1001 Albums Summary

Great songs - Running Up That Hill, Big Sky, Cloudbusting, Waking the Witch, Watching You Without Me, Jig of Life Very experimental album, probably especially for the time. Hard to categorize it.

Not a great album. Surprised I've never heard of this guy though. All the songs are kind of boring and uninteresting. "Big Muff" was kinda funny. "Certain Surprise" had a croony, Dean Martin-y feel. "Dancing" had a 70s groove. Those were the only ok songs on the album.

What can you say about this one? Classic Sinatra. All great songs. Missing a couple of my favorite Sinatra songs (like Luck Be a Lady), but they're all exactly what you'd expect on a Sinatra album.

Not really my thing but this is about as prototypical mid-90s R&B as you can get. Solid album. Worth listening to.

Maybe this was ground breaking at the time, but now it sounds like every "Alpha Wave Music to Relax and Study" video on youtube. Would put it on in the background and forget about it but there's nothing special about it. Giving it an extra star for any historical relevance it might have.

Absolutely fantastic. Pure funk. Head starts bobbing of its own accord. Not too sure about "All About Love" even though it has some good moments. Everything else is great though. Too short.

This album is pure energy. Weird listening to it today, when all the "controversial" aspects seem tame. It's been imitated so much that it almost sounds like a parody of itself. No doubt that this is as punk as a studio album can get.

Mostly nondescript but catchy songs. Recognized "There She Goes" from every movie ever. Everything else was new to me. I liked "Liberty Ship" and "All By Myself". There aren't really any standouts but there are no bad songs on the album, and the songs that are on there tend to grow on you.

Pretty eclectic mixture of songs, sometimes just one song was an eclectic mixture. I liked "Sitting Up Straight" but not much else.

Powerful album with tons of cultural significance. Lyrically strong and deep with a lot of innovative sampling of sound bites interspersed throughout. My only criticism is that the songs seem to run together musically, but Public Enemy was always more about the lyrics than the music.

There's some really good songs on this album (Cherub Rock, Today, Disarm) but overall it's pretty boring. 3.5 stars.

Garbage. Not sure what I'm supposed to like about this. I guess some of the songs would sound good in a movie soundtrack in a scene where a guy walks into a room where his whole family just got murdered. No thanks.

Not really sure how to rate this. On the one hand, it's just a bunch of covers so who cares, but on the other hand there is a raw energy here that is palpable and impressive. They put their own subtle spin on the covers but at the same time there wasn't much difference between them and every other version of the songs I've ever heard. I probably won't listen again but I didn't hate it. I bet they would have been great to see live. "Strychnine" and "Have Love Will Travel" are great songs. "The Witch" & "Boss Hoss" grow on you.

Big James Brown fan but this album really isn't that good. "Lost Someone" was pretty cool though.

Every song on this album is catchy and interesting. No low points. Great example of classic Reggae.

Classic album. Cool cover too.

"Dreamer" was ok I guess. The rest of the album was pretty forgettable. Reminds me of "Eels" in some places.

Beautiful voice here. Nice collection of standards performed pretty much perfectly. Not really a fan personally of this kind of thing even though it's easy to admire the talent. Also I don't generally like live albums. I think the Spotify version linked here is only half of the album. Full album is here: spotify:album:4HXhOHapnfYAFUuQqBWQ3L Kinda messed up of the emcee to call her out for performing with lyric sheets...

Generic techno.

You kind of have to be in the right mood to listen to Steely Dan, but luckily I'm in that mood most of the time. "Deacon Blues" is the highlight of this album but the whole thing is great.

Psychedelic blues rock. Probably a fun band to see live, but this album didn't really do much for me. It did make me a little curious about this band though. They have some good stuff, just not much on this album in my opinion.

I had never heard this album all the way through but, like everyone I guess, I know all the hits and they're all on this album. The songs I hadn't heard still felt familiar. Great album

This was a strange listening experience. Clearly cathartic for Neil to write and perform these songs, but they weren't very interesting for me. Especially given the fact that his voice is objectively terrible. Not sure why he attempts to hit some of the notes he goes for. Despite this, I find myself thinking about some of the songs long after I've heard them. Can't really articulate why. Summary: objectively bad, subjectively good.

Good but not great. Some pretty forgettable songs on here. The good ones are really good though. "Ten Cent Pistol" is probably my favorite, but the most popular are probably "Howlin' For You", "Next Girl" and "Tighten Up" which are all also pretty great. Could skip the rest and not miss anything.

I guess none of the songs are terrible and there were some cool guitar riffs here and there. No good songs either though.

This was overall an enjoyable listen. A step up from the usual 60s psychedelic rock that was prevalent around this time. Not sure I'd listen again but didn't mind it while it was playing.

I get why people would like this, powerful voice, meaningful lyrics, emotional music. Just not my thing really.

Don't understand this at all.

Didn't do much for me.

A very relaxing listen. Kinda clever with the little fake commercials interspersed between the "real" songs. "I Can See For Miles" is a great song and I like "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand" but otherwise not too impressive.

Very generic. Could be nice to have in the background while you're doing something else, but so would any random album like this. Nothing special about it. "Seven" was the standout song for me.

This album is a mixture of catchy and annoying. Not too sure how I feel about it.

Mellow album to put on in the background. Not sure I'd listen on purpose though. The talent is palpable and obvious but just not my thing.

Pretty solid. The big hits on this album are incredible: "Sweet Baby James", "Country Road", and of course "Fire and Rain" but a lot of the rest are pretty unmemorable. Wasn't familiar with most of the rest and I'm pretty fine with that.

Another of many examples on this list of an album where I can appreciate the talent, but it's not for me.

The first note of the first song had me intrigued but it quickly got really bad after that. This seems to be a pattern with bands I haven't heard of on this list. Anyway, this whole album was awful. "Girl" might be the worst song I've ever heard. "Frankie Teardrop" was kind of interesting but still terrible. Unnecessary screaming everywhere.

Good stuff. The guy is an incredible lyricist, but I felt like I had to pay too much attention.

Pretty boring.

Nice album but not great. 3 great songs ("America", "Mrs. Robinson", "A Hazy Shade of Winter") and the rest were ok. Can't really call this a good album even though I'm a big fan of Simon & Garfunkel.

This is a cool album. Don't know if it's "good" but it is definitely cool. The harmonizing is something else. "Turn to Stone", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Sweet Is the Night", and, of course, "Mr. Blue Sky" are the standouts but there aren't really any duds.

Not my thing. Kinda neat hearing "Three Girl Rhumba" and how clear it was plagiarized by Elastica on "Connection". I remember learning about that but had forgotten who was the original artist. When that song came on I thought it was playing the Elastica song.

Another underwhelming punk album. There were some parts of Marquee Moon that were ok, but overall this was a dud.

Didn't really like this one other than "Lost Cause". Really depressing stuff.

This is a really good album. Not really my thing but the songs are catchy and danceable all while providing a social commentary (although sometimes a little corny). That was probably the whole point so mission accomplished. Unlikely that I'll listen to it again though.

Mostly forgettable tracks with some interesting features. Really not like any albums I've heard before, even though most of the songs sounds pretty similar to each other. It's a mixture of world music combined with McLaren yelling random stuff. I think most of the songs would be better without him.

Meh. "The Food" was the only song I liked on this album.

Reminds me of the 90s. Good but fairly generic.

Another bad punk album.

How do you rate The Beatles? Kind of an impossible task. Just give every album 5 stars? I'm normally not a big fan of these kinds of poppy love songs, but The Beatles can make even those sound good. That said I'll give this 4 stars since I like a lot of their other stuff better. Feel like I'm grading on a curve though.

This is an ok album. A few good songs on it, but this kind of ska sound gets a little too repetitive for my taste. Still, not bad overall.

Cool album. Pretty good as background but not generic like a lot of "background music" albums on this list.

I thought the first song "Blast Off" was ok. Had a White Zombie feel to it. Album fell off pretty quick after that though. Picked back up with "Several Sins" but didn't much like the rest of it. It was unique though, I'll give it that.

Songs are all good but I'm just not a big fan of live albums. The show was probably amazing, album really isn't.

It was a miserable experience listening to this.

This is not a good album. None of the songs were objectively terrible though so I guess I can give it 2 stars. Can't for the life of me understand how this is on this list though.

Cool voice. This album gets a bit repetitive, but each song is pretty cool on its own.

Nice album to listen to. Lots of interesting tracks. Not really my thing but didn't mind it at all. I was expecting to dislike the whole thing.

I feel the same way about this album as I do about just about all prog rock. It's kind of like watching a circus act or a magic show: The skill and talent is evident and impressive and I'm glad I saw it, but I don't ever need to see it again.

Kind of a weird experience listening to this. I haven't listened to this album in a long time and I was expecting it to be really good. Instead even the songs I like weren't as good as I remembered them.

This album goes down in quality after the first three songs but still a thoroughly great album from start to finish.

This is a great album. This style of folk/country music can get repetitive but every track here is solid despite this. Don't know how anyone can listen to "Angel From Montgomery" without crying.

This isn't good. At all.

This was definitely a step above most electronic dance music stuff. Still not my cup of tea, but every song was solid. Could imagine a DJ in a 90s rave just throwing this album on and just stepping away for an hour and no one would complain.

Nice, pleasant album. Billie Holiday's voice is full of emotion and feeling and the songs are all sad in their own subtly different ways. That said, the songs do blend together and are hard to distinguish from each other. Can't really imagine listening to this to just enjoy it and I think that's what music is really about.

This is an incredible album. Every song either is or could have been a hit. And with good reason too. I don't think I paid as much attention to this album when it came out because the previous albums were "Thriller" and "Off the Wall" and how do you top those? Answer is you probably don't but this is still a top tier album.

Elvis Costello is one of those hit or miss singers for me and this album is mostly a miss. I've listened to a few of his albums and they all tend to have one great song and the rest are mediocre. I couldn't find the great song on this album.

Incredibly powerful voice. Good songs, but only a couple of real great ones.

I didn't expect this to be good and was pleasantly surprised. Started off strong with a little bit of a lull but most of this album was really good.

Not too impressed. Don't think I've ever heard this entire album before, but on this listening the only song I liked was "Optimistic". The rest kind of blend together. Might be good as background music though.

The beginning and ending of this album is not good at all but the middle is unbelievable. Sometimes it's hard to tell if you like a song or you're just familiar with it, but the 4 songs I knew (Synchronicity II, Every Breath You Take, King of Pain, Wrapped Around Your Finger) are enough to make this a great album. I also liked Miss Gradenko which I don't think I've heard before.

The Spotify album isn't the same one from the Wikipedia article. The one I listened to was way too long and had a few too many cameos from other artists. Also, not a big fan of live albums anyway (San Quentin twice in a row? Ok...) and some of the pandering in this one was hard to take. Still the songs were pretty good, but I'd rather hear them on their original albums.

Interesting. Not bad, but not really good either (or at least not my thing). I could see this growing on me but not too interested in giving it the chance.

This was interesting, just not something I would ever listen to on purpose.

There's really nothing here. I assume it worked as a soundtrack but not interested as a stand alone album.

It's tricky to rate this album. I don't think the full album is on Spotify, so I'm not sure if I'm rating this correctly. Still the songs I did hear were all pretty good. Nothing really stood out except the big hit "Blueberry Hill". Still not too bad. I bet it was more impactful when it came out.

Really eclectic mix of songs on this album. No duds, but only a couple of really good songs (Band on the Run, Jet). Worth a listen though, some of the songs seem like they would grow on you.

Not bad, not good. Of course, "No Woman No Cry" is amazing and I really liked "Them Belly Full" but the rest was just ok.

Not great. I liked "Sunday Shining" and that's it. Completely forgot about that song until I heard it again. Probably going to forget about the rest of these songs real quick.

They've got a pretty unique sound which is cool to hear. Most of the songs on this album are pretty bland though. "It's A Sin" is a cool song though. "Shopping" is just stupid.

I feel like I'm writing the exact same review for all the instrumental only albums on this list. Basically this would make decent background music, but not really interested in listening to this album more than once. I'm nearly positive that first song "Birdland" is a theme song from some cheesy 80s tv show, although I can't remember which one, and the internet is no help, but that little bit of nostalgia isn't enough to bump up the overall rating.

This is a mostly fantastic album. There are quite a few duds but the good songs more than make up for it.

Felt like pretty generic reggae to me. Could see putting it on in for some background music.

This album was pretty great. Ultimate example of the rave sound of the 90s. Not really my thing musically so I didn't want to give this 5 stars but I have to. It's as good as anything I've heard so far.

Pretty unusual album. They really have a unique sound that sets them apart. Couple of songs I really liked were "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1" and "Are You a Hypnotist??". "Do You Realize??" was also pretty good. Not really the kind of music I usually like to listen to but still really good.

OK but not great. Songs kinda ran together but nothing too bad. I liked "Black Steel" but it was the only one I thought was more than just ok.

Didn't mind this. There were no standouts but nothing really bad either. Probably would have been a cool band to see in concert, but the songs didn't have any staying power for me.

I get that these guys were innovative and unique for the time. You can definitely tell they influenced a lot of my favorite 80s bands. That said, this album didn't really do anything for me.

This album just isn't very musical and so it doesn't do anything much for me. The Killing Moon is good but I wouldn't like to hear any of this stuff in more than small quantities.

I thought the three songs "I'm In Touch with Your World", "Don't Cha Stop", and "All Mixed Up" were pretty bad but the rest of the album was so good they more than made up for it. 4.5 stars.

Nothing too bad but nothing too good either. "Radio Free Europe" was the only song I liked.

Real mixed bag here. Lots of fun songs but starts to get a little repetitive. The hits like "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" alone are worth it though. Also really liked "If I Could Only Flag Her Down" which I'd never heard before. 3.5 stars.

Pretty enjoyable listen. Sounded like a really good blues band jamming for the most part. One thing I never understood with the doors was the keyboard that seemed sort of out of place. Definitely was the case here.

Wasn't expecting to like this too much but it was surprisingly entertaining. Was a little repetitive at points, but overall a good album. Very 90s. Very grunge.

Don't really get this album. It's not bad or anything but this kind of music doesn't do much for me.

A fairly entertaining listen. The guitar work is obviously top notch. But most of the album is standards and I've heard better versions elsewhere. The non-standards are ok.

Pretty cool album. I think a little better than the other prison album of his "At San Quentin". Still, not a big fan of live albums in general. Songs are good, but live versions of songs when you're not actually there in person to hear them lack something. 3.5 stars.

Pretty bad. If this is the only Monkees album on this list then they messed up. Was cool to hear "Mr. Dobalina, Mr. Bob Dobalina" on "Zilch" but that and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" were really the only highlights of this (long) album.

Really like this album. I'm familiar with the usual Kinks songs but had never heard any of the songs on this album. I keep listening to the title track over and over again. It's got a Lewis Carroll feel to it. The whole album is amazing though start to finish. There are a few silly songs on the album but they don't really distract from the whole and even those have some parts that are really good.

This is a pretty cool album. Not really my thing but they have a very unique style and I didn't hate it so there must be something to it, right? Hard to judge this kind of thing. Probably one of those albums that I wouldn't mind having on in the background while doing other things.

Fantastic singer singing some mediocre tunes.

There were a lot of songs on this album where I liked the music much better than the lyrics. I really liked the music though.

I had forgotten how good this album is. Used to listen to it all the time in the early 90s. Not only is the album 5 stars but just about every song is 5 stars.

Seems like they are good for their genre but not a fan of this style of music. Hard to judge impartially but I didn't like it.

Incredible musician but these songs are pretty boring. Definitely some bright spots (Sweet Thang and Strawberry Letter 23) but overall not really worth listening to, except maybe as some inoffensive background music.

I'm kind of surprising myself with how low of a score I'm going to give this. It is still the Beatles, and there are glimpses of their genius in this album, but the songs are for the most part not that good or covers that are worse than the originals.

Just a bunch of repetitive beats and hooks. Not very creative or interesting at all. There was one song (Rough Out Here I think? Can't even remember, that's how interchangeable these songs are) that had a moment or two that I liked, but this was just pointless all the way through. Could see some of these songs being appropriate at a crappy rave somewhere but that's the only thing that saves it from 1 star.

I didn't really like this kind of thing. They are just making fun of music, while making music. Seems like a weird take. Trouble Every Day was pretty interesting but the rest was too weird for me.

Every song almost sounds good.

Wasn't expecting to like this, but was pleasantly surprised. Creative and fun.

Don't really get it. Pretty boring stuff.

It's weird how sometimes I really like this style of music and sometimes it feels like a waste of time. I enjoyed this album but not really sure why. Cool mix of electronic music and lounge. Creative and fun. Loses a little steam in the 2nd half but still fine.

Really low key album. Too low key for my taste I think. "Time of the Season" is a great song though.

Fantastic stuff. Can get a bit too manic at times so I can see why people might not like it. However, the manic never gets overwhelming and I'm not really sure how. A testament to his genius I suppose.

This was a collection of well-produced, arranged, and sung songs. Nothing remarkable or interesting about it though.

Just a really well done example of a pretty cool style of music. Lots of energy. Would have been fun to see this in person. Really enjoyed this album.

First of all, I just want to point out the obvious: "The Beatles" must be the worst ever name for a band. Now that that's taken care of this album is incredible. Very eclectic but just about every song is amazing.

I thought this was going to be an album by The Roots. Imagine my surprise.

One of the best storyteller songwriters ever. Pretty much every song on this album is great.

Big fan of several Pixies songs including a couple on this album but overall this is kind of hard to listen to. Sounds a lot like a few friends got together with some instruments and decided to screw around in the garage.

There are a couple of really good songs on this album but most of it is just way too pretentious. Felt very "I'm 14 and this is deep" to me. For example, on the last song of the album, they sing "Silent Night" as you hear a newscaster describe horrible events of the day in the background. It's the kind of thing I would have come up with in 7th grade and then felt real smug about it afterwards. I think I would have given this a higher score when I was younger but these days I just found it mostly annoying.

Not my favorite. Hard to explain but it doesn't really sound like she's singing songs. It's more like she's just talking to you but melodically.

The harmonies on this album are something else. There are a few incredible songs including the underrated "Marrakesh Express" and the rest of the songs are presentable at least. Didn't really like the cover of "Everybody's Talkin'" but had no problems with the rest.

Brought back some memories of listening to this album over and over and over again as a kid. The first half is still pretty amazing, but it falls off sharply starting at "Girlfriend". "She's Out of My Life" is ok, but is a little cheesy as well. Still solid album.

Not sure if I'm giving this a fair shake because Spotify doesn't have the whole album on here, but this only had a couple of songs that I liked. The rest wasn't bad, but not great either.

Generic nothing.

Fairly generic musically, but is pretty good for what it is. Wouldn't be bad for the background, but don't think I would go out of my way to listen to it again.

Very ordinary 90s style toothless rock/metal. Generally, I like this kind of music but this felt a lot like trying to cash in on a trend and not much originality.

Really only familiar with Jamiroquai from "Virtual Insanity" and maybe one or two other songs that I can't remember right now. Nothing on this album seemed to have the same funk. Not sure how they chose this album for the list but I can't imagine there is more than one Jamiroquai album on this list. Can't imagine this is their best album though.

These "important" bands never really do it for me. I guess this is considered the beginning of grunge, but I just didn't hear many songs that stood out to me. Wasn't bad at all but not that good either.

Thought I would like this more than I did. Blue Suede Shoes was the only song I really liked. The rest was ok but not my favorite Presley stuff.

These guys have a really unique sound so they're always fun to listen to. No real standouts on this album except for Spellbound though.

This guy really is a master of clever wordplay and interesting rhymes. The lyrics can be a little too edgy for their own sake but if you take them as Eminem supposedly intended - fictional accounts of a terrible character - it's easy not to get too upset by it. Still it sort of detracts from the otherwise impressive album.

I remember getting their next album because I really like "Midlife Crisis" and being really disappointed in the rest of the album. Was expecting the same here but I was really pleasantly surprised. Everything on the album is good, although it does fall off a little bit in the 2nd half but the only real dud was "Woodpecker from Mars".

Never heard of this band before but they're pretty cool. Starts off a lot stronger than it ends, and it's quite a mixed bag at points, but overall really enjoyed it.

Jam band album. Not very good. Probably fun to see live but the album is underwhelming.

Always enjoy listening to a band/album like this that is experimental and unique while being listenable at the same time. Some songs are iffier than others but that's what happens when you take risks. Overall pretty great stuff.

My first time listening to this album and my first impression is squarely on the "meh" side of things. There's something about it, though, that makes me think it becomes better the more you listen to it, so I'm going to give this a slightly higher score than my gut says I should.

I've never heard this album but Curtis Mayfield is awesome and this album is too.

Simple but good. Not sure why I like it, to be honest. Every song sounds exactly the same but I still found my head nodding and foot tapping at some point in just about every song. Got to give it to them even if I don't know what "it" is.

Pretty powerful stuff. Not really my bag and all the songs are too long. Still can't deny the raw talent on display here.

Cool, old school hip-hop. Was not familiar at all with this album but it's exactly the kind of thing I would have been into at the time. Kind of amazing what gems got lost in the pre-internet days of music discovery.

This is not really the kind of album you can just sit back and enjoy. You can with a couple of the songs, but for the most part it takes a little bit of effort on the part of the listener. Some great stuff on this album (Tangled up in Blue is one of the best songs ever written) but it can be exhausting so unless you're in the mood for that it can be hard to enjoy.

Didn't really understand this album at all. Mostly inoffensive but bad, although there were a lot of parts that were miserable to listen to. Giving this 2 stars but it's really close to 1.

Interesting album. If you took the best 10 songs or so and made an album out of it I'm pretty sure it would be a 5 star effort. As it is though, there are a few duds. Still overall a really good album.

Didn't really get this. I only liked the song "Government Center" and the rest went from active dislike to extreme indifference. I was on a streak of a bunch of good albums in a row and this really ended that streak abruptly.

Didn't realize that Pat Benatar was not the original singer of "You Better Run". Other than that you have the classic "Groovin'" and the lesser known but still great "How Can I Be Sure". The rest was pretty generic late 60s music. Nothing too exciting, but nothing too offensive either. This sits right on the border between 3 and 4 stars. I think one more great song would have pushed it up to a 4.

Didn't really do much for me. "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "Tales of Brave Ulysses" are worth listening to but the rest of the album doesn't have much appeal. It's an attempt at psychedelic rock that might have been ground-breaking at some point but I don't think it has held up well.

Really nice album. Very 60s vibe. Cool harmonies. Catchy songs that are a little more disturbing than they first seem once you pay attention to the lyrics ("Straight Shooter" for example). Very enjoyable overall.

Really hard to listen to this. "These Days" is good, but I had to listen to it like 20 times before I started to like it. Maybe the same thing would happen with the rest of them, but I'm not going to do that. "It Was A Pleasure Then" was a miserable experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone, and this album was not a pleasure.

Pretty fun. Not the greatest songs but the energy is palpable. Probably wouldn't listen to this album again though.

This has a few really good songs on it but also a lot of duds. I know I'm in the minority but "Everybody Hurts" is a pretty overrated song. I didn't like any of the songs I had never heard before. The good songs make up for the bad ones, but I can't give this more than 3 stars.

This is a fun album. Lots of good songs but way too long and therefore lots of not so good songs too. Would have a higher score if they cut out some of the cruft. Still mostly fun to listen to.

Kind of cool. Never would have found this on my own. Songs are all a bit long and of course I have no idea what the lyrics are, but the instrumentals are interesting and it really handles the role of background music very well.

It's ok I guess. Wouldn't turn it off if I heard it again but probably won't go seeking it out either. Every song on this album was about a 3.5 or so.

This was pretty cool. Definitely not my kind of music but can't deny it was impressive.

Not really a big fan of this "lecture disguised as music" type of thing. There were definitely some clever turns of phrases that elevated this a little bit but it was still a little too preachy for me. Has a distinct Public Enemy feel in some places. Also much of the album just seemed like reciting poetry over a beat.

This is pretty garbage. Worst song is the aptly named "I Can't Stand It".

I'm a big fan of the Supertramp hits, but haven't heard this album before. Was relatively disappointed. I think it might grow on me after a few more listens, but my first impression is about 3.5 stars. A couple of great songs (Bloody Well Right, Dreamer) but the others didn't really blow me away.

I don't know what that was.

I don't know what to make of this. It's not terrible but it's definitely not good either. Each song seems wildly different from the one before it too. Not sure how to categorize it. One of the most aggressively 'meh' albums I've ever heard.

Not terrible, just boring.

Absolutely unsure how to rate this album. Guess I'm glad I heard it. It was very unique especially when you consider the other music that was released around this time. Definitely didn't like it though. Also didn't hate it. Giving it a 3, but I don't know if that's right.

Songs are all well-crafted, and nothing overtly terrible but man is this boring. Don't really understand why this was so popular at the time. I liked "Yellow" and "Trouble" even though (because?) I've heard them 1000 times, but otherwise pretty forgettable.

Wasn't expecting to like this very much but it was surprisingly good. Very hypnotic voice. Sort of a one-trick pony, but it's a very good trick. Can't really listen for too long though - doesn't take too long before the trick becomes very repetitive.

Really great example of a great jazz album. Bad jazz is probably the worst music there is but great jazz is the best, and this is undeniably great.

What the fuck? Who cares about any of this bullshit? This is the first album in a while that felt like it was made specifically to make me angry.

Fine I guess. Nothing interesting about it though. Good background music.

This feels very quintessential REM. I think if you love REM you'll love this album and if not, you won't. I don't really have any strong feelings one way or the other, but can recognize the musicality of this work, so I'll pump it up by one star.

The hits on this album are absolute 5 star material, but there were a few duds. I think if you removed 2 or 3 songs the album would be 5 stars, but I can't give 5 stars to an album with "Dum Dum Diddle" on it.

I guess I can appreciate that this is a very early, and therefore influential, example of heavy metal, but other than the first half of "Child in Time" and parts of "Into the Fire" this album didn't have much to offer.

Absolutely not for me. The only song that was anywhere near good was "Paris 1919". "Hanky Panky Nohow" was basically unlistenable.

Was never a big fan of Nick Cave and really didn't understand why people liked him. After listening to this album I finally got it. Not really my kind of thing, but now at least I understand what the hype was about.

Feel like I would have liked this kind of thing when I was in 7th grade so everyone would be impressed with how random I am. As an adult, I liked "The Hall of Mirrors" but everything else was fairly unremarkable.

This whole album I kept jumping back and forth between "what the hell is this crap" and "oh shit this is pretty good". Perfect example of a three star album then.

This really brought back some college memories... I remember I couldn't believe how good this album was back then. Still pretty solid but there are a couple of duds that I was blind to back then. Even so, I gotta say that the hits really outshine the duds. Could see it being annoying if you're not already into this kind of music but luckily for me, I am.

Nice little jazz album. Very easy to listen to but nothing exciting here. Sort of generic sounding. Would gladly put this on in the background and just hang out with friends.

It's sort of hard for me to rate this album. There are a lot of great songs on it, but it's fascinating to me how many of his songs have better covers. Three on this album alone! I guess his genius is undeniable but I'm rating this album and I don't think I'd listen to this more than once.

Only two tracks so it's hard to give this a fair ranking. I liked the second one better, but both are really good. Nice and relaxing, but interesting at the same time. 1st song is a 4 and 2nd song is a 5. That's easy math: 4.5 stars.

This was a cool album. She has a great voice - sounds a lot like Chrissie Hynde - and the songs were catchy and interesting. Highlight was probably "Heads Will Roll" but I also like "Zero" a lot. I think her voice turns a lot of these songs from 2's to 4's but they're still 4's regardless.

Sort of a boring album. Not bad, but nothing too interesting. I liked the song "Weather With You" but even that was kind of boring.

Lot of energy but I just didn't like it.

Pretty cool sound but not as good as I remember it. Still pretty fun to listen to. Well-produced and cool samples.

Great album. I thought she was doing covers of "You've Got a Friend" and "A Natural Woman" but it turns out she wrote both of those. A cool album that really embodies the sound of the time. 4.5 stars

I might be missing something. All the songs on this (very long) album sound the same, and they're all boring. At one point I thought there was something good going on but then it turned out to be a bad cover of "Maggie May". Nothing egregiously terrible but nothing to make me want to listen to it either.

There was a lot of talent on display for what turned out to be a very average album. Didn't care too much for the songs and there wasn't enough of an interesting twist on the standards for me to enjoy.

Pretty good. Liked "Back Home" and "The Bottle" the best. Not super exciting though.

Great Christmas album, but that's all it is. No original songs or especially creative takes.

The guitar work on this album is pretty amazing. The singing/lyrics leaves much to be desired though. They sort of even each other out. This musical style isn't really my cup of tea but gotta give it up for that guitar playing. 3.5 stars

Everything here was just really boring. Songs all sounded the same and none of it was good. I guess I liked "Sigourney Weaver" on the first listen - the lyrics were pretty funny. Other than that it was mostly meh.

Pretty great example of alternative rock. One of those albums though that I'd rather remember listening to than actually listen to.

Every song blends together in a jumble of mediocrity. Sound, lyrics, and music were all neither good nor bad. Just a basic 3 star effort.

This album was a lot of fun and probably not one I would have listened to if it wasn't for this list generator. Hoping for more discoveries like this one as I continue to listen.

I think this album was a big step forward in music at the time. It continues to have some appeal but a lot of the songs just don't seem as innovative as I imagine they must have been back then. Still a very solid work, but I just don't see it as belonging in the upper echelons that the critics seem to place it.

Cool album. I think it's possible that my nostalgia for this era is causing me to overrate it but I really think this is one of the best examples of this style of music out there.

This was pretty fun to listen to but really just in a kitschy way. It's not very good.

This is just an amazing album. Very mellow but still interesting. The talent on this one album is unbelievable.

Surprisingly fun to listen to. None of the songs seemed too high caliber in terms of skill or talent, but I could see myself singing along around a campfire or something. Folksy and catchy, but nothing stood out as very great.

I'm not exactly sure how to rate this album so I was tempted to just give it 3 stars and be done with it. It does feel somewhat generic, but I'd imagine that's just because I'm not super familiar with this style of music. It was a fun listen though so I'm bumping it up to 4 stars.

The songs seems sort of dated now but Ray Charles really knocks them out of the park anyway.

She belongs in her own genre. There were a lot of interesting things going on without ever straying to far into weirdness for its own sake. Lot of fun and a pretty incredible creative effort. One or two duds that keep this out of 5 star territory for me but it's pretty close.

Not terrible but pretty generic.

I don't really get the appeal of albums like this in general and Tom Waits in particular. It wasn't purely awful but it was not good at all. Can't imagine listening to this again.

This was a lot more funky than I was expecting. Still a few old school Temptations songs on it but mostly a different vibe than I'm used to with them. I hadn't heard most of these songs before but still really enjoyed the album.

Couple of good songs on here, but overall this is pretty missable.

I'm a big Tom Petty fan but this wasn't a great example of his work I don't think. A couple of good songs that I've heard a million times (Breakdown & American Girl) but besides that it was pretty forgettable. Mystery Man had a Van Morrison feel that I wasn't expecting.

This was pretty cool. Never heard of this band before and I'm really glad they were on this list. Not sure if they'd make my list of top 1001 albums, but was glad to be introduced to an interesting sound.

Morissey's voice is annoying. This whole album is annoying.

Seems like a decent enough album. Not really my kind of music though.

Not very good.

Not entirely sure how to rate this album. I thought it was pretty good and the story behind it is awesome. A lot of the songs had these weird moments of awkwardness that affected my enjoyment. Between 3 and 4 stars but closer to 4.

This album got pretty repetitive, but overall it's ok. Only one song I really liked on it, but it never got grating. I think this would have appealed to me more in my younger, more angsty days.

I liked the songs but really not a fan of live albums. That said, this one is better than most. It really captures their energy and made me wish I was at the concert.

Not usually a super fan of country music, but this one was pretty enjoyable. I wouldn't change it if it came on but probably wouldn't seek it out either.

I've heard "School's Out" a million times but the rest of this album is not what I expected at all. I expected glam rock or heavy metal but this a pretty eclectic mix of enjoyable songs. More than 3, but less than 4 stars.

This is one of those albums where I can appreciate the effort and the talent, but it still just didn't do much for me. I think this was the first time I'd ever listened to the album in full and it was a pretty underwhelming experience.

No thanks.

This is a great album. Every song is interesting and well-executed. I'd dock it a couple of points because the songs are all fairly depressing and a little bit repetitive. So 5 stars if you listen to it spaced out over time but 4 stars if you have to listen to it all at once.

There are some albums where you can tell something good is happening but they just don't appeal to you. This is one of them.

Real weird. That's not necessarily a bad thing and I thought I might like it after the first song but it quickly devolved into indecipherability after that.

This album wasn't bad. Very eclectic mix of songs, but nothing that felt unmissable other than "Our House".

I was expecting this to be bad but I didn't really mind it too much. Only a couple of good songs ("Clocks" is really good... heard it a million times but had no idea that's what it was called. "The Scientist" is pretty good too). Everything else kind of blended together a little too much for me.

Why are there so many Nick Cave albums on this list? This is nearly impossible to listen to.

This was a lot better than I was expecting. This was always my go-to stereotype song to play when a bar was closing down and you wanted people to leave but I never actually listened to it. Her voice is smooth and the songs are all easy to listen to. Does the job.

Classic blues. Great album all the way through.

This album started off really strong. If this album ended after 7 songs or so it would probably be a 5 star album. It really dropped off pretty hard after that though. Most of the songs in the second half of the album just felt like uninspired filler. First half - 5 stars, second half - 2 stars. 3.5 total.

Not bad. I mostly just liked the hits that everyone has heard a million times but those were all very good. Giving this 4 stars but it's a low 4.

I always feel like I'm in an "Emperor's New Clothes" situation when I listen to The Velvet Underground. This is garbage but I have to listen to everyone tell me it's brilliant. Pretty sure I heard him say "busy sucking on a ding-dong" at some point?? There were one or two moments that prevent this from being one star but it really is complete trash.

Liked this more than I expected. I've always been a big CCR fan, but the song list didn't really jump out at me at first. It was all good though, even the "Good Golly Miss Molly" cover which I thought would be cringey. Lots of energy and talent on display here but it didn't cross that threshold into 5 star territory for me.

This is all pretty generic early eighties stuff. Only a couple of good songs on here and I'm pretty sure they are only good for nostalgic reasons. Overall it's ok, but didn't feel like it deserved a place on this list.

This is a great album but as is often the problem when there's an album with a bunch of covers, there are better versions out there for most of these. "Respect" is not a cover but there is also a better version elsewhere. Still great for what it is.

This was a great album. I've listened to a few albums on this list that lost a star or two because they added too many songs. This one is a little short but at least there's no filler garbage. (Turns out the title song was actually written as "filler" but it is far from garbage)

A few great songs on here but Depeche Mode never really did anything for me. This album is the same. Mostly forgettable with a few gems thrown in for good measure.

Never heard this album before and have only known Jeff Beck as a guitarist. I was like "wow he really sounds like Rod Stewart!". Then I looked it up and it turns out it *was* Rod Stewart. Anyway, this album was ok. Lots of talent on display but didn't really do anything for me.

This whole album was utterly fantastic. I wasn't expecting to like it so much but it was incredible the whole way through. The last few songs weren't the best but even those were catchy after a couple of listens. She really has a strong, unique voice and the tunes were all interesting (in an 80s sensibility sort of way). I can't get "Witness" out of my head.

Lots of energy and power on every song. He's a one trick pony, but the one trick is pretty amazing. It's pretty hard to rate this now but I'd imagine this blew people's minds back in 1957. Looking back though there's only a couple of songs on this album that are worth listening to again.

This was a pretty disappointing album. I was looking forward to listening to it after I looked at the song list and realized I had only ever heard a couple of the tracks. Turns out the tracks I knew were the only ones listening to. This is probably a 1 star album if Sara and Tusk aren't on here. And I'm pretty sure Sara is only good because Stevie could sing the phone book and it would be worth listening to.

Perfectly fine I guess but there's nothing good here. Not sure why this is on the list.

Guess I'm not really a fan of this kind of music. This was ok but basically a worse Cocteau Twins or maybe Portishead. Don't think I'd ever choose this over one of them.

The longer I listen to albums on this list, the more I'm starting to doubt my own ability to recognize good songs. I keep getting albums like this where the only songs I really like are the ones I've already heard. Feels like I'm good at recognizing music but not critiquing it. "Up on Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" are 5+ stars but everything else is a 3. 3.5 stars overall.

I guess I'm glad I listened to this one but it really didn't do anything for me.

Usually with rap it's important to understand the lyrics. I speak a little French but the lyrics were going by too fast for me to understand what he was saying. With those caveats, this might have been good if I understood French better but from my perspective the beats and flow were good but it got a little repetitive after a while.

Just about every Elvis Costello album I've ever listened follows the same pattern: One or two incredible songs, 4 or 5 mediocre songs, and the rest garbage. This one is no exception. 2.5 stars.

This album could be pretty annoying in large doses but as a one-shot it can't help but get you pumped up. Lyrics are incredible and the energy is off the charts. Can't handle more than one listen in a row though.

This album was full of good songs that I would never be interested in listening to again. I never like rating this kind of album because it is clearly really good, just not anything I'd want to listen to.

This was an interesting mix. Lots of funky beats and grooves but overall it didn't seem to be saying much. Also some occasional over-the-top silliness that took me out of the moment. At its best it felt like a cool 70s psychedelic funk album, but at its worst it gave off edgy memelord vibes.

Definitely an important work. A lot of times the lyrics, while simple, are deeply profound. There is a point though where you can get too much Randy Newman. All the songs start to sound a lot alike and a lot like every other Randy Newman song. This is one of those albums where I'd listen to the whole thing if it was on, but I probably wouldn't go seek it out.

Unfortunately I got assigned this album right after he took himself off Spotify, so I had to find sources elsewhere. Not sure I got the full experience. There weren't any stand out songs for me but the entire album felt like a great example of southern rock overall. Really enjoyed it.

Didn't expect to like this so much but it was really good. I was familiar with a couple of the songs without being aware of it. Guessing they made the rounds in popular culture somewhere or other. The quality fell off a little bit in the second half but this was a 5-star effort for the first half.

This was an impressive effort. I really think it is one that would have been improved by making it shorter but even the songs I didn't like as much were still 3+ or 4+ songs. I'd listen to this any place any time. Some of the social commentary was a little too heavy-handed for my taste but usually the groove made up for it. 4.6 stars

Having a hard time rating this whole album. There are 5 or 6 great songs but also 4 or 5 terrible ones. Some of the worse ones just consisted of him yelling until his voice broke. Sometimes that works out (like on "Rape Me") but other times it was hard to listen to. The good songs pull this up to a high 3, low 4 stars, but not sure I'd like to have to listen to the whole album again.

I feel like I'm missing something here? This is garbage.

Incredible. The title song is one of the few 10 minutes songs that I have to listen to all the way through any time I hear it. This is really close to 5 stars but there are a couple of duds on the album. I'd listen to it any time though.

Not really sure if I'm qualified to judge this music but I know I don't like it.

Like every Elvis Costello album, a few great songs, a few mediocre songs, and a few terrible songs. Maybe a greatest hits album would belong on this list but the individual albums are all just ok.

This was incredible. Never heard of them before but they have everything - cool riffs, high energy, driving beats, catchy tunes, funny lyrics. I bet this would be a great live show. Really makes it worth it when I get a album like this from this list.

Hard to judge this album. I don't think there is a single song on here that I liked at first listen. Most of them I still don't like after several listens, but there are a few that grew on me. I have to give the benefit of the doubt and assume that that is on purpose, but I still find this mostly hard to listen to.

This was a pretty good time. The songs get a little repetitive but the lyrics are interesting all the way through. First time I heard "Hot Burrito #1" it was a cover by Belly, but didn't realize it was a cover until hearing this. Both versions are really good. Feel like this is just a little below 4 stars but I'll round up.

Pretty incredible. I got burnt out on this album since at the time of its release, it seemed like it was the only thing anyone was listening to, so I haven't listened to this one in a while. I can remember walking through the halls of my dorm and every room was blasting "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Pretty well-deserved praise though. All the songs are catchy without being annoying. This is going back into the rota.

Pretty interesting album. I'd never heard of Joan Armatrading before this. It felt like every song was *almost* good. Definitely one of those albums where you know the Spotify suggestions afterward are going to be good.

Pretty bad. Not offensive enough to receive 1 star but not sure why this is on the list.

Great stuff. This kind of bluesy rock is really fun to listen to when it is done well, and this is done really well.

BIG is pretty incredible at what he does but what he does is pretty off-putting. 5 stars for style and flow, 1 star for the horrifying content. The last song of the album added a star but the audio of him getting a sloppy beej lost him a star.

Coincidentally I was listening to this album not that long ago after listening to some garbage that got suggested to me by this list. I said to myself "it's a shame I get that crap but something this good will never show up". That's the universe once again telling me to shut my damn mouth. Thanks universe.

This isn't bad or anything but I normally don't like this kind of folk music. If I oversaw some kind of medieval court I would 100% hire this band.

Solid album. Would listen anytime.

I think I liked Pantomime Horse a little bit but otherwise every song sounded pretty much the same. This is a whole genre of music that I can't really understand how anyone likes.

This feels like typical bluegrass but the execution is pretty amazing. The album is way too long, but in small doses this is a pretty good time.

Just doesn't do it for me. I think I liked "Strangelove" but that might just be because I recognized it.

I was looking forward to this when it popped up, but it's pretty boring. A couple of good songs, but overall is pretty one note. In case you weren't aware, Lenny wants two things from everyone: 1) be good and, 2) not be bad. And he tells us that in approximately 13 different ways on this album. Thanks, Lenny!

Album was a lot worse than I expected. A couple of good songs but mostly pretty boring. Can't imagine writing a song like "How Do You Sleep?" or "Jealous Guy" and then actually releasing them for everyone to hear. Pretty embarrassing.

Tough to judge this one. If there were no lyrics then this would easily be a 4 and possibly a 5. There's even some great wordplay if you ignore the actual content. However, the lyrics range from inane to offensive and really brings the whole thing down. 2.5 stars.

There seem to be a lot of albums like this on the list. Glad I listened but probably won't listen to it again. Wouldn't skip a song if I heard one, but wouldn't seek one out. Interesting album but I'm not interested.

Have never listened to this whole album before and was really expecting not to like it. I really hate "I Want Your Sex" but everything else on the album is good to great. This would probably still be a 4 without that song but it really drags it down almost into 3 territory.

Really good stuff. The musical talent is off the charts and the lyrics are interesting and inventive. I think I have to be in the right mood to listen to this but when I am it's a great listen.

Great songwriter. The last two songs (Get It Right the First Time and Everybody Has a Dream) are complete garbage but everything else is top notch if you're looking for some well-crafted lyrics and perfect accompanying music. In other words, nothing super inventive or genre-shattering but still a great listen.

I feel like I spent the entire year that this album came out having to explain to my white friends why they couldn't also say the N-word. Other than that I like it. It's probably about a 3 for my enjoyment level but it gets and extra point for being so influential.

This album is fine. Lauryn Hill is clearly an incredible talent but there were only a couple of songs I really liked on the album.

This is as good as it gets for music to listen to while working or studying or otherwise mentally occupied.

Ace of Spades is cool but every song sounds just like it. Enjoyable album but I can survive just hearing Ace of Spades at random occasionally.

Extremely influential album. I think I am able to separate my enjoyment of the style from the content. It felt very performative at times, almost like a skit. Not sure if that was the intent but it seems like it especially when you learn about Dr. Dre's past (see World Class Wreckin' Cru) but good on them for being the leading edge of a genre. I think most of the music it spawned was garbage but this one was pretty good as long as you didn't take it too seriously. 3 stars for enjoyment, but add a star for influence.

Pretty bad. Not musical. Not interesting.

The first Divine Comedy album that this list introduced me to got my first 1 star rating. Not looking forward to this but I'll try to keep an open mind... Not nearly as bad as the first one but still garbage. This artist doesn't have any reason to be on this list once, let alone twice.

This album is mostly just great but there's a couple of real clunkers. The bad songs pull this down from a 5 but just a little. 4.5 stars.

Not bad. A little boring but not entirely uninteresting. Not sure what situations I'd listen to this in.

Pretty good album. The unfortunate thing about rating albums is I can only say how I feel about it at this exact second, and in this exact second I don't want to take a lot of time to pay attention to the lyrics. I have the feeling I'd rate this a little higher if I was analyzing the words. In this moment though, I don't feel like paying too much attention and it's not the kind of thing I think I'd want to play repeatedly.

Was pretty generic grunge. I hadn't heard of this band/album before but I think I would have liked it a lot in 1992 when it came out. Probably would have gotten an extra star from me for nostalgic reasons. But on a first time listen it just sounds ok with occasional great moments.

This was a pretty big deal when it came out so I get why it's on this list. Something I could easily do without though. A couple of pretty cool songs surrounded by by generic 80s synth-pop. Lyrics are a step above but it's still pretty middle of the road. 3.5 stars

This was nice to listen to but nothing really stood out as amazing to me. Wouldn't turn it off but wouldn't seek it out.

Enjoyed it. Nothing ground-breaking though.

My friend in high school had a weird obsession with this band and would basically never stop listening to them. I thought they were ok then and ok now.

Not aggressively terrible, but pretty boring.

I like a few of his songs but I never really got all the hype around Bowie. Changes is great, Life On Mars? is pretty good. Everything else is pretty middling.

Is this for real? It feels like it is making fun of country music. I like some of his other stuff so I'm not sure why this album really rubs me the wrong way.

Not the best Rolling Stones album. Sounded very generic bluesy in a lot of places.

Perfectly ok.

The only really great song on this album is "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" (I had no idea this was a cover until today) but it's an incredible song and it alone makes this album worthy of being on this list. Any song with the balls to spend nearly 4 minutes of instrumental before the first word is uttered gets points in my book. The rest of the album is entertaining too, but nothing comes close to that one.

No denying her talent but this isn't really my kind of music. 3.5 stars

This isn't really music. Felt more like a skit stretched out to the length of a play. Not entertaining at all.

Perfectly fine music to study by that sounds exactly like all the other perfectly fine music to study by that I've ever listened to.

David Gray is what Ryan Adams wants to be. I'm not really a fan of either, but it's remarkable how more talent there is on this album than on any of Adams' work. 3.5 stars

ABBA is pretty great and there were a lot of songs on this album I hadn't heard before. Not their biggest hits and a little bit more of a serious tone than their usual stuff. "Two For The Price Of One" brought back a bunch memories. I haven't thought about that song in a while but I listened to it all the time as a kid. Would not have been able to tell you who sings it before hearing it again on this listen.

I always think of Rod Stewart as the cheesy "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" and slightly less cheesy "Maggie May" singer, so it's always surprising to hear his more bluesy early stuff. This album isn't anything too special but it was pretty easy to listen to. 3.5 stars

This is just boring. I don't get it.

I like this sort of Irish folk/punk music but not sure how to differentiate this with anything else out there.

The only possible reason this could be on this list is because the author has some nostalgic memories of listening to this while drinking beer in the parking lot after high school with his buddies or something. This is pretty bland and generic glam rock.

As a great man once said "I have no strong feelings one way or the other".

There's not a single Tool album on this list and yet I have to continuously listen to this garbage and garbage like it.

I feel like PJ Harvey exists at a higher level than I'm capable of understanding.

I can see why it's influential and why people like it but it's not really for me.

I'm going to create another list called "1001 Mediocre New Wave Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". That would reduce the current list by about 700, and it might be hard work to replace those, but I think it's worth it.

There are a couple of great songs on here ("Bad Company" above everything else) but it's mostly surprisingly mediocre.

A little different than the other Kraftwerk albums on here. Glad I listened but it didn't really speak to me. Clearly too many Kraftwerk albums on this list.

Kind of a hodge-podge of styles and it's quite short for an album with so many songs, so I could nit-pick and dock this a star but there's way too many incredible songs for me to give this any less than 5 stars.

Strange listening to this. It felt like the kind of album that would have been hailed as genius if Dylan or Donovan released it. I've never heard it before though. As it is, it felt like a great album in a genre I'm not so sure about. Feels very psychedelic sixties. 3.5 stars.

I don't know. I guess I'm glad I heard it so it's hard to give it too low of a score, but it was really not very compelling. Not sure what was going on in "Vega-Tables" but it was a weird failed attempt at being clever. A lot of the songs had really cool parts but then the whole mood and style of the song changed into something worse. Probably won't listen again.

Lots of garbage on this album. Most of the filler was unnecessary but the good songs were incredible. Really close to giving this 5 stars but the skits were all terrible enough to lose it a star.

Not entirely sure how to rate this album. Feels very much a product of the time. I'm not sure how much I like it currently but I'm 100% sure this would have been one of my favorite albums if I were around when it was released. I'll split the difference between what I think it is (3) and what I think I my 1967 counterpart would have thought (5). 4 stars. The Spotify suggestions after this album were incredible.

I really liked the first song and the unique take on "Can't Help Falling In Love" but after that my feelings aren't so clear. Everything was decently put together but not really my thing. 3.5 stars.

This might be the weirdest album on here. I already listened to the "Ace of Spades" album and half of these songs are already on it. Anyway, I'll say the same thing here that I did there: Ace of Spades is a great song but every song sounds just like it and I'd rather just occasionally listen to it than sit through an entire album.

Well I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. Some duds but overall pretty surprisingly good. Like 3.75 stars probably.

This is as good as any punk band I've ever heard which means it's bad according the punk fans I know. Whatever, I really liked it.

Got a nice feel to it but definitely too "samey" for me. Would 100% put this on in the background on a rainy day and gaze out the window. 3.5 stars

Good background music.

Not sure if it's the nostalgia talking but I thought this was a really strong album. A couple of songs didn't do it for me but overall it's a hell yes.

Queen is the only band that sounds like this. The guitars are out of this world. Too much of it is overkill for me but the talent level is incredible.

I had never heard this whole thing before and was a little bit disappointed. Title track is incredible of course, but there weren't any other great ones. Nothing bad either, fine to have in the background, but probably not something I'd return to.

Pleasant but boring. Only one or two songs I really like but the rest was forgettable. Impressive production and composition but ultimately fell flat for me. The last track where you got to listen in on the recording process was pretty interesting.

Pretty low key and mellow. Nothing too interesting except "Sultans of Swing" though. Guitar work is incredible. 3.5 stars.

A couple of good songs, incredible guitar licks. Unfortunately, every Living Colour (Coloür? Never noticed the umlaut before) song loses steam half way through. Like they had a great idea for a song, but then had another great idea before they could put all the finishing touches on that song and so they wrap it up and start on the next one.

This is not good.

"Stagger Lee" was pretty good. Otherwise, not worth listening to. On the bright side, this was the fourth Nick Cave album I had to listen to on this list so I think that's the last one.

Pretty impressive. This was a great example of grunge. Sounds like it was late enough in the movement to benefit from a lot of different influences, and early enough that it wasn't yet cliche.

I think if I was in the right mood I'd enjoy this. It has some fairly entertaining moments but I don't really like it musically. Probably an incredible live show.

Really cool, really eclectic. Funky instrumentals, psychedelic, folk, jazz, blues. Not sure if it works cohesively but every song was great on its own.

Every song is catchy. No real standouts though. Definitely liked it but not as much as some of their other stuff. 3.5 stars.

Super talented artist. Most of the songs were pretty forgettable though. Still her ability really shines through.

Another band that somehow escaped my notice from a time when I would have been really into them. Not really into it now but this kind of grungy stuff was really in my wheelhouse back when this album was released.

The more new wave albums I hear the more I realize it's not really that good. This is mostly boring and even the one song I like (Don't You Want Me) is kinda boring too. I'll give it an extra point because it was pretty influential but won't listen again.

When people tell me they don't like this album I realize I have no idea what some people even listen to music for. This is incredible.

I don't get it. It isn't really musical, each song is like a short story with an unrelated backing track. Feels like an album that some pretentious band would make and sneer about how you "just don't get it", although I didn't really get a pretentious vibe from them, so I'll bump it up one star.

Amazing talent. Some of the songs get a little repetitive but her abilities are on full display here and it's an incredible show.

I was expecting to hate this and surprisingly didn't. Not really something I could listen to for extended periods of time but it was pretty good. 3.5 stars

Fiona Apple has a way of making things that have no business sounding good, sound great. That said, this album was a little too weird for my taste but she is a really unique talent and is worth listening to.

Wow what a surprise. Another mediocre new wave/synth pop album. This was exactly average just like all of these kinds of albums. I'm only about 350 albums into this list so I'm looking forward to rating another 300 of these.

Would have never guessed this came out in 1973. Seems like it was way ahead of its time. Not really my thing though.

The first and last two songs on this album are off the charts. "Baba O'Riley" especially being one of the best songs ever written I think. "Won't Get Fooled Again" is also pretty high up there. The middle is pretty meh though. They try to get deep with "Getting Mobile" and "Getting in Tune" but the end product is pretty corny. That middle is bad enough to drop it half a star. 4.5 stars.

Inane lyrics. Boring simple melodies. Not worth listening to at all. My criteria for giving something one star is if it feels like it is actively trying to piss me off, and this one doesn't feel that way. This is bad enough that I still wanted to give it 1 star but by that measure it's more like 1.5.

Great unique voice. Great unique sound. Have you ever heard an album that you don't think you're cool enough to be allowed to listen to? This is that for me.

This feels like the kind of thing I would like but for some reason it doesn't really appeal to me. Not sure why but something just felt a little off.

This was a pretty cool album. Even the songs I didn't like all that much would get bumped up a star or so when the riff (guitar and/or flute) kicked in. Enjoyed this more than I thought I would, even knowing I would like "Aqualung" and "Locomotive Breath".

I found myself continuously asking “is this song done yet?” And it never was. It never was.

I've heard how brilliant this band is a million times but I've never really heard anything by them except "Love Will Tear Us Apart". After listening to this I'm glad I haven't. It really feels like an emperor's new clothes situation. This was terrible.

This album is from a definite place and time. Not sure it holds up all that well even though there are a couple of great songs here. Don't think I'd listen to the album again though.

Pretty generic blues rock. Not that great but not that bad either.

Not really sure how to rate albums like this. I liked it but there was nothing groundbreaking here for me. I'd heard D.A.N.C.E. before and always liked it. Phantom Pt. II also had a cool 70s feel to it. Everything else was relatively generic sounding but still good. 3.5 stars. Might have given it a 4 if it wasn't for The Party & DYNO. WTF was that.

I was very impressed just listening to this, but the backstory added another star to the score. What an amazing piece of work that almost didn't happen due to one mixup after another. I wasn't expecting the groans but somehow they added another level of authenticity. The Spotify recommendations that came after this album were great too. This definitely lives up to the book's title.

Really good. Not nearly as much of the self-indulgent egotistical nonsense from his later stuff. He's an incredible wordsmith and it really shows here.

Just terrible. I liked the instrumentation on a couple of songs (Prayers For Rain, for one) but I can't stand his voice and the lyrics were either inane or whiny, and the attempts to be deep were embarrassing. 1.5 stars

This was pretty fun to listen to but I have no idea how to rate it. I assume it's a good example of this genre of music because everyone says it is, but I don't know how to differentiate between good and bad examples of this style. 3.75 stars

I don’t think you can’t deny the talent here but you also can’t deny that this is a very dated album. Don’t think I’d listen again but it also definitely belongs on the list. 3.75 stars.

A little too sappy and saccharine for my taste but I can understand the appeal. If I don’t think too hard about the corny lyrics I could see myself tapping my foot and nodding serenely along.

This was a fairly difficult album to rate. Absolutely enjoyed listening to it and there were no duds on the entire, nearly two hour long, album. That's impressive. But nothing really stood out either. I didn't "fave" any individual songs, but did "fave" the entire album so maybe that explains how I feel about it better than I can express. I'm going to assume that was intended so even though it's probably a 3.5 star album for me, I'll give it the benefit of doubt and push it up half a star.

I kept waiting for some kind of payoff but it never came. Felt very pretentious somehow.

Pretty fun, energetic, and inventive. Couldn't really relate to some of the lyrics but even in those cases the music was worth listening to. Overall it was a great ride.

I hadn’t heard this album before. This was the second Stones album I got in 3 days and I had the same feeling about both. Cool album but nothing really stood out. Still enjoyed but not as much as I thought I would. 3.5 stars.

This was a pretty fun album. Not sure if it's "good" but the songs were catchy and it kept my toe tapping.

Sometimes I’ll listen to an old album like this and wonder why I’ve only heard one song from it. In this case I know exactly why. The only good song is the one I’ve already heard (Song 2).

There’s a lot of interesting stuff happening on this album but this kind of thing just isn’t for me.

There’s something impressive going on here. Not really my bag though.

This is easily the most fun album I've listened to on this list. It's hard for me to separate nostalgia for quality, but I "fave"d just about every song on it. This is back when the only thing that mattered in rap was the lyrics so every song follow the same basic musical pattern: Run: 2 measures DMC: 2 measures Run: 1 measure DMC asks a question: 1 measure Run + DMC answer together louder: 2 measures But it fucking works. 5 stars

All good songs. A couple of great songs. Had never heard this entire album before and I was expecting more. 3.5 stars

Wasn’t familiar with this band and from the name I assumed it was going to be another bad punk album. One of those albums where I wasn’t too impressed but I really liked all the Spotify suggestions that popped up afterwards. Makes me realize this was probably a pretty influential album so I’ll give it a bonus star for that. 3.5 stars

I can’t believe I made it through the eighties without ever hearing of this band. Not really a big fan of this style but I guess I can’t understand why they weren’t more popular. The second half sort of peters out but the first half is full of songs that I could see being hits.

This album is really cool. I feel like I absorbed some of the cool just by listening to it. None of the songs are really catchy or anything but they’re all interesting. It’s between 3.5 and 4 stars for me.

A lot of good songs in the first half. It dries up a lot in the second. The voice modulation gimmick gets old pretty fast. Don’t mind listening to the hits every once in a while but the album as a whole isn’t going to be in my rota any time soon. 3.5 stars

Mostly forgettable. The parts that weren’t forgettable were annoying. Could almost be decent background music but then the annoying parts kick in. 2.5 stars

This album has the kind of whiny self-pity lyrics that I usually hate and I have panned other albums in the past for this reason, but I guess I'm a hypocrite because I thought it worked here. The more albums I listen to on this list the more I realize that I am just going by my gut and then post-hoc rationalizing my feelings here.

Randy Newman is a pretty incredible talent and I like most of the songs on this album. It's just really hard to listen to an entire album. It starts to get repetitive pretty fast. If I heard each of these songs interspersed throughout a day or so of listening to music I wouldn't mind as much but when you listen to them all in a row you start looking for the "skip" button. 3.5 stars

Some talent going on here but only one song I really liked. The rest were pretty forgettable. 2.5 stars

The Spotify version was missing a few songs but I got the picture. Generic dance music. A lot of the Spotify recommendations that came after this were much better. 2.5 stars

I liked the first few songs a lot but then the quality dropped off pretty sharply. Weird thing is the songs sound pretty much the same so it’s pretty clear I don’t know what the hell I'm talking about. 3.5 stars

I have an idea in my head about who The Rolling Stones are but after listening to a few albums I’m starting to realize they defy classification. This had a very 60s rock/pop feel and it’s as good as anything I’ve heard in that genre. It doesn’t really fit my image of them though. Still pretty good stuff. 3.75 stars.