1001 Albums Summary

Quite 'of its time' in terms of sound, but still utterly lush. Particularly like the Bulgarian choir.

Phenomenal. Somehow cool and warm at the same time. Irresistible soft drum machines complementing Otis's beautiful voice and guitar; gorgeous chord sequences. I love this.

On first listen I find this inconsistent - some of it immediately catches my ear (Canary, Divorce Song, Stratford-on-Guy) and some will likely need repeat listens.

One of my favourite albums of all time. Some moments of complete silliness (Dum Dum Diddle in particular), and a degree of imagination is required to enjoy the ubiquitous Dancing Queen - but Knowing Me Knowing You and the title track mark this as an album of beauty.

Fantastic album I should listen to more.

I love Siouxsie and the general sound of this record but was surprised at how little most of the songs held my attention. Think I'm more of a Creatures kind of person.

Patchy but when it is good it is great. The opening track is an absolute stormer and the title track is possibly the best version of this song I have heard - perhaps even better than Scott Walker's, which I know is a bold claim, but I love the mania that drives it. The Last of the Teenage Idols is an killer album closer.

A beautiful overall sound, if a bit... puritan? I started craving some variation about two thirds of the way through. Inevitable game of 'how do I know this song,' as is always the case with folk. Standout tracks: Silver Dagger, Fare Thee Well, I Know You Rider.

This is so much fun, especially The Rooster Song and It's You I Love.

Hypnotic and haunting; a perfect palette of sounds. Luminous musicians creating space for each other to shine.

A masterpiece.

Haven't listened to it in its entirety for probably 20 years and I suspect I fall into the 'this is overrated' camp. Some of my favourite Beatles songs are here (Julia, Sexy Sadie, Helter Skelter) and I'm a sucker for all the self-referential stuff, but Revolution 9 has to be one of the most pointless and self-indulgent things ever committed to tape. Their sound collage stuff works well as an enhancement to what they are good at (songs!) but doesn't stand up on its own merit - it feels like an overreach. I look forward to listening to this again in 2044.

Dull and dated. If I were being generous I'd say I'm sure a fully sober middle-aged woman listening to this at 7am is not the target audience, but I found it boring in 1995 too. Just makes me want to listen to the Beastie Boys.

Energy, charisma, wit, musical twists and turns. Favourite track: the closing medley.

First impression is that this is great. I need to sit and listen to it again with the lyrics in front of me to get the most out of it (I shall print them out in large font and read them through big reading specs on a chain while sitting in a comfortable chair). But even just going by the music it's such a rich, varied listen.

A wonderful album. Dark, sleazy and beautiful.

A gorgeous album that includes echoes and future echoes of his other work. The drums are visceral. Favourite tracks: TVC15 and Stay.

One of their best.

A fun album.

A very particular sound and aesthetic: pastoral instrumentation, pentatonic melodies, rich vocal harmonies, everything drowned in reverb. They wear their influences on their sleeves. I remember the first time I heard Mykonos and was absolutely stopped in my tracks by how gorgeous it sounded. Nothing on this album grabs me quite the same way; I think it was over-hyped, and they suffered slightly from being lumped in with inferior bands from both sides of the Atlantic (hello, Mumford and Sons). It still sounds great though.

I remember Adams being very hyped at the time this came out, but he always left me cold and it seems nothing has changed. I listened to the first few tracks and then skipped through the rest. So derivative (if I want this kind of music I will listen to The Band, Gram Parsons etc) but without the best elements of its influences. Bland, blaaaand, blaaaaahhhh.

This list. Fuck me. I'm pretty sure even the members of Green Day don't consider this one of the best 1001 albums ever made. I mean, it's fine (Extraordinary Girl and Homecoming are great) but I don't think I would have regretted never listening to it.

Thinking of packing this project in. Life is too short to listen to Metallica

That's more like it