One of the most beautiful sounding albums ever. It is very typical English art rock, and I always thought of it as The Hounds of Love of the 70s. It has quite a reputation, and for sure, Radiohead fans will like it. In short: a great album, 5 stars easily.
One of the best albums ever - 5 stars is not enough. :-)
Had given this album a try before out of curiosity but still do not see why this is an "essential" album - experimental pre-industrial 70s music that deliberately sounds ugly and lo-fi (it sounds exactly as what you would expect it to sound like). The follow-up "20 Jazz Funk Greats" is better (more pop) and would be a more appropriate choice for this list (i assume it is included as well).
Listened to this album a lot in 1999, together with Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs. Band is operating in their own universe. A lot of these 1001 albums have a perfect song order and build up. Just like this album, which might take some time to grow. At some point, it gets a bit messy and crowded, with all these little noises, and then "What Is The Light" starts..
Five classic pop-singles + five very strong other tracks - clearly one of the best albums of the 80s.
The best album opening ever and one of the best albums ever made; should be played through high-quality speakers for maximum effect...
Excellent album, consistent, cinematic, no surprises
Again an album that I had not listened to for years. Charlotte Street is still a nice song. A solid album, *** I guess ..but there exist so many of these records... and the vocals and lyrics are.. not so strong. ** then. <Why are not any Felt records on 1001 Album generator and where are The Lotus Eaters?>
Fine country rock album, a bit uneven perhaps, swings back from 5 star to 3 star and back again. Quite a while since I heard it for the last time but could certainly enjoy it.
A 1 star - could not finish it on this occasion - this is how a Flaming Lips album must sound to some of us. Even got a copy of this album but it makes me want to clean up my record collection.
One of the best albums ever - 5 stars is not enough. :-)
Everything But The Girl surely has made some nice songs including a few classic ones. It was initially a bit of a mystery to me why this album is on the 1001 list. It is certainly well made, but everything sounded rather generic and boring, even for a Sunday morning. However, then it became better and better - it was one of the albums in the list that I did not know already in advance, and my score went up by each listen: 1, 2, 3, 3.3 -> 3.
Listened to this album a lot in 1999, together with Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs. Band is operating in their own universe. A lot of these 1001 albums have a perfect song order and build up. Just like this album, which might take some time to grow. At some point, it gets a bit messy and crowded, with all these little noises, and then "What Is The Light" starts..
Has never been my goto BD album - one really needs to be in a good mood to tolerate the singing - this appears much less of a problem with his 60s albums. But of course Blood on the Tracks is solid and contains quite a few classic Bob Dylan songs. And it is not possible to give an album with Tangled Blue and Idiot Wind anything less than 4 stars, so 4 stars it is.
A big hit single and another great song (Good To My Baby) on Side 1 and several 5 star songs (Please Let Me Wonder, Kiss Me Baby) on Side 2.
Yet another classical David Bowie album, perfect in every sense.
My score is even for the original album (without later added singles like Suspicious Minds etc).
It is hard to give any album that starts with a full 8-minute version of Good Times anything less than 5 stars. The opener and the other two singles, which are also great, form half of the album. Hence, it follows that \[(4+5)/2=4.5 + \mbox{the perfect sound} = 5 *.\]
Not the same impact as Pretty Hate Machine, and I remember the slight disappointment after the long wait. + the album's sequencing, a classic NIN song (Hurt), all the instrumental bits, the high level of detail in the music (+5) -: the straightforwardness of the concept, the standard industrial template of the proper songs (-0.5) and especially the awkward lyrics (-1). Final mark: 5 - 1.5 = 4
a very solid country album - not sure why it is on the list (disclaimer: I did not know this album and only listened to it twice).
Excellent Gillian Welch album, with various 5* songs, such as the opener and the two final songs.
A classic Nick Drake album - it is perfect, goes beyond English Folk and clearly belongs to this list.
Excellent Pogues album, perhaps a bit too traditional and straightforward for me, but contains some great songs, especially when they start to mix the songs a bit with other genres..
For me, the rating for Debut:Post:Homogenic used to be "3:4:5", and I had not listened to Debut for 25 years or so. I still think Homogenic is stronger, but Debut sounded fresh and was much better than I had expected (even without the 5* bonus track Play Dead)
My impression in 1997: solid & very skilfully constructed album, a couple of very strong tracks. My impression in 2021: the same and 9+ minutes of a private psychedelic reel is still too much. Rating: between 3 and 4 stars - depending on the sound volume and speaker set. Seems fair to give 4 stars then.
Not the same impact as Nevermind and I remember a slight disappointment at the time, but still a classic.
The first half (5 songs): clearly 5*. Had not listened to the second half for years: Sister Ray is alright but still too long. (5+3)/2 = 4.
Classical Bowie album from the 70s - timeless, nothing to add
Did not know this album, but it sounded like very straightforward punk-rock.
Hadn't listened to this album for years and had low expectations but after some repeated listening could appreciate it much more now. Thank you 1001albumsgenerator :-)
Five classic pop-singles + five very strong other tracks - clearly one of the best albums of the 80s.
Some classical songs but also some less interesting songs, should have listened more but like the later LZ more.
Must have been 10 years ago since the last time I listened to this album. The music is easily 5 stars just like any other Cat Stevens album from that period, but -1 for the lyrics.
An OK Cardigans album, but I prefer some of their other albums.
Again an album that I have not played for many years but still sounds fresh to me.
Oh this is one of the best albums in the list. The music. The lyrics. All great from start to finish. Too bad one cannot give 10 star!
A very good album - I can see why it is on the list but I could never get fully into it - tried again yesterday after 20 years or so, still the same.
Timeless Stevie Wonder album, no comments needed
Maybe 5 stars would have been meer appropriate - definitely 5 star in 1993 - but now listening to it in one go.. ..it is a bit exhaustive, oh wait, let me just give 5 star anyway..
Excellent album, Higher Than The Sun, Come Together, Loaded etc. all perfect. I did not realize how good Primal Scream was ...until Screamadelica came out - afterwards they had a whole sequence of excellent albums.
The Beach Boys made some great music - after all they invented the whole dream pop / shoegaze genre with just one great song: "All I Want To Do" while "Good Vibrations" is the best pop song ever made ..but those songs are not on this record, and Pet Sounds is a small misstep in their oeuvre. OK, quite a few songs are classics: Sloop John B, God Only Knows, Wouldn't Be Nice, I Know There's An Answer / Hang On To Your Ego, so 3* or lower is impossible to give, but quite a few of the other songs are rather boring.
4.5 star album for me: mostly excellent. and the typical 80s sound is of course the best sound ever.
a very consistent album, strong guitar songs that are still immediately recognizable: 4.5 again.
Enter Sandman = 5*, Other songs = 2* (at most) Production = 5*. Lyrics = 1*. Putting everything in a formula and doing some long calculations.. ..2.544334 * so just *** in the end.
Never paid so much attention to solo work of CSNY apart from Y. And this is one of the few albums so far that I did know at all, not even the album title rang a bell. Quite a few different genres - the start of the album is not so special but I am glad that I did not give up: at some point there is a whole sequence of excellent songs especially The Treasure (Take one), so definitely 4*
Excellent album. Girls & Boys (5*) stands out - it is both annoying and catchy. Prefer Auteurs, Pulp and Suede but Parklife is still an album I put on once and a while. Score: 4.49 -> 4.
One of the best pop albums from the 1980s - with great album tracks such as The Chauffeur that are just as good as the hit singles.
I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe.
Not the status of a 1001 album generator album but, just another one of a massive amount of good albums that are released every year. I did not know this album, but some songs such as Slow Motion (the synths) and Loops in the Secret Society (the guitar) sounded very familiar to me. Clearly, Loops in the Secret Society is Velvet Underground. These songs and also the final two started to grow a bit on me. Vocals are OK too. I would buy this record and give it a 4 but I would never put it in a 1001 list!
Apart from house and techno music (and those records are not in the 1001 list unfortunately) there is just very little novelty in populair music in the 21st century. This is also illustrated by this album: it sounds like the xx took a single song of Young Marble Giants as the blueprint for their music. It does not mean it is bad though: the album is excellent and in contrast to all those recent 1001 albums it has certainly built up some status. So in the list? yes. 5-star: no.
I've always found this a nice but also a bit boring album (some songs and the way of singing remind me of slow Peter Gabriel songs). Hats, the follow-up album is quite a bit better.
Never liked the album when it came out and this has not changed despite listening to it twice.
Classic album, had not listened to it for quite a while - one of the few albums I could play any time.
Son of a Preacher Man is one of the best songs of the sixties, rest of the album is solid, very solid.
Country music on an album I did not know. I like the typical sixties sound, but it is not something I would regularly play.
One of my favourite Sister Sledge / Chic albums. Two out of 8 songs still sound a bit like fillers to me (Somebody Loves Me and Easier To Love) but the other six songs are really great.
The title song is a highlight on one of the best albums ever - what some players manage to express with a guitar is amazing and still sounds as fresh as ever- but the rest of the songs is excellent as well.
perhaps a couple of songs are not so strong as the rest, but still a clear 5* album
Solid album - I had listened to it a few times when it was released and now I again. It is quite pleasant and I may listen to it again in the future, as with so many records: not clear why is in the 1001-list.
I always choose for Gish and had not listened to this album fo many years. Never expected at the time that the Pumpkins would become so big. I thought they would reach a status like The Pixies or Sonic Youth but they went stadium-style starting with this album, without making any concessions to their music. OK, the production is more radio-friendly than Gish. But that's a big plus: this is one of the best-produced albums ever, the guitars on this album sounded great and they still do! And the songs are great too - unlike the OK Computer album from a few days ago, there is no single weak song on it. The lyrics are mwah but at least they are not annoying like on The Downward Spiral, so fine.
Never took the time to listen to this album properly but now I did: the Gumbo Variations is 5* - the rest is 3*-4*, so a very decent Frank Zappa album overall: 4*.
Not the impact of Psychocandy but still a very good album, nice to see it on the list!
An electronic album that rocks - always found this a very solid album with some 5* tracks, in particular DVNO and Stress are great. Shame there is not much more French techno/house music in the list (Abstraxion, Romulus, Rone, Worakls etc etc)
It is certainly entertaining enough to listen to once (just like his debut, which sounds exactly the same) - same kind of vibes as an arbitrary Arab Strap record, with these daily-life stories. But unlike Arab Strap, the music is a bit too straightforward to give anything more than two stars - you listen to it once and then that's it.
This is an album that sounds pretty dated - normally I like that but here it does not work for me. Buffalo Gals is an iconic song of course, and I also still like Soweto and Jive My Baby - the rest of the album is ok-ish, perhaps I was not in the mood for this, but I guess that is the nature of the 1001album-generator.
Excellent band / 1-man project. Not my favourite The The album though.
It has been a while since I last listened to this, but beats, choice of samples, flow ..so much better than that album of the Streets a few days ago.. It is the Funkadelic/Parliament 70s feel of it.
Never fully got into this record, but it is a solid 70s rock album.
First 50s album from 1001albumsgenerator that I listened to. I did not know this album - the beat is fine - but I would probably not listen to it again - perhaps I was not so much in the mood for it.
Screamadelica, Vanishing Point, Echo Dek, XTRMNTR, Evil Heat are all great albums and just show how good of a band Primal Scream became at a certain moment. Re Vanishing Point: it is a bit like Darklands from the Jesus and Mary Chain - a really strong album but you automatically compare against Psychocandy. Likewise you compare Vanishing Point to Screamadelica, which is just hard to beat. So I will just give 4 stars but could (should?) have given 5.. .. ..oh no hold on: 5 after all :-)
A 5-star album, easily: it is one of these absolute classic albums on the list and one of these timeless albums that stay good no matter how many times you listen to it. Very influential, but most of all: great songs. Of course, the two 10-minute songs stand out but the other songs are very strong too (except for Round & Round even though it still fits).
An OK album with some catchy songs but at the time I liked that Offspring album (Smash) more. The problem with Dookie: it is not fast enough - the songs should have gone through the Ramones machine. :-)
Quite liked this album at the time: Love in the Elevator, Janie's Got a Gun, The Other Side, Don't Get Mad, all strong Aerosmith songs, but the album as whole is nowhere near their string of classical albums from the 70s. I am hesitating between 3 or 4 but go for 3 - same argument as before: this is just one of the many solid albums out there and not an album that should be in a 1001-list.
Solid jazz album, unclear why it is on the list
The album is a bit sketchy and I prefer Geogaddi, which is much more coherent. But every time one's attention is fading they come up with some great music on this album as well like Telephasic Workshop. It is a shame that other electronic music which is of equal or higher quality (think Max Cooper or Dominik Eulberg) never shows up in lists like these.. What one can do with electronic sound is so much more than what you hear here.. nevertheless, highly influential album, so 5 stars.
Classic soul album. Timeless. Can listen to it any moment.
Had high expectations from this debut album (knowing only a double compilation album of Makeba, which is great: full of 5* songs) but most of this album was not so remarkable.
A very strong electronic album and a blueprint for their later work (which is even beter).
A very strong pop album - ok it is a bit boring here and there and it is not in the same league as an 80s Madonna or Prince album but listened to it a lot at the time and can still appreciate it.
One of the relatively few albums on the list so far that I did not know beforehand. It is OK, but it did not sound like an album-album and I would prefer a best of. Unclear why it is on the list.
This album is a classic 90s britpop album that is great from start to finish. It also sounds just as fresh as it did 25 years ago. Forty minutes. 16 songs. Most of them, especially the semi-Wire/Stranglers covers, very catchy.
One of these albums that everyone knows and that is so clearly 5 star that there is not much to say.
One of the best albums of the 80s and this is even without some of their strongest songs from that period that were only released on single!
At the time I would rated this album as a 4. Excellent but not as good as other Nick Cave albums. Now after relistening to it, I think it is a clear 5.
One of my favorite albums ever: sound, songs, all perfect. I thought this album was seen as bit uneven but very solid Bowie album, so great that this is on the list after all.
A great countryrock album. I had not listened to it for quite a couple of years. It is still perfect in every sense.
This is just one of several excellent Paul Simon solo albums from the early seventies - the singles are clearly 5* songs - the other ones vary a bit. I had not listened to it for many years, and it is interesting to note its influence on artists like Iron and Wine.
I have always much liked the sound of Jamiroquai (and have a copy of Travelling Without Moving), but did not think the songwriting was particularly strong, as confirmed by this album. Some of the tracks are quite nice, like Music of the Mind, but I probably won't listen to this album again.
This is one of these albums that sometimes work and sometimes not at all. When I listened to it today, I did not get into it so much as before. It should definitely be on the list but I give it a 4.
Compared to the Black album - which I did not think was so strong anymore after listening to it now - I could appreciate this Metallica album much more after re-listening to it.
Timeless music. Miles better than most of the other albums on the list.
A solid LCD Soundsystem album not as good as Sound of Silver (5-star) or This Is Happening (4-star). I would rate it somewhere between a 3 and a 4 as it contains quite a few 4-star songs and not any real weak songs, although the closing track Black Screen is a bit tedious.
The music is 3* I would say (of course, the famous song is 5*) but -1 for the vocals, which I did not like so much.
A classic hip-hop / trip-hop album from the nineties: great samples, great atmosphere and very coherent. I listened to it again and still like it very much.
Great electronic album, very strong songs: the four singles seem arbitrary choices. Probably the best album of the 2000-2009 decade.
Yes, another classic post-punk album that never gets old and that should be on any best-of list.
Classic, I would say top 5, Bob Dylan album - well-known singles like Sub. Homesick Blues and Maggie's Farm are still very strong but it is all about the last two (also very well-known) songs.
I only knew the single with Sinead O'Connor. The rest of the album is in a similar style - it is all 3* I would say, but -1 for the production/sound - I won't listen to it again.
Had high expectations when this album was released, but usually only listen to the three or four stand-out tracks - rest of the songs = three star. I would say 4* is the appropriate rating.
Great songs - perfect. Probably the most consist album of Elliott Smith and the one I usually go for.
Production sounds nice, but it is pretty boring music even after listening to it for a few times.
In my mind I remember this album to be just as strong as its predecessor. But now listening to it again.. it is still a very good album, but 80 minutes is at least 20 minutes too many. I would probably go for Slim Shady again.
Karma Chameleon and Church of the Poison Mind are two classic 5* songs - the other singles and album tracks are in the range of 2*-3*.
I did not realize that this album is already more than 10 years old.. Still sounds very good to me: lots of strong pop songs and very coherent (as in an album-album). It might be 10-15 minute too long but still a clear 5* for me.
Classic BH&C album - should be high in every best-of list so no surprise it is included here.
Production is excellent - songs are not so special.
Great album of course - used to be standard 4.5/5-star for me ..but then in 2006 a BBC in Session album was released with superior versions of many songs. This make it a bit difficult to rate it as 5-star.
Excellent album and my default choice for choosing a Nilsson album.
The previous Doors album from this list: Morrison Hotel is more of a favourite but this album is also very, very good, immediately from the opening song.
Did not pay attention the lyrics, I probably should have, but the music itself was a bit too boring for me.
I did not know this album in advance. It is not in the same league as perhaps better known albums from Black Flag, Minor Threat, Ramones etc. ..some of the songs consist of just a few shouts, but there are some great songs on it too (Beverly Hills, Live Fast Die Young) so it is OK; something I would listen to again.
Best Metallica album, rated previous Metallica albums as 4 (AJFA) and 3 (Black) so this should get 5.
Just one of many solid Morrissey solo albums, solid as in very solid. Sure, if you select his best solo songs you get material for a couple of albums that nicely compare with any Smiths album, but it is not clear why this album is on the list.
Compilation albums should not be included in the list I think ..but I guess it is a bit of a grey area (thinking of for example "Singles Going Steady" or "Substance"). I can see that this is quality music but it all just sounds very boring to me.
Classic Marvin Gaye album - it is the Marvin Gaye album I probably listen to the most - it is perfect - not much more to say.
Together with Beggars Banquet, which is presumably on the list as well, my favourite Rolling Stones album - a clear top 10-ever album.
Great 80s LC album, even though I usually skip 1-2 songs. The last two songs are very strong have been greatly improved by covers of the Pixies and Nick Cave, respectively. And the same holds for the opening song (by REM)
Classic T. Rex album, never gets bored ..would be nice if a few more T. Rex albums are included as well.
It is very nice to this album on the list, as I always thought the common view was that the album was a bit of a failure with musical experiments that did not fully worked. Something I never understood: the music is great, and I still much enjoy listening to it. OK, Hounds of Love is quite a bit of an improvement, but this one is also definitely 5 star.
Another live album which I agree makes a good case for having live albums included in the list. Yet at the same time I never manage to sit this album out in one go - a bit too much blues and too little rock for me.
For some reason, the generator generated three live albums in one week or so - I can do without the humming, but these improvised jazz piano songs form definitely a piece of timeless music that never gets old.
Knew this was one of the best known Fela Kuti albums but never got to listen to it. A few days ago I made a mistake with giving a +2 score for Os Mutantes way too early. Did not want to make the same mistake. So listened a few times to Zombie - only two songs after all :-) - and really started to like them: great rhythms and hardly noticed the second time that they both last for 12 minutes or.
Great Cypress Hill album, had not listened to it for many years.
Should live albums be included on a 1001 album list? I am not sure, but certainly some of these live albums are pretty iconic, like this one - I suppose everyone knows it. It is excellent in many ways (the originals, the perfect covers, the production etc). But it also becomes a little bit boring too at some point - not sure if this is because the songs are so well known, or because it does not rock (pick a Violent Femmes (acoustic) record and you know what I mean).
In my mind The Slider was always a little bit weaker than Electric Warrior, but after listening to both albums I think they are equally good. Perhaps you need to know the Tyrannosaurus Rex albums or the first T.Rex album (which is also great) in order to realize this: but they are both *universally* good (not just within their own genre).
In the past I tried to listen to an Os Mutantes album before but never got into it, just like today. This type of 60s psychedelic kind of music is a bit of an acquired tase and this album is a bit less accessible than say a Love or Jefferson Airplane album. The album requires a certain mind set / mood in addition to multiple listens. I am not sure if I ever will, so 2 star but with a disclaimer.
This is one of these albums that I would not have picked myself but can very well understand why it is on the list. But it is a fine album, and probably the Joan Armatrading I have listened to the most. Also: it is not possible to give an album that contains "Love and Affection" anything less than 4 stars.
This album was hyped a lot around its release date. Great album overall but perhaps a bit too loungy for me and some of the vocal tracks are so so.. and perhaps not everyone will agree but: just listen to the Mandy remix of "Sparks" how much the album could have been further improved if they had upped the electro bits.
Classic Album. Classic songs. Classic Rating: 5. Very interesting to hear "Give Me Some Truth" in the Get Back documentary.
Very nice SFA album - they made so many, none of them grabbed me completely but this one comes very close (just like Outspaced, their b-side compilation album).
Classic Prince album, perfect, not much else too say
Best debut album ever. The invention of top 40 radio rock. Let the good times roll. So its only 1978(!) and new wave rock already never sounded better than on this Cars album full of catchy songs, all played in their typical highly effective style - somehow they managed to get it right, right from the start. The first three songs are winners and is hard to imagine why one would not instantly like this album very much. And its massive influence is obvious. Think New Pornographers, Weezer, Urge Overkill, the Strokes etc etc
Superclassic album, every song is a classic -this kind of album shows that a scale from 1 to 10 stars might have been more appropriate than 1 to 5.
This is another one of these albums that you know is highly appreciated for good reasons, but it is not for me I am afraid.
Mix Syd Barrett with the Byrds and this is what you get: British psychedelic jangle pop with sixties influences. Great album! Discovered it 25 years or so after its release ..and for me, one of their best songs, "He's A Reptile" is part of the album ..but it is not: it was added in the reissue. The 10 original songs are strong enough to hold their own though and several of them are perfect examples of outstanding songwriting: 5 stars easily.
A couple of strong songs, lots of attention to detail (album sounds great!) but not so many hooks - i bought the album at the time but was never really able to get into it. Art rock with not enough pop.
The first four Undertones albums are all great (same goes for Skids - not sure if their albums are also on the list but they should). I probably have listened to Hypnotized the most, nonstop catchy pop punk songs.
One of these perfect 70s soul albums that never grow old. Some great originals and some great covers. (Would be nice if "The Heat is On" is also on the list but I suppose it isn't.)
Back in the late nineties Belle and Sebastian made quite some impact with their first three albums. The album opens with "State I Am In" - perhaps their most definitive song: either like you this song and the type of lyrics and you will like the band ..or you don't and in the latter case there is not much need to check out the rest of their oeuvre. Some other highlights: I Could Be Dreaming and Electronic Renaissance. The album overall has a demo feel and still has its charms. It is not their strongest effort though (and I was a bit surprised to see it on the list). Some of the songs are a bit too twee for my taste. So I would not be inclined to give this album the full five stars but still rate it as a very solid 4.
Had not listened to this album for at least a decade or so but it still great as expected (and I am not a major Elvis Costello fan, only know his late 70s - mid 80s output). Makes me want to finish his 2016 memoir. I also recommend to have a look at his list of "500 Must-Have Albums" on Vanity Fair - lots of interesting music recommendations.
Thought her previous album was the classic one? That one contained at least one great song (Rolling in the Deep)...
One of the best Rolling Stones albums. Classic songs nonstop, in particular Gimme Shelter: one of their best songs. I also like the Sisters of Mercy version a lot but Merry Clayton brings it to a completely different level.
Perhaps I was not in the mood for it ..but for some reason I did not manage to get into this album - it still ok of course but I liked it more in the past.
Still remember that after a sequence of rather mediocre albums -say anything after Like a Prayer and this albums- and a string of singles that were good but not great (except This Used to Be My Playground but that was with Shep Pettibone again) ..suddenly ..Frozen was released and after that: the Ray Of Light single and then Substitute of Love and the Power of Goodbye.. in short: the best 4 pop singles of the 90s, seemingly out of nowhere. So bought the album but felt a bit disappointed as it was made in the same way as in the 80s: great singles (*****) some (very) decent albums tracks (***/****) and some filler (*/**). Think True Blue or Like A Prayer. Still feel the same after listening to it again today. The 4 singles and the William Orbit contributions are as fantastic as ever, just like a couple of other tracks, but overall it falls short to be of 5-star, just like True Blue and Like A Prayer (to compare, for me, her first album and Like A Virgin are both 5-star).
Heard this jazz album for the first time - I did not like every song, but when it's good it's very good.
Massive album in the 80s - still great of course - one of these albums where practically every track could be a single.
Had expected American Water instead of this album, but the choice for Bright Flight is not bad either. After all, American Water sometimes sounds half Pavement / half Silver Jews.. and while a Pa/SJ combination is of course a great mix, it is certainly nice to hear Silver Jews "only" and to realize again how good this band was in late 90s - early 00s. I rate American Water as a clear 5* album. This album contains several 5* songs (in particular Tennessee) but for mr it is a very solid 4 overall (conform to my memory of it).
Born To Run: The breakthrough album. Actually prefer its predecessor The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle and also Darkness on the Edge of Town, above Born To Run. The songs on Born To Run are perhaps a bit less special. And also: the way the band is playing on WIESS is great - the songs go on for much longer and have this live feel. On Born To Run, songs are shorter and Jungle Land is for me the best song of the album (of course, the title song is iconic). Nevertheless, Born To Run is great too and a 5-star album of course.
Not sure if live albums should be on the list but this well-known album seems like a proper choice: classic Motorhead songs by the classic Motorhead line up. The songs sound better on the studio albums.
Classic album. Great songs -goes way beyond its genre and probably one of the best albums ever made.
Perfect Temptations album, very diverse songs that never get bored: great album in every aspect
Excellent Erykah Badu album - very consistent, probably the EB album I have listened to the most at the time.
Never got into this album at the time and have the same experience listening to it now - a couple of songs are quite strong though and vocals are excellent.
yeah this is great - always liked it but it is much more accessible and melodious than I remembered.
Had not listened to it for 15 years or so and liked it more at the time - but still good of course and one of those immediately recognizable albums, like The Bends or Siamese Dream. So will give it 5 star.
Classic Neil Young album. In a Neil Young top 5 I would put Everybody Knows, After The Goldrush, On The Beach, Tonight's The Night, Comes A Time and this album (and Freedom and Harvest Moon as well, and of course Rust Never Sleeps and Zuma).
One of the best albums of Mingus - not much too add, other than this is a great album.
Had not listened to this album for years - quite a bit of hype at the time so makes sense to have it on the list. 69 songs ..some of them sketchy and not going anywhere, other ones still work very well, although one has to be in the right mood to appreciate the performance instead of getting annoyed by it. I hesitate between 3 or 4 stars but go with my appreciation for it 20+ years ago ..so 4 stars.
I remember this album was still massively popular throughout the 80s and of course for good reasons: classic album from the 70s when Supertramp released a whole string of these perfect popalbums.
English folk from the late sixies - I suppose it is a solid album but it is hard to see justification for having this included in the list as even within its genre there are much better albums around from the same time period.
Great album - the last album of Radiohead that I am familiar with - I was a bit surprised to see this on one the list ..but now after re-listening it again I notice how good it is. I will probably check out the two follow-up albums as well now.
A 90s rap album I was not familiar with. Listened to int once. Sounds fine but made less impact than some other albums from that period, so will give it a 3.
A typical Outkast album with typical Outkast pop hooks - slightly surprising to see this album is on the list (wasnt the previous one considered to be the classic one?) Anyway it is very strong album even though 73 minute is overkill and hard to take in in one go. Rated it as 4* and still do.
Still a fantastic album, I do not care too much about the albums before Phaedra (probably a mistake) but everything they made between 74-83 is great (just like the Edgar Froese solo albums from that period). Needs to be played loud and on a good hi-fi system.
The two big singles are classic tracks but apart from the Skip Spence track, which is also great, I never cared too much about the other tracks. And still feel the same, listening to it now again. I can understand why this album is on the list but three stars seems to be about right.
Had not fully invested in this album at the time: it was always Homogenic and then Post. But last year Debut turned out to be much better than I remembered. And this year the same is even more true for Vespertine, the 2nd 1001 album from Bjork on the list for me.
Did not know this album in advance. It sounded quite dated, usually I am fine with that and also in this case.. ..it is certainly an album I would not mind listening to again (it sounds great, especially over headphones). On the other hand, it can easily be replaced by any other solid dance/house UK album from that period. So, hard to see why it is included on the list.
Step in The Arena, Daily Operation, Hard To Earn - they always sounded equally good to me - just very consistent, high-quality rap albums- and to have one of these albums included in the 1001 list is very nice.
Classic Elton John album, sounds as good as ever: a clear 5* album of course (and not even his best seventies album!)
Always thought this was a solid album and that Supergrass is a typical singles band - still think the same although the non-single album track You Can See Me is one of the stronger songs.
Had this album as a 4* album, liked it at the time, but of course it was difficult not to compare to A Tribe Called Quest. Now after so many years it actually turned out to be much better than I remembered. It is just a very strong album and I can see why it was included on the list.
Still a great album. I usually go for a later KC album and had forgotten how good this album was.
Not sure if this one should be on the list or its predecessor (It's Everly Time) but this one seems to be a very good choice nevertheless. A couple of 3* songs, a couple of 4* songs and quite a few 5* songs. This would be a 4* album normally ..but the 5* songs are super 5* songs covered by many others (think Love Hurts, Stick With Me Baby, Cathy's Clown). So a 5* rating is very justified.
Might be the album that I have listened to the most times ever. This dry drum sound in the first song.. instantly recognizable. I suppose it is Day Dream Nation for most people, but Sister is my number 1 Sonic Youth above Day Dream Nation, Evol, Dirty and Goo.
One of these classic soundtrack albums that is hard to listen to without thinking about the movie. In my memory, Curtis Mayfield had written stronger songs for The Impressions or his early solo albums. So 4* for the song writing and 5* for the sound. But now listening to it again, I think 5* also for the song-writing is more appropriate.
Contains Our Lips Are Sealed and We Got The Beat and no filler at all. Jane Wiedlin en Belinda Carlisle released excellent solo albums and the other Go-Go's albums are great too, but this album is perfect. Catchy guitar songs, lots of hooks, some kind of new wave blueprint for many 90s alternative rock albums, but what I like most about their music is that -just like the Ramones, Blondie, B-52's - they mix their guitar songs with 60s pop influences, which combined with excellent vocals really makes their music stand out.
Surprising to see this album on the list. Can only imagine it would be on the list if it came out at the end of nineties or later (as there is a clear split in the 1001 list between absolute iconic albums and a mixture of solid / bomb albums right about that time when the list is starting to ignore the truly outstanding albums from say the last 20-25 years). In any case, this album is from one of the least interesting Bee Gees periods (expected to see Odessa, guess it is on the list too) where they made 1-2 stand-out singles per album and filled them up with competent stuff. Same goes for this album. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart has become an Al Green classic - it is of a different level than the rest ...which is pleasant but apart from sounding a bit too proggy they sound like other artists on this album (think Beatles especially in It's Just The Way). So one >=5 star song, a couple of 4 star songs (like the 2nd single or the album closer) and number of **/*** songs.
One of the most beautiful sounding albums ever. It is very typical English art rock, and I always thought of it as The Hounds of Love of the 70s. It has quite a reputation, and for sure, Radiohead fans will like it. In short: a great album, 5 stars easily.
The 8 album sequence starting with From Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J and ending at Tunnel of Love is 5-star album only, and this is number 6, so five stars.
Classic Johnny Cash album that I had not listened to for many years. It is a fine album but a liitle boring as the songs sound a bit similar.
Had to check but apparently rated Your Arsenal with 3 stars and wondered why that Morrissey album was on the list. I knew Vauxhall and I is a better album but had not listened to it for at least a decade or so and forgot how much better it is. It contains exactly quite a number of 5-star classic Morrissey songs and I liked it a lot (4 stars, but at the high end so 8/10).
Strong an consistent rap album from the golden age that i was not familiar with in advance.
One of these superclassic albums (just like VU albums 1,2,4) and probably the most perfect album on the list.
Second Outkast album as prescribed by The List. Rated Stankonia as 4 stars, mainly because it was absolute overkill. This album is almost twice as long as they combined two separate albums into one.. but I always liked it much more. The song material is equally strong as Stankonia (and its predecessors) ..but the album has a much more relaxed sound, which makes it much more listenable.
Lust for Life and The Idiot both sound very much like Bowie albums in disguise and are great Iggy Pop albums. Presumably The Idiot is also on the list - both illustrate the enormous difference in quality between albums on the list over time. (Would also be appropriate if Blah-Blah-Blah is on the list too but I suppose it is not.)
From '72-'75 Roxy Music recorded five classic albums; this is album number 2. Its widely known, so not much to say other that than it is yet another iconic pop album from the seventies, like practically every 70s album on this list. (From some reason, after 200+ albums, the generator is still feeding twice as many albums from the seventies than literally every other decade, and all these albums are way better than the average 21st century album on the list.)
Another classic 5 star album from Simon & Garfunkel except for "America", but that song is easily compensated by the other tracks.
Great album of course, Who says a funk band and the title song are two of the best Funkadelic songs ever. must have been great to go to a Funkadelic concert in the seventies..
This album should be in any Britpop album top 5, together with Coming Up, Now I'm A Cowboy, His 'n' Hers and Different Class.
You know I've Been Here Before etc. is a great begin of a great Spiritualized record, which together with the Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space album, are two of the best albums released in the 90s. I assume the latter album (being their best known album?) is on the list too (together with at least one Spacemen 3 album) but Lazer Guided Melodies is even better. To compare: some time ago Pitchfork published a nice list of 20 "Dream Pop" albums (Think Galaxie 500, Cocteau Twins, Beach House, Julee Cruise etc). LGM is on place 11 in this list. But even though I would perhaps not qualify LGM as "dream pop" (too much motorik) it should have been much higher in that list...
At the time I really liked this album and listened to it many times, but nowadays prefer their debut album. WSMG is still an excellent album of course that is way better than any of their later albums and I would still rate it as 4 stars. It is a pity that some of their strongest songs around that time are not included, for example: Talk Tonight and Acquiesce, b-sides of Some Might Say. (It's remarkable, at the time Oasis could - if they had wanted to- have easily released a WSMG Part 2 and it would have been just as strong as WSMG.)
Not an album I would listen to again. It is not bad but just a bit boring. Rod Stewart made much better albums in the seventies.
Still Coldplay's best album. Strong songs. Non-stop. It is the What's The Story Morning Glory of the 00s (heard these songs perhaps too many times from everywhere).
Best Sabras of Paradise album? Probably, starts off with the classic sounds of Bubble and Slide and contains The Balled of Nicky McGuire, one of the best electronic songs of the 90s.
Excellent Elliott Smith album, with very pleasant-sounding songs - I listened to it a lot at the time, as it is very easy to put the album on repeat. I am still a bit surprised to see the album in the list though, as it is basically a repeat of his previous albums - same style, same high-quality songs, same way of singing etc., which is certainly fine, but given that the 5-star album Either/Or is in the list as well, it is like having the same album in the list twice. ****
Divine Comedy has made the perfect (chamber) pop song numberous times (Our Mutual Friend, Tonight We Fly, The Booklovers etc etc) . This min-album: If. The remaining songs are around 4*. Lyrics: 5* (of course).
Discovered this album a few years after it was released and it was the first Triffids album for me. Not sure if that is why I like it the most (the other Triffids albums are also great) but apart from the so-so production, this is a 5* album in every other aspect, introspective guitar rock that sounds very Australian, David McComb was one of the best singer-songwriters ever.
Classic and timeless VF album - shows how to rock without playing loud.
Hadn't listened to this album for years - it is a good live album of course, just like those classic live albums from Thin Lizzy, The Who, Motorhead, Rush etc etc but I still much prefer the studio albums especially in the cases that involve these tedious drum solos.. as in this one.. but still definitely 4 star.
Great debut album - pretty perfect. I say 9/10 but only because the follow-up, Voodoo (assume it is the list too) is even better (10/10).
A solid 4-star album, with a couple of 5-star songs.
I might prefer Slowhand but am not sure - both are classic EC albums.
Classic album. Non-stop timeless songs. I would say: best debut album ever and should be in any in top 10 of any best of list.
At the time I thought this was more of a singles band: the singles are all 5-star and instantly recognizable. In fact, the whole first half of the album is 5-star and then it drops a bit: a score of 8/10 seems about right to me.
Everything But The Girl has made some nice songs including a few classic ones. It is not clear to me why this album belongs to the 1001 list. It is well made, but I prefer the sound of their older albums. Just like today I had tried to get into this album at the time but never managed.
Best rap album ever. Easily just listen to Buggin' Out.
Classic album in every aspect with singles and non-singles that are equally strong - I would say: Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain and Sign o'the Times are the best four Prince albums.
a couple of super 5-star evergreens and some very solid songs; if played on a decent hifi the album sounds as great as ever (and there are even a couple of better CCR albums around..)
The perfect debut - The first five Roxy Musis albums are all 5 star albums - this is one is a super 5-star album.
It is clear why this live album has status but I am not convinced live albums should belong to the list - this and the overfamiliarity of the material (I dont think I will listen to it again) make the album a bit hard to rate..
Would be nice if the list contains a few more Dinosaur Jr albums, but otherwise this is an excellent choice. One of the best Dinosaur Jr albums: perfect songwriting (Let It Ride, Budge, etc) + perfect guitar playing + perfect sound = 5 *****.
Perhaps they started as a Led Zeppelin kind of band, but from 1976-1987 Rush released 9 classic albums in a row with their own unique sound (every single album from 2112 to Hold Your Fire). Moving Pictures is a superclassic: one of these albums where it is difficult to pick out the best songs.. well thought-out lyrics, guitars, bass, synths, vocals...everything ties perfectly well together.
Classic Can album. Tago Mago - Ege Bamyasi - Future Days - Soon Over Babaluma: a sequence of 4 consecutive 5-star albums.
Another great 60s album of the Kinks - I always rated it above Face to Face, which I gave 5 stars half a year ago or so. The two singles are evergreens of course but the majority of the other songs are equally good and some of them are just as known as well.
Did not know this album yet but it is excellent in every aspect and I have listened to it non-stop for several times.
Classic electronic album. If you have not listened to the album for a while, then the songs all sound a bit the same perhaps. But another reason for that is just that they are all of high quality and very consistent: the two singles Cars and Complex do not stand out at all.
The Adverts only made two albums. I usually go for album number two, Cast of Thousands ..always found it hard to understand that that album was not well liked at the time. In contrast to Crossing the Red Sea, it is more new wave and less punk rock. But that is not say that CRS isn't great too.
Another classic VU album (first 4 are 5 stars)
Great metal album right from the start. I stick to general opinion here and claim that this one and Rust in Piece are their two best albums, as confirmed by the fact that both are included in the 1001 list. I listened to the 2004 cd remasters - not sure if there is some discussion on these (probably there is) but both cds sound excellent.. (afterwards I listened to the original Countdown to Extinction, which sounded ok but not so good as these remasters).
Whereas Demon Days is still pretty strong, I am quite a bit surprised that this album has stood the test of time and is in the list. Bought it on cd at the time, but never got into it. And now, 20 years later, became bored again quite soon by the concept and the general mediocrity of the song material. Of course, I am not talking about the two biggest singles: Clint Eastwood and 19-2000 (note that the Soulchild remix is much better than the original version). The other two singles are ok too. The rest is 1-2-3 star. So three stars overall seems about right.
The Specials 2 (more pop songs) will is more of a favourite, but their debut is almost just as good and the album style is -after relistening- not even that far away from the follow-up. I would put both in the list, together with the two Fun Boy Three albums (which are 5 star as well).
Human Cannonball is great - 5 stars - but the other songs are not only less catchy - they are completely unlistenable. (10x1+1x5)/11 stars
Had given this album a try before out of curiosity but still do not see why this is an "essential" album - experimental pre-industrial 70s music that deliberately sounds ugly and lo-fi (it sounds exactly as what you would expect it to sound like). The follow-up "20 Jazz Funk Greats" is better (more pop) and would be a more appropriate choice for this list (i assume it is included as well).
The Jam: great singles throughout but also a real album band who made a string of 5-star albums including this one.
From 25 years ago: the last really good Bob Dylan album, just short of 5 stars for me.
The first four PE albums are all great (of course numbers 2 and 3 are super-classic). This one is number 4. It is a little too long perhaps - the first half is 5, the second half is 4 star.
Heavily Gang of Four influenced album, which always sounds fine to me, but where GoF's albums are still timeless, FF did not really stood the test of time: the songs (even the singles) turned out to be quite a bit less strong than they were in my memory. Still a solid album, miles better than the other GoF derivatives from that time..
There should be quite some albums from Black Sheep, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Queen Latifah, Tribe Called Quest etc in the list. Most of their albums in period 87-94 or so.. all five stars, including this one of course.
The first five Fairport Convention albums are all excellent in the range 4 - 4.5 - 5. This is number 3. The material is perhaps a bit less consistent than Liege & Lief but still it is very good of course.
Another 70s album with a massive reputation. But still, apart from their debut (their best album), Clash albums are always a bit inconsistent but with so many 5 star songs this is still five stars of course.
Better than Evermore (the album generated half a year ago)
As great as ever - very essential album, just like its two predecessors (I assume the first album is in the list as well but the second one should be too on basis of its first half).
Excellent Billy Bragg - Wilco collaboration. I liked this album much more than Bragg's "Talking With the Taxman About Poetry" which was generated by the list generator some time ago. Not sure if this is due to Wilco (probably the best American country-rock band from the last 30 years or so) but will check some more Billy Bragg albums..
After "Neu! '75" another classic German experimental rock album from the early 70s on the list - this is my favourite Faust album - it is experimental but also very accessible and listenable at the same time (i would have been quite a bit surprised if it had not been included in the list).
No need to listen to this album again in order to rate it: one of these super-classic albums that is in every best-of album list. each individual song fully analyzed, (but of course the album still works best when played as a whole).
Apart from singles I am not so familiar with the Temptations output in the seventies and had just overlooked this 1972 album. In short, it turned out to be another great Temptations/Whitfield album - with one mega-classic song of twelve minutes - while the other songs, including a cover of a very familiar song - are excellent too, in particular I liked their version of Isaac Hayes' Do Your Thing. Definitely 5 stars.
Great Jacques Brel live album of course, these chansons are obviously all of 5-star quality, and their live versions are often better than the studio ones.. But not sure if live albums should be included in this list, even though some are quite legendary and some of them have several tracks that do not appear on any studio album. Tough choice, as Olympia 64 satisfies both criteria.. so 4 stars then in the end.
Did not know this album / band - not sure if it belongs to the list but I quite liked it: good-sounding 60s garage rock except for the last song (Melody..), which I would give 5 stars.
Another one of these huge pop-albums that shows how big the difference is between a true classic and the average, very good 1001-album (like these Morrissey solo albums that are included in the list as well). Contains non-stop Smiths classics: I Know It's Over, Bigmouth and There's a Light etc.
The perfect The The album, still like it very much. Just noticed that some months ago for some reason I rated Infected with only three stars. I have now listened to that album again as well and am surprised. I still think it is not as good as Soul Mining but I should have given that album four stars.
Did not know the band did know the album and had to get used to it, but the music, some kind of 60s folk/country rock, started to grow on me (must have played the album 5 times or so) and in the end I liked it quite well.
Supergrass: for me, a typical UK singles band, with albums -to which I had not listened for ages- that are solid at best. A while ago we had In It For The Money: 3 stars for me. I Should Coco, their debut is not that much different ..but the singles are even stronger and I like quite a few (but not all) non-album tracks as well - very surprising that Strange Ones wasn't one of the singles: 4 stars.
Great PJH album, songs are as strong as ever -perhaps Rid of Me is even better, but this is obviously 5-stars.
Late 90s classic. Still a great album, so 5 stars, with a note that its successor (10000000 Hz Legend) is the real classic (1000000 stars)
For me, this album will be forever matched with that Hal Hartley movie ..Simple Men from 30 years ago. Since then I have forgotten all about that movie except for the out-of-nowhere dance scene on Kool Thing. The album nicely fits in the 5-star album sequence: Evol - Sister - Daydream Nation - Goo - Dirty - it might not be so universally strong as the other four but easily 5 stars of course.
This was my favourite Pixies album for many years - in my memory it was quite a big thing when it got released - Pixies were relatively popular in the Netherlands (see the VPRO Onrust en Pinkpop '89 videos on Youtube - especially the VPRO recordings are as great as ever). Of course the previous albums are just as good. All 5 stars.
Excellent Nick Cave & Bad Seeds album - was slightly disappointed when it was released due to their impressive previous album, Let Love In. ...25+ years later, I still find Murder Ballads a bit too uneven for giving 5 stars - a solid 4.
Together with Exile on Main Street (and Let It Bleed), my favourite two Rolling Stones albums - a clear top 10-ever album. And they even left out songs like Jumpin' Jack Flash..
The 3rd HL album, for some strange reason the first two albums are not universally liked but Dare is one of the best albums from the 80s, must be the perfect pop album ever.
TDK D90: Side A: Unknown Pleasures Side B: Closer Both, very obviously, 5 stars, just like all the other JD material on Still and Substance.
The best record of Pretenders, when they were still making new wave music.. ..some catchy singles but especially with lots of strong album tracks, like the first triple of songs..
The first four Gun Club albums are all classics - always liked The Las Vegas Story the most - less blues and more new wave / post-punk -I guess it is not on the list but really should- but in any case Fire Of Love is great too, punk-blues might be the best qualification. It is quite intense and needs to be played as loud as possible.
Best album of Blur? Blur is not in the same league as the Auteurs, Pulp or Suede.. but this album turns out to be just as strong as I remembered (it just needed a few extra spins and un-comparison with the Gun Club album from the day before) and it even does not include Popscene...
I do not own a copy of this album and had not listened to it for a long time. True sixties classic from a musician who was obviously very talented. The kind of psychedelic rock that is still very accessible, as it is mixed with strong and classic song-writing.
Was not into Incubus at the time. The sound is that typical 90s cross-over metal that has not aged well. Lyrics idemdito. Some kind of Faith No More-light but without the strong songs.
The previous JM album on the list, Solid Air, is quite strong (4 stars) but I could not get into this album, which I had not heard before; the closing track was just annoying.
The 5th REM album was the first one I knew. They had a streak of 8+ five-star albums...
Music of my mind - talking book - innervisions - this album - song in the KoL: should all be on this list.
From memory, UK guitar bands just before Britpop took off: Madchester / Shoegaze / Wedding Present / St Etienne and ..Teenage Fanclub. Bandwagonesque might be the best album from a very solid band, who made a string of very decent albums. It is nice to see this album on the list, like that album from the La's, just short of 5 stars for me.
Classic album. Timeless (there must be quite a few albums of The Who on the list).
As far as I understand this albums is seen as the best Iron Maiden album - I would agree with this, although they have made a whole string of 5* albums in the 80s - this might be the best heavy metal album ever..
The perfect Boo Radleys album - I prefer their shoegaze period but can also appreciate their britpop albums afterwards, and Giant Steps falls exactly in the middle. Lots of strong songs whilst the shoegaze is still there.
One of many classic Genesis albums. I am probably more inclined to listen to one of their 80s albums: Duke / Abacab / Genesis / Invisible Touch are all 5-star but probably not on this list. From their Peter Gabriel period, I had only expected to see the Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, but of course Selling England By The Pound is an appropriate choice too.
I only knew the first song (Big Iron) and it is a great song. Also thought the other songs written by MR stood out above the rest of the material, but in general this album was just too boring (reminded me of all those Elvis Presley soundtrack albums).
Preffered the Charletans and Stone Roses over any other Madchester band from that time but this album is ok as well, the sound is a bit dated but it contains several well-known singles and some good album tracks, 3.5 stars
This album is slightly more experimental than its predecessor, but it is equally accessible and just as good. Like any other great Fleetwood Mac album (FM, Rumours, this one, Mirage, Tango in the Night, all 5 stars) each of the songs is immediately recognizable as a CMcV/LB/SN song... ..yet you get the feeling that although these songs would still be good, they would be quite a bit less good if they had appeared on any of their solo albums.
Not as good as The Who Sell Out but still a classic album of course.
Metal Box and Flowers of Romans are both 5-stars. First Issue clearly has been influential, contains several 5-star tracks (PI, Low Life), and plays well at loud volume, but is rather uneven and has some boring moments like the spoken word part of Religion and the album closer, Fodderstomf (which I usually skip). 7/10 so 4/5stars.
Classic Eno album - not as good as his first three albums but still 5 star of course.
Again a super-classic. Prince released from 1978-1992 an album every year except from 1983. But given the high quality of the b-sides, he could have released a 5 star album in 1983 as well. (Out of all the Prince albums from that period, Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O the Times are obviously 5 star. Lovesexy, Parade or Around the World are say 4.5 star so 5 star should these be on the list... )
Had expected this to be on the list, given the album's reputation as the best Bee Gees album of the sixties/early 70s. Not sure why: most of those albums seem to consist of >>5* singles and some lesser material. And in my memory this album is quite uneven as well (apart from being a bit more orchestral). Listened to it again a few times todays and it started to grow on me: 4 stars.
A couple of days ago the generator generated Tommy and now The Wall. Just like Tommy the lyrics on their own are not so special but the music and the overall atmosphere is as great as ever of course.
Great EC album from his classic period. Check out his list of "500 Must-Have Albums" on Vanity Fair.
AC/DC in their classic period when almost every song they wrote became a rock standard - the louder the better.
Classic Bob Marley & The Wailers album, 5 star like any other BM from that period but this one together with Catch A Fire, might be their best but it is hard to say ..would be nice if some of their earlier albums are in the list as well.
Bought this album on cd once, together with The Yes Album, against my better judgment. Rated The Yes Album as 1* some months ago, but now listened to both albums again and think both of them are at least listenable. In fact, the well-known album closer on Fragile is even quite good. (but still, it would have been nicer if 90125 had been on the list..)
At the time I thought it was the best Madonna album, but now it sounds a bit flat and some of the songs appear to be pretty weak.. probably the first Madonna album that had some 3* singles.. Still, it contains some classic Madonna / Leonard singles (the first two songs are obviously 5*) and most of the songs are 4*. So 4 stars seems to be about right (but I would not have included it on the list..).
EMF. Jesus Jones. Beats International. The Shamen, ..The Stereo MCs.. etc. Typical early 90s UK dance music that sounded quite dated even by end of 90s (at least to me, I still like the sound of 80s dance music very much). Songs itself are fine though ("Connected" is 5*) and perhaps, with a different production, this might have been a semi-classic - not on the level of Screamadelica (1991) or The White Room (1992) or Blue Lines (1991) but still, definitely a proper 3* album I would say...
One of the best debut albums ever. After LA Woman and Morrison Hotel, the third Doors album so far.. all 5*
As the two singles compilations are perfect, I usually do not listen to regular albums of the Carpenters. However, some of these are excellent too, like this one. First half is perfect (5*). Second half has a decent share of 5* moments, but is perhaps a little inconsistent. Overall: 5*.
Classic UK electronic pop album from the early nineties just like Screamadelica (1991) or The White Room (1992) or Blue Lines (1991) or Morning Dove White (1993). Has Saint Etienne ever made a bad album? (Tiger Bay should be on the list as well, and last year's I've Been Trying To Tell You was one of the best albums from 2022.) 5*, some favourite songs: She's The One and Like A Swallow. Apparently "Dazzle Ships" was a big inspiration for the album, but as always there are plenty of other music references as well (after all, Bob Stanley's "Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop" (2013) is one of the best books about popular music ever).
This is not "Making Movies" which is one of the best albums ever made (and presumably included on the list as well) but still easily 5 star of course (just like Love Over Gold and Brothers in Arms).
Almost-perfect Dolly Parton from the 70s - the only DP album I know so a bit hard to compare it to the rest of her work. The album isn't nonstop 5-star but the first half and quite a few second half songs definitely are.
From the 90s DC albums, I might prefer "Promenade" above "Casanova", as it contains "The Booklovers" and "Tonight We Fly", but this album contains "Theme from Casanova" and "Something for the Weekend". So hard to say..
Up until now only knew a couple of Monks songs (from Nuggets, Fall covers, soundtracks etc) but had never listened to the album. This album is much, much better than your average 60s garage rock album. Together with "Elephant Mountain" the two best albums that I found out about through the 1001 Album Generator. (Unfortunately I listened to the version with bonus tracks - skip these tracks!)
One of these superclassic albums of the 70s.. perfection of style.
Just like Showtime this DR album gets a bit on my nerves and hard to listen to in one go.
Classic Lou Reed album. I am sticking to general consensus here and rate this album as his best one. "Berlin", "Transformer", "Street Hassle" and "New York" are all 5-star albums.
Late 80s electronic album from the UK. Pacific 202 still sounds as great now as it did in the 80s. The other tracks are very good: 8/10 overall
One of these electronic albums that works on many different levels. Should definitely be on the list.
Of course, Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication are better rap albums, but this album is still as entertaining as it was in the 80s, with over-the-top lyrics and rap/rock songs that are heavily influenced by Run DMC (which I hope are included in the list as well). Favourite song that even made the Dutch Top 40 at the time: No Sleep Till Brooklyn, a nice Motorhead reference and a Kerry King guitar solo (still expecting a Slayer album from the generator as well..). On a side note: Beasties Boys Book is one of the best books ever on the history of a band.
David Gray is the Adele from the early 00s. Their albums are very popular (you could hear White Ladder everywhere 20-25 years ago) and very skilfully made, and whilst listening to a couple of songs is nice, listening to a whole album in one go might be a bit too much. WL contains quite a few very strong songs and I was thinking about a 3-star score or so, but had forgotten about the horrible 9-minute Soft Cell cover in the end (+5* original -> -5* cover).
Entertaining album from The Pharcyde - classic status, had certainly expected it on the list.
Listened to te Collectors Edition a few times today, but will give a vote for the original album from 1988, which I had listened to a lot in the past: one of the best albums of The Waterboys and a clear 5* album. The Waterboys should appear a few more times in the list - again an example of a band whose music was more than the sum of its parts (also illustrated by the extra songs on the Collectors Edition, which are great too).
The follow-up, Dog Man Star, is several stars better but this album is great too of course. Coming Up ishpikd be on the list too. Suede is a really good example how good a band can be in their prime: the b-sides during Suede-DogManStar-Coming Up are of similar quality as the tracks on these three albums.
Classic CSN album from '69, not the same classic status as Deja Vu, but still an easy 5 stars, just like the classic CSN album from '77 (the latter being the ultimate yacht album after all). I realized that the debut album of the modern CSN variant, Fleet Foxes, is also approaching semi-classic status status (released 15 years ago) yet that album is not in the same league as CSN(Y)...
Guitar rock from the end of the 90s: combo of grunge / power pop, with excellent songs that still sound fresh today. At the time I rated it as a 4-star album but close to 5 (that is, 8/10).
Still a great album just like Dare or Dazzle Ships. Very well crafted. Strong songs and the perfect sound. I following concensus here and say that this is the best album from ABC but the follow-ups, Beauty Stab and Zillionaire, are excellent too.
I can appreciate some of these George Jones / Tammy Wynette duets (had expected a George Jones / Tammy Wynette album in the list) but this album is just too boring.
Always had this down as a 4* album but only remembered a few songs. It is obviously very well made (with Let Love Rule as the 5* stand-out song) and generally enjoyable, just like Kravitz's second and third album. But a little bit too pastiche (same with other acts at that time like Ween / World Party / Jet Black Joe).
I am not so familiar with the Saints but as expected this album was great. Favourite song no your product. Maybe it just falls short of being 5 star.
Classic Ice Cube album, nice surprise to see this album on the list instead of its predessors. Contains Check Yo Self, probably IC's best single ever.
By far the best UK album from 1989. The year after Some Friendly got out but I still rate the SR album higher.
Excellent Kool Keith album. Great, spooky beats.
These concert recordings have some reputation and they sound absolutely great (5 star music), but I do not think such live albums should be included in the list. For sure, numerous major artists have given great concerts playing their best songs... and each of them could have a similar album as this one. Maybe if this album had an official release in 1966 it would have been a bit different but still live albums do not make much sense to me. Hence, a neutral 3 stars.
Had MR down as a fairly experimental band. Their previous albums were fine, but then they suddenly came up with a highly accessible pop album. Perfect sequencing. Perfect atmosphere and very strong song-writing. My favourite record from 1998.
Best American rock band from the first half of the 80s when they made five 5* albums. Probably their LA album is even a bit better but it is always a hard choice. Wild Gift contains songs like Adult Books and Universal Corner etc.
Classic DB album.
Solid RS album, with a good mix of originals and covers, quite an improvement from Gasoline Alley.
Expected to see Mr Fantasy instead of JB Must Die, and hadn't listened to the latter album for a long time - turned out to be great (5 star songs except the first one).
Have some vague memories that later AM albums get better but never cared too much for their debut and always struggled a bit to get through it in one go. Had the same experience today, but things got better after a second listen. There is a lot of energy and some of the songs are actually quite nice. Highlight: "Fake Tales of San Francisco" (a great song!)
Classic rock album. "Been Caught Stealing" was a proper hit on MTV at the time - still think it is very catchy. These days there seems to be quite a bit of controversy around the real-life story behind "Three Days", but without this context the song still sounds as epic as ever. Five stars (just like their previous two albums and despite its typical early 90s sound/production).
Classic LC album (certainly his first four are all 5 stars and this is number 3).
With all these double A-side singles that they released at the time ..practically every song has been an evergreen hit. Previously rated the Bayou Country album (5 stars), but I always liked this album even more. Great opening song and on this album the JF originals are miles better than the cover songs except for IHITTGV.
Well-crafted and pretty flawless album, but a bit light-weight to be in the list (3 stars in 1991.. 3 stars in 2022).
First song made me realize i was listening to a compilation album - it does not make sende to include such albums! Hence, thr neutal score.
10cc album that was new for me - mainly know their later albums and had ecpected one of those. However, this album turned out to be great after a few listens.
A solid album, but it simply does not make sense to pick an arbitrary EH album and put it in the list. Literally everyone knows that Wrecking Ball is the EH classic from her >90s material.
Fourth Beatles album so far. Ruby Soul, White Album, Abbey Road are all clear 5 star albums. AHDN contains a couple of truly great songs of course, so hard to give a score < 4,, but also a bit too much filler for a 5 star rating. 5*: A Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better, Can't Buy Me Love, Any Time At All. 2*: I Am Happy Just To Dance With You, Tell Me Why 3*-4*: the other seven songs.
The Jungle Line and Harry's House / Centrepiece are 5-star songs and I can see the rationale for including this album on the list. I do not care too much about the other songs but overall like the album much better than Blue.
Solid debut double album - steady 4 star - except Free Form Guitar (according to wikipedia, this was an influential song but it is just horrible to listen to)
Classic trash metal album. Not a big fan of the genre but knew this album and it is perfect of course.
Another classic album from the best band tbat features in the 1001 album list.
A pity that live albums are included on the list but this one is not so good anyway.
Excellent album of BM & The W. Third album of them generated so far. Although it contains the largest portion of Bob Marley hits, I always thought Catch A Fire or Natty Dread were generally stronger albums. Nevertheless this album is still a very clear 5 of course.
The way of singing is a bit too much for me, but in general this is a nice Nina Simone album. - prefer the David Bowie version of Wild Is The Wind. - either Way I Lose is a great song.
Why is this non-album on the list. How does this compare with the average 1001 album? It seems randomly picked and moreover: the list already contains White Ladder.
Classic rock, slightly boring but Black is a 5 star song. (much prefer Badmotorfinger, Superunknown, Nevermind etc but of course, Ten is miles better than all these copycat bands that turned up afterwards).
Music of My Mind Talking Book this album Fulfillingness' First Finale Songs in the KoL Should all be on this list - so far this seems to be the case.. (3rd SW album generated until now)
The White Stripes never made an <4* album. At the time I thought of this album as a way of perfecting their sound. Nowadays I am a little less impressed and believe White Blood Cells, and possibly De Stijl are the better WS albums. Still it is a very good album of course.
The first four Pet Shop Boys albums are great, full of instant-classic singles. But the quality drop begins here. In my memory, Very was still a good album (4 stars) and listening to it again, the album still has its moments. But the songs are not so memorable and the production is pretty dated (unlike the previous four albums which still sound fresh).
This album was new to me and required some repeated listening. Really liked it (it might not compare to the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime, but that album is perfect and would be hard to match anyway).
Great album from a great band - might be the best 80s album in the list (which in an ideal world should contain a couple of more albums of the Replacements)
Had high expectations in 1989, as JJ's previous album of a few years was simply perfect, with classic singles (Nasty, What Have You Done For Me Lately, The Pleasure Principle, When I Think Of You etc) and OK perhaps a little filler... But was quiet a bit disappointed when RN1814 came out - in particular the singles of RN18 were merely ok-ish and less catchy. Overall the album turned out to be quite decent though. The signature sound of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Now listening to it again, I still think it is a very solid album, on the high 3 star / low 4 star end. Final vote: 3.5 -> 4, due to great 80s production.
Freur / Underworld (with or without Darren Emerson) is a great electronic band of course. But why this album and not Dubnobasswithmyheadman? Maybe the latter is on the list too, but once again you get the impression that the composers of the 1001 list lost grip on the list at some point during the nineties.. (go for the big canonic albums from the previous decades, but pick arbitrary albums from later decades) Anyways: played loud on a decent hi-fi set, this album still sounds as great as ever. Really tried to like it at the time. However, it misses the synth-pop influences that its predecessor still had, and when not played very loud, the album becomes a bit boring.
Another classic Nick Drake album generated by the list.
Sister of Mercy's debut album is better of course so should have been on the list (as well). .. but Floodland has built up some status over the years and led to a massive number of copycat groups until even nowadays. So seems fine to be included in the list. It is practically a 1-person project and I much like how consistent it is in every aspect. Songs are all 4-5 star. Production is fantastic so clearly 5 star overall.
<review for the original 1970 37-minute release> Excellent songs but prefer the studio recordings (of the non-covers) and still believe live albums should be excluded from the list (even though this one certainly has a lot of status).
First album of Captain Beefheart might be his best. Combination of blues and psychedelic rock: very accessible but still far from being straightforward. Favourite track: Electricity.
Did not know this album. Nice 70s-film-music style. Includes some very well executed cover songs.
Obviously, one of the best hiphop albums ever made.
Is Goldfrapp the Lenny Kravitz of the electropop? Many of their albums have the perfect sound and always contains a good share of strong songs but also sound a bit too much pastiche. A good example here is Cologne Cerrone Houdini: very obvious references to 70s euro disco (not only in the title but also the Amanda Lear way of singing etc). It is a 5-star song so great, but I am a little less keen on all those English folk references and usually go for a different Goldfrapp album. Overall score: 3.5.
My least favourite Daft Punk album, but still 5 stars of course. (Or so I thought, afterwards listened to Discovery - this time liked Homework better.)
Like more or less any other Al Green 70s album: five stars.
5 Star Deep Purple Album. Big overlap with Made in Japan but the studio album is much better.
Top 3 best albums ever: 3. David Bowie: Let's Dance (even better if the movie version of Cat People had been included) 2. Madonna: Like A Virgin (version with Get into the Groove) 1. This album: perfect as is.
A bit too gimmicky for me (and in my memory Better Living through Chemistry" was better) but Praise You is still a 5 star song.
Classic Dinosaur Jr album, I never liked it as much as I liked Bug, but in particular the prototype shoegaze elements are great and it is still a 5-star album of course.
After all the albums from Lorde, Taylor Swift, Solange, Adele, CTRL, Christine and the Queens, etc. etc. finally, the list generates an album from the last 15 years that can be viewed a modern classic.
Classic debut album of Elvis Costello, and the start of quite a long sequence of 5* EC albums.
Bon Jovi are the Pet Shop Boys from the American guitar rock in the sense that at their first 4 albums or so, they wrote extremely catchy hit songs: take Runaway from '84, or on this album: You Give Love a Bad Name, Livin' on a Prayer and Wanted Dead or Alive, all 5-stars songs. But then at some point the albums became solid at most. Always thought this was due to their Bruce Springsteen influences taking over, but On Slippery When Wet it is BS all over, but is mixed with 80s pop music. Still sounds great and at the time, I really liked the album. But would have rated it as 4-star album, as the song material was a little too inconsistent. Really wanted to give it 5-stars this time, but stick to my view from 35 years ago.
The best Bobby Womack album from the 80s? In any case, an excellent album with quite a reputation, just like part II. Just short of 5 stars for me - as it is hard not to compare it with his classic albums from the early 70s.
Cover album. Excellent voice and nice production - solid apart from the terrible Ray Charles cover -not sure why it is on the list
Classic album from one of the best UK bands from the 80s - does not contain a single weak song. Ome of these like-it-or-not albums and this factor is more or less determined by whether or not you like the first song: Burn It Down / Dance Stance, one of their best singles. The bonus edition contains the Plan B single which is very different from the version on the follow-up album when they (that is, Kevin Rowland) changed style. I do appreciate that album as well and although concerts from that lineup must have been great to attend, a concert by the original Dexys lineup, with horn section, must have been more special.
Solid album - it is not my go-to 80s hip hop album and I had not listened to it for quite some time but still like it.
Perhaps the best Jane's Addition album - it is the most consistent one for sure. In any case, the first three JA albums are all 5 star.
Quiet Life, Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Tin Drum definitely belong to the list of best pop albums ever made. Sure, Roxy Music is everywhere, especially on Quiet Life, but they are much more than a slowed-down RM synth-pop clone - the songs and production are incredibly strong, and the whole concept is just perfectly executed.
Another album that I had not listened to for a long time. I was never into it but always liked the relaxed sound. The latter also means the record lacks some urgency: lost my attention during each spin today - despite some great songs.
Thought this was an excellent album at the time, a bit over-hyped perhaps, but definitely 4 star - it is one of the rare albums on 1001 from the last 25 years that you would actually expect to see included on such a list.
This album on computer speakers: 2* This album on headphones: 5* and that's the way I first listened to it at the time, so I go with the 5*
Did not like Fast Car at the time and ignored the album. Since then I changed my view a bit. It is actually a pretty good album - heavily influenced by Joan Armatrading but sufficiently different. By far her best album.
Timeless classic - perhaps not as good as The Yoshua Tree or The Unforgettable Fire -but probably shared number 3 with Boy and War in the top 5 of Best U2 albums.
For sure, this is influential music, but I lack the open mind to go for it and just found it unlistenable on this occasion.
Another one of these perfect 80s albums that only got better over time. I like everything about it: TT's vocals, the strong song writing, the slick production, it is all simply perfect. Standout song is of course Better Be Good To Me. Best song of the 80s? It has these Miami Vice vibes - it is even better placed on that first classic MV soundtrack album (as with every song on that soundtrack).
Had expected either Toys in the Attic or Rocks or perhaps even both. The former album might be a bit stronger overall, but of course both are proper Aerosmith classics. Compare this to Pump (also in the 1001 list but just a solid rock album) and hear the difference!
Pulp, together with Suede and The Auteurs: the top 3 "britpop" bands from the mid-90s. His N Hers, Different Class and This Is Hardcore are all 5 star albums, but their music from 83-93 is not even *that* different in form and quality.. ..some of their old work is actually pretty great too (just wildly inconsistent). Anyways, Different Class was the best albums of the 90s and it aged pretty well. I am listening to some remastered version and every song sounds as great as ever. It is also an album where the order of the songs is perfect.
Timeless album, a bit inconsistent and I might like some other S&G albums a bit more, but still a classic album of course
A classic album.
Not a superfan of rave music and The Prodigy in particular - it seems like they are playing the same track over and over at slightly varying speeds - but some times it works and I can appreciate it so overall still a reasonably strong electronic album. 7/10 = 4 stars
Both Bitte Orca and Swing Lo Magellan teceived quite a bit of hype at the time. From memory: Swing Lo Magellan is their most accessible album and I do not mind listening to it (in fact, Gun Has No Trigger is a great song).. ..whereas Bitte Orca was just a bit too much Pitchfork for me - it certainly has some good moments but can also irritate in other songs.
Landmark album in every aspect that contains many classic tracks: Rock Box is almost just as good as Walk This Way; Hard Times might even be better than the Kurtis Blow original; and It's Like That is a big single (19997 remix is even better) while Sucker MCs is another legendary rap track and the other two singles (30 Days, Hollis Crew) are 5* too. The remaining three tracks, including Jam Master Jay, are also very good and well known.
Great Jay-Z album - not sure if this is because of the excellent choice of sampled songs (samples are based on great songs) but of course the way these songs are sampled by Jay-Z / Kanye West is very smooth as well.
UK 90s hit parade pop is non-comparable with the decade before, and this is another "late" album that seems to be selected on basis of sale numbers. At its best moments the albums it sounds like an Elton John record but even a bit more sentimental. That could be nice though, but the songs themselves are just not so memorable.
First three AF albums are all recommendable. Funeral: 5. Neon Bible: 4.5. Suburbs: 4. Last album does have a fair share of 5-star songs as well, but it is just hard to take in one go. While the music is excellent, something that does not help are the rather silly lyrics - this holds for all their albums though..
A surprising choice given that Boss Drum was the big hit album. Only remembered Move Any Mountain. Rest of the album is of a similar flavour. Competent dance music with some good moments but an act like the Prodigy has done the same kind of music better.
Going to give this a 5. I always liked the album, especially Safesurfer of course, but there is a lot more to like: the songwriting.. lyrics.. general atmosphere, same vibes as that Soft Boys record from the 70s: Underwater Moonlight. So, it is great that both are included on the list.
Classic 80s album with big reputation that I never got around to but I knew it would be excellent of course.
Great album in every aspect (like many other Jonathan Richman albums). Hard to believe it took 4 years before it was released.
Used to be a 5 star album for me in the 80s but listening to it again now I was less impressed. It still has some great moments, but fall short of 5 stars.
Very solid snd accessible PJ Harvey album, strong songs.
Despite their great 80s albuns this is still the best ZZ top album as it contains Waiting for the Bus.
A little boring but OK-ish Prodigy album, which was pretty disappointing at the time - liked the first two Prodigy albums quite a bit more.
Loudness war album and one of the most noticeable. This is a pity, as this comeback album came as quite a surprise to me at the time. Despite being a couple of songs too long, it is even the best RHCP album I know (only know Uplift Mofo Party Plan, Mother's Milk and BSS Magik).
Great debut album: 5*. The other two Only Ones albums are also 5* but not as good as their first one: nonstop classic guitar songs, several of which covered by other bands over the years. Favourite song: The Beast.
Big leap forwards from Queen II. Close to perfection, and one but best Queen album for me: 1. A Night at the Opera 2. Sheer Heart Attack 3. The Game 4. News Of The World 5. A Kind of Magic
Never cared too much about this one despite being obvious that JF was a massive talent and apart from the LC cover.
Great LL Cool J album, almost just as good as his debut (Radio, one of the best rap albums from the 80s).
After almost 25 years, still a nice album: very accessible ..but also very throw-away-able and replaceable by many other solid dance albums, so despite its success when it was released I am not sure if it belongs to the list.
Classic punk album - one of these timeless albums...
Another classic from David Bowie which easily beats the majority of the albums on the 1001 list, contains his best song (Station to Station) and two excellent singles. The Wild Is the Wind cover at the end is good but does not fit so well.
Rated Dark Lands as 4 due to a somewhat unfortunate comparison it to this album. Influential album (think Raveonettes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club etc). Strong pop songs, buried under a big dosis of dust. Due to all the 60s pop references, it has a bit similar feel as those Ramones songs except that Psychocandy is no punk rock.
Generated by the list generator the day after we got Psychocandy. It is equally good and probably even more influential. One of the best albums of the 90s.
Solid 60s garage rock album. Not spectaculair but just solid.
Nice album of course that I had not listened to for quite a while. You get the feeling that Cash could have made numerous albums in this style and in fact he did. As such, it is not clear to me why this particular one is on the list.
Nice live jazz album with a big reputation - not spectacular, but very easy to listen to.
Classic rap album. Lots of 5 star moments but never fully worked for me: the dialogue between the songs is highly annoying (I know it is part of the story-telling concept, but it stops me from putting the record on again).
Great album. Always thought of All Mod Cons as the better album, but after listening to Sound Affects again for 3-4 times, I am not sure anymore. Anyways, both of them are obviously 5 star albums of course.
Massive overkill of this album in the 80s, but nice to listen to it again after 30-35 years or so. Iconic album with iconic songs and album cover, a bit uneven for 5 stars.
Surprising choice (had expected Bakesale, one of the most popular records on 90s university campuses?) In the 90s Lou Barlow (as Sentridoh) and Prince were alike, releasing big selections of songs without proper quality control. However, as Sebadoh, on Sebadoh III - B&S - Bakesale ..certainly not the case. I like Bakesale (5) and Sebadoh III (5) a bit more, but rate B&S above Harmacy (4). Contributions of Gaffney and Loewenstein are as always uneven, but on B&S I would say things are generally fine. In fact, my favourite three songs are Soul and Fire (B), Happily Divided (L) and Think (B), but Bouquet for a Siren (G) and Sister (L) are also excellent. 4.5 (due to a couple of weak songs) -> 5
Classic Led Zeppelin album, which used to be my favourite. First half 5: Second half: 4. Overall 4.5 -> 4.
Expected Cripple Crow instead of this album. Banhart, Coco Rosie, Anthony, Joanna N etc were very popular 15-20 years ago. More of a challenge to listen to most of these artists these days - songs are still strong but somehow the mannered way of singing and lyrics have become more annoying. However, back in 2005 I really liked Cripple Crow and bought Rejoicing on the strength of CC. There are good songs on it, one was used in a horror movie, so will give it a 3, but overall it is a bit hit and miss and vocal style is "on the edge".
In my memory this was a 5* Eric Clapton record but listening to it now: a hit & miss, still it got Layla, I Looked Away, Tell The Truth and a handful of other 5* songs on it.
On a rope on a rope got me hanging on a rope.. still a great punk rock song and their biggest single. Probably Group Sounds is a bit better (4 stars, at least in my memory) but SDS is quite good as well of course. Quite a surprise to see its inclusion in the list.
Maybe the last truly great Neil Young album? I have not heard most of its >90s output so could be very wrong here - in any case great album!
Great R&B album, with a bit of hip hop, from the early 90s, contains a number of proper hit songs (Creep, Waterfall) but the rest of the material is very strong too. Clearly stands out from all the other R&B albums from that time.
Have the Drive-By Truckers ever made a bad record? This one is fine but not my favourite (would go for some later album). It is a bit exhaustive, and the vocals have been better on later records as well.
More or less everything the Cure brought out before 1990 is 5 star (afterwards, it is 2-3 star). This album is from 1982 so it is 5 star. Atmosphere over songs. Belongs to the sequence 17 Seconds - Faith - Pornography so the other two albums should be on the list too.
Let A = {Deep Purple In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head, Burn}. ((Every album in A is 5*) AND (DPiR is in A)) => DPiR is 5*.
Only knew the album from its glowing reviews a few years ago. Listened to it 4-5 times, but could not get into it. Mostly ok, but just a little boring, even though the more accessible songs (Show You The Way, Walk On By, Them Changes) are very smooth (4-5 star for sure).
New wave classic from the end of 70s, and together with 'Freedom of Choice', my favourite Devo album. The first four tracks could be skipped but the sequence Mongoloid - Shrivel Up = 5-star new wave songs.
In my memory the predecessor of this album is much better than Smokers Delight, which is one of many boring triphop albums that got related at that time.
The ultimate triphop album? It is excellent throughout in every aspect, with nice samples, except for the Light My Fire cover at the end (ending with Heat Miser would have been perfect).
Classic Jimi Hendrix, faultless just like Are You Experienced and Axis (which are a lot shorter and which I know a bit better).
Classic synth-pop album. Perfect in every way (lyrics, art work, song writing) and part of a perfect 3-album streak with its two successors, The Luxury Gap and How Men Are.
Live Sam Cooke album. I did not know this album but knew practically every song. It is a live album which I do not think should belong to the list. Hence 3 stars but the music is obviously 5 stars.
A 5 star heavy metal album ruined to 4 star by too horrible songs. United (1) and Red, White & Blue (<<<1). The latter might be the worst heavy metal song ever.
A Day In the Life is one of the best songs written, so this album should be 5 star. A couple of other nice songs too, but there is way too much filler and the album as a whole is quite a bit behind Revolver (10/10).
Great album but I need to be a bit in the right mood to appreciate the voice of Thom Yorke and the Morning Bell version does fit but is less good than the version on Kid A. Anyways, I liked it then and like it now so let me give it the full stars it deserves.
A classic Nick Drake album: close to perfection, a bit sparser than the other two Nick Drake albums (only vocals and guitar). All three of them are on the 1001 list, and I assume Nick Drake is the only artist with a 100% score.
Solid Jeff Beck album, very different from later albums such as Blow by Blow or Wired. I am not a big fan of this or either of these two other albums, but it depends on the moment. It is certainly not bad.
Tom Petty should be in the list with at least one album, but had not immediately expected this one though. Nevertheless, strong debut album with some generic songs and some highlights but overall, a great sound. songs: 3/4/5 sound: 5 total score: 4
2 classic songs get Isaac Hayed and become 100 times as long. Anyway: great soul album from >50 years ago that I had not listened to for many years.
Pretty unlistenable. Songs are so weak and derivative that it is difficult to imagine why this album has such a good reputation.
Was more impressed by this album at the time of its release, but in the end Fleet Foxes turned out to be more of a typical Pitchfork band (the lyrics, the way of singing etc). Not that this record is bad, but the songs themselves are just not very strong, and when in the mood for music like this, I would just go for a CSN record or so.
Great Kraftwerk album: superclassic, superinfluential, noting to add.
At the time Nick Cave's music started to feel a bit exhaustive. Was not impressed too much by Nocturama, and then this follow-up double-album felt like overkill.. ..only to discover many years afterwards that it is actually full of pretty strong songs. Still, I would say it is not "classic" Nick Cave, and that it should not be included on the list (plenty of other NC albums that are better qualified - I also wonder whether we get any Flying Nun albums, or whether the Australasian part of the list is merely limited to Nick Cave and Crowded House).
This album sounded fresh at the time in some way, but as with other retro-albums (think Lenny Kravitz or Fleet Foxes) I prefer to go back to the times it refers to, so in this case just to put on a Stax album. I will give it a 4 instead of the usual retro-3, as the album is so strong in many aspects.
My favourite Sonic Youth album after Sister: non-stop 5* rock songs, highly accessible without doing any concessions to their sound.
Must be one of the best post-punk albums ever made, and one of my favourite albums all time, and it is just one of the many 5-star Siouxsie & The Banshees albums... (best track: Into the Light)
After 35+ years, this album still sounds as great as ever, and for sure it is DL's best album.
Out of the 10+ VM albums I know, always thought of Moondance as VM-light, in the sense as being one of his most accessible albums - had not listened to it for at least 15 years or so... ..but after the album finished, iTunes went seamlessly over into playing Tupelo Honey (skipping His Band and the Street Choir due to the alphabetical ordering) and I only realized this after a couple of songs, even happened to me twice... ..reason: the songs and atmosphere change quite a bit on the B-side (once Come Running begins). Anyways, pretty great album overall due to the perfect 5-star A-side (with Into the Mystic as the absolute highlight). It is not Def Leppard (the previous artist generated by the list) so I was initially doubting to give it 5 stars, but side A: 5-superstars side B: 3/4/5 stars overall: > 8/10 so just about 5 stars, whereas Astral Weeks is of course 10/10 and Into the Music is a firm 9/10 if I remember correctly.
The opening song and a few others ones were certainly nice, but the slow songs were rather tedious to listen to (the pace of the list generator is pretty relentless if you are not in the mood for a certain type of music).
Classic John Cale album. Hard to see why anyone would give fewer than 5 stars for it.
One of many classic EWF albums. There is a lot of great music on the first five EWF albums. Head to the Sky is also 5 stars for instance and striongly commendable, but this one (album number 6) is the first one that is really perfect from beginning -> end. Soul / funk music combined with proper, high-quality song-writing played very skilfully.
Another one of these albums that was a big hit at the time and that I could appreciate while not being a massive fan of it. It is interesting that the list makes you go back to these albums. Time for a re-appreciation? I still think it is an OK album with enough to like: it is very accessible, has some nice songs Lauryn Hill plays a major role etc. But it is also a bit too straightforward, and the choice of overfamiliar covers is a bit too obvious even though there are some nice interpretations. Does not help that I listened to Kendrick Lamar (a very different level) for almost all day. Hence, 3 stars.
Thought this album was a bit too long at the time (like "20 minutes too long" and certainly like last-song-too-long) but once got I into it again, liked it very much and the less catchy songs started to become alive.
Liked the previous two albums of Portishead as well, but Third is of a completely different level, less trip hop and more electronic pop music. One of these rare albums that sound experimental and accessible at the same time. Especially like the way it is influenced by electronic music from the 70s as in Machine Gun. And The Rip must be one of the best songs ever - great built up.
Great PJ Harvey album, liked it more than the previous three PJH albums (after which I lost interest somewhat).
This album is part of my cd collection, but I am not a big fan of this group. Just like those Jefferson Airplane albums or Joplin solo, the music has classic status, but it is simultaneously a bit boring and exhaustive to listen to: Musically these blues/psychedelic rock songs are not always so interesting (it is not Jimi Hendrix say). On the plus side: once you get into the music again and ignore some of the over-the-top elements, it is not bad of course, and in this case: Piece of my Heart is a perfect example of how an interpretation of a classic song can truly exceed the original version.
Patti Smith made many great albums but this is still her best in every aspect.
Yeah, this is great. Great songs, atmosphere, vocals, harmonies etc etc. Apart from the sounds at the end of CTA-102, I also like the psychedelic rock elements here - think they work well, in contrast to the Cheap Thrills album we had a few days ago. One of my favourite Byrds albums, only like The Notorious Byrd Brothers even more.
At the time I really liked the record, it outlived its stay very quickly though. Catchy yes ..but something is missing. Lyrics are silly for most of the time - I am only happens when it rains (boeie) - even though they got nice references (e.g. to the Jesus & Mary Chain). But it is not that. I will still give it 4 stars for being so catchy, but it is a bit too calculated. I listened to the 20th Anniversary and liked the extra tracks more. The Vic Chesnutt cover is great. The Nelly Hooper remix of no1 crush is so much better than the original - it somehow gets it right and adds the missing element. Original album: 3.5 (best song: Stupid Girl - probably because it is the Clash) 20th anniversary: 4
It is hard to understand that this album is almost 10 years old already. Mixing motorik with Bruce Springsteen. Got several 5* tracks, in particular an ocean in between the waves, which might have been my favourite song from 2014. But the album is a little on the long side: 45 minutes would have been perfect, just like the albums that influenced it.
A small surprise to see this double album from Wilco, probably one of the best American bands from the last 30 years or so. Always liked it, but it is nowhere near A Ghost Is Born or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot..