection like Isaac Hayes (Shaft), Bobby Womack and the (other) artists from Stax Records.

It's a strange decision to include a live album of Jacques Brel on this list. I would rather put "Jacques Brel 5" on it as his best studio album. That one does not contain that many famous songs, but this live album also has only two ("Amsterdam" and "Mathilde").

It's a shame Evan Dando cannot sing properly. A few of the better songs can withstand his bland performance, but half of the songs are not that good and the limitations of singer and band start to annoy.

The definitive country live album. I know live albums should not be on the list, but this is not a greatest hits collectio. It is a concept album about criminal intent and as such the location location location of the concert was outstanding. Johnny Cash and the band are in top form. I like Folsom Prison a bit better, but I always considered these as a combined live album experience.

I agree (as a fan) that there are too many Elvis Costello albums on this list. I would rate this one 6.5/10. There are are couple of good pop songs on it, but nothing stands out or is remarkable.

When I was young in the 1980s, I always disliked The Cure due to the pathetic looks of Smith and most of all because my elder sister was a fan. Boy, I was wrong. What great music this is! (and maybe wrong about his looks at the time too)

Though I firmly believe live albums should not be on this list, this is a beautiful album that must be on it. One of the exceptions of the rule I guess. This is one of the top 10 should albums and it delivers everything Sam Cooke has to deliver and that's lot lot of fantastic songs.

Dear Science is a great indie rock album by TV On The Radio. The guitars often make dissonant tunes and hooky riffs while the vocals are soundful and the rhythm section is funky. TV On The Radio makes the kind of unique rock that should not work, but in some freaky way it does. And it's awesome!

Jah Wobble is a great guy and musician with lots of good ideas. This album is a bit meh. If I would put one album of his on this list (not necessary), it should be "The Legend Lives On... Jah Wobble in Betrayal". That one has some reasonably ok songs and classics with "Betrayal" and "Blueberry Hill" (one of the best cover songs ever).

American Beauty is supposed to be the best studio album of Grateful Dead. It clearly shows that for something spectacular you have to listen to the live stuff. This album is tame and the songs are ok, not great.

Call of the Valley was made to create an album of classical indian music shaped in a form to appeal to a western audience. It was a commercial, not an artistic success. While far better classical indian music exists, it was chosen because of the easier listening experience, making it an awful choice.

Sometimes just when you think rock 'n roll is dead an album appears that shows that it is alive and kicking. " Is This It" is such an album. Fantastic songs, lyrics performance and that bit of "je ne sais quoi " that makes it a classic album.