1001 Albums Summary

Full of absolute bangers. Killing in the name, Bullet in the Head and Wake Up being particular standouts

Not exactly my thing but a lot better than I had thought. Very much like the post-Beatles Beatles releases from the anthology series

Love it.

This is brilliant. Never heard it before and loving it.

I thought this was terrific. Bit of Charlotte Gainsbourgh, but of Velvet Underground bit of psychedelia.

Weirdly combines lots of elements I like, country, banjo picking, stoner rock, but it didn’t really click. Maybe needs a few more listens, or just not for me.

I enjoyed this! A bit alarmed at first as the initial track is a bit shouty, but loved the rest of it. Going to listen to again right away.

Bit of a curate’s egg this one. Like the country/bluegrass/blues. Could live without the light jazz/soul.

Superstition obviously brilliant, but the rest aren’t really my scene.

I didn’t much care for this one. I don’t think I’d listen again.

This is BRILLIANT.

Awesome

I didn’t expect this at all. Imagined it would be more like Fairport Convention, but actually a huge mix. Really enjoyed it.

Just couldn’t get into this. Which is odd because I recognise it’s good. Just not for me I guess.

This was a painful listen.

No, it’s just too plastic. I mean, I recognise it’s technically well made but it’s not for me.

I enjoyed this a lot. My kind of funk. And I can see exactly why he sued Rod Stewart.

Very sentimental 70s country.

A bit too much like a soundtrack for a musical for me. But he’s got a great voice and I loved some of the melodies and arrangements.

Brave change of direction, but I admired it more than I enjoyed it.

Lovely, lush and heartfelt. Into My Arms a particular standout.

I enjoyed this but, if I’m honest, they did all start to blend into one after a bit.

It sounds like a half-finished jumble. I know that’s sort of because it was, but it doesn’t really excuse the fact it’s a bit all over the place.

I mean, it’s objectively very good, but not quite my tempo. I think I prefer sad songs to be a bit less bombastic.

I enjoyed this a lot, but wasn’t a huge fan of the lengthy noodling on some tracks.

I can see why some of these made the best of, there are some absolute stormers here. The other tracks are a bit less outstanding, but it was a very pleasant experience.

This is one of those albums where I can admire the musicianship but have to admit it’s just not for me.

This was more varied than I had expected. I’d only heard the singles from The Jam so this was a pleasant surprise.

Bit of a curate’s egg this one. Every time I was just thinking it was dreadful, something really good would happen. I actually ended up listening to it twice in a row because I couldn’t decide what I made of it. Still can’t really.

I thought this would be an easy win - I love Neil Young and CS&N, but I don’t much care for this one. Just a bit noodly and directionless. I like Hung Upside Down - sounds like the sort of track that pre-empts a lot of the 90s indie I like.

My favourite bits sounded like a noisier Stereolab, the rest just sounded noisy

Fascinating and funky. Bit inconsistent though - I wasn’t a huge fan of the slower numbers.

I like their magpie-like approach in terms of influence, with a bit of kinks here, but of pink floyd there, but of the lovin’ spoonful and all that. Not sure it all gels though - I think this was an album of early promise rather than a classic. They got more interesting and assured later on. Some great songs on here though, but mainly the singles: Strange Ones, Alright, Caught by the Fuzz.

I remember this album from when it was released back at the fag end of the 80s. I love Fisherman’s Blues, the song, in particular and had always rather dismissed the rest but on a play through all these years later (2022) it really stands up. I’m not a huge fan of the cover of Sweet Thing, but that’s in part because the original is one of my all time favourite songs. Surprised by how much I enjoyed this.

Bit of a struggle this one. It’s not that it’s bad exactly, just not that remarkable. Maybe if I’d heard it at a formative age? But listening now it just sounds like so many other bands pop-punking it up. Maybe these guys nailed the sound that others have copied? I don’t know but don’t really care enough to find out.

Cracking drumming and some great riffs but we’re edging into prog territory here with the extended jazzy solos and keyboard interludes. So ultimately not my thing. But fun for a listen.

Loved this. I’ve been a fan of Neil You g for a while, but I’m a bit wary of live albums as I think sometimes you just had to be there. Anyway, turns out that I’m an idiot, because this is great.

The title song aside I found this a difficult listen.

Just goes on a bit really.

I enjoyed Won’t Trade. The rest left me a little cold.

Nice, but not hugely memorable.

I liked Kowalski and I like the vibe. Very Lost Highway kind of feel. Not sure I’d go back to it again though, as not much stood out for me.

Love love love this album. My favourite by Blondie, and every track a winner.

Not really for me.

Tremendous

Just about as perfect as it gets.

Some outstanding but some fillers.

Really enjoyed this. Made me read up on Lynn and, Trump aside, she sounds amazing.

Took me a couple of listens but I think I might be beginning to enjoy this. I think.

Love The The. This isn’t my favourite album, not least cos of the 80sness of it, but it’s full of gems.

Singles=awesome, rest=yeah, ok

I remember it well. Good stuff.

I found Fred’s vocal style a bit distancing - is theatrical the word? But there are lovely melodies here. Some put me in mind of the eponymous Velvet Underground album, in terms of the musical approach rather than the lyrics. Some were more of the Andy Williams kind of vibe, or maybe more Neil Diamond.

I liked this - a ‘proper’ bit of country with all the cheatin’ fightin’ and lovin’ you could ask for.

Such a weird and amazing album

This is tremendous. Gets a bit samesy in parts, but the good bits are ace.

Better than I remembered but still not really my thing. Hunting High and Low (the song) was ace. I could see why they ended up doing a Bond track.

I love this album so much. Suzanne’s voice is just stunning, and these melodies are just a huge part of my growing up. It’s genuinely Proustian - takes me back to teenage crushes and (longed for) romance. Just ace.

Maybe it’s just because I came to these after the originals, but I just find them a bit more ponderous and leaden than the Astrud Gilberto/Joao Gilberto/Stan Getz/Antonio Carlos Jobim recordings. Ultimately, just made me want to go back and listen to Astrud again, which was a pleasure as always.

Well nigh perfect album

This feels like proto-Queen. All the individual bits we there but it hasn’t quite coalesced. Still great musicianship and I enjoyed it, but they got better I think.

Bloody hell this was hard work. Some thing too strained about its reach for otherness. I’m quite partial to some varieties of vocal noodling but not, it would appear, to Wild Beasts’ approach. Set my teeth on edge. Maybe they’d take that as a compliment?

I liked this! As someone else on this site noted, some of it is a bit like an acoustic Pixies, some more folky. I think it might need a few listens to get the hang of it, but there’s lots here to like.

I love this album, Graceland in particular. He has a real knack of couching deeply moving/upsetting/profound ideas in beautifully melodic songs.

The title song has become so familiar it’s easy to forget what a blinder it is. And balls to those who say he can’t sing about this kind of stuff cos he was a millionaire. There’s a clarity of sentiment and a simplicity that hits you regardless of whether it was composed in a mansion or a bungalow. Anyway, that aside, this is one of the most consistently brilliant albums of this Beatle I reckon. Love it love it love it.

A great album, full of such life and character. Heartbreaking how it all ended for Amy.

I like a bit of ska, me. I admire this more than I like it though. Maybe you just had to be there? I could see it being groundbreaking at the time.

Tedious

It seems as though this album will never end. It must end at some point, right? it’s at times like this I review the choices that have led me to this project.

I love this album. For me, Out of Time is the favourite but this is still incredible stuff.

This album just came and went really. Nothing very memorable about it aside from occasionally being irritated.

Five stars aren’t enough

Mostly good, raw garage punk fun, but also some rather forgettable ones.

This is pretty much exactly what I expected. Unfortunately.

Brutal 80s beats and synths are a rough ride for me at the best of times. More to admire here than to enjoy.

I shall be so pathetically happy when contemporary music moves away from being inspired by the 80s. I hate, hate, hate the sound of soft synths and crappy 80s beats. I know the day will come, but it just can’t come soon enough.

Black Magic Woman definitely the highlight for me

Lush arrangements and wonderful voice, but not a particularly great song selection if you ask me. Not that anyone ever does.

Starts well but the orchestrated parts are so pompous and overly grandiose. They only really serve to highlight the paucity of the music at the root. A bit like being stuffed in front of the Phantom of the Opera against your will.

Nice

I hadn’t listened to this in years, despite being a fan back in the day. I was delighted by how well is stands up. A marriage of sexy vocals, tightly constrained distortion and quality hooks. The Tricky remix of Milk is well worth seeking out.

I had no idea how well I would know this album. I’m not an aficionado when it comes to dance music so it must have just been via osmosis over the years. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected, in particular the slower tracks, but overall it was great. Will listen again for definite.

Too much light jazz, too much in the way of wavery vocal stylings. It’s just a bit insipid for me. Maybe it’s a grower? I do have a soft spot for 60s/70s Californian folk. First listen not auspicious though.

Don’t doubt the commitment here, but not my bag. Give me Soungarden over this.

This was a better listen than I expected. I remember Aphex Twin being huge with my druggier, less boozy friends back in the day. Turns out they were on to something.

I love this era of the Stones, all honky tonk and blues.

My goodness I enjoyed this. Not least from a nostalgic point of view as I played this incessantly in my early teens. A really interesting mix of heavy metal, punk and prog. Phantom of the Opera just rules.

Just golden. What a voice. What arrangements. Another review on here mentioned how despite all the work and expertise this sounds absolutely effortless.

I love this album. The honesty and sadness in the bluesy title track is a particular stand out.

Just not for me. Feels relentless but not in a good way.

Nice.

This was a bit of a treat. It’s one of my all time favourite albums so no real hardship popping it on. Such a perfect album and such an era-defining one to boot. Beatles-y psychedelic pop hooks, Squires making it all sound effortless, Mani and Reni bringing the backbeat, particularly stunning at the end of Resurrection, and Brown’s laid back vocals just sounding cooler than cool. Just ace.

Rather a silly album I thought.

Just a beautiful, beautiful album.

Solid 4 from me. I think more listens might have bumped it up to a 5 but I’ve still got about 800 albums to go so that might have to wait. There Goes the Fear an absolute standout.

Good stuff. Not too memorable, but I think I probably should have listened to it when it came out and I was considerably younger.

I always used to think this was the better of their first two albums. I’m beginning to doubt myself but it’s still an absolute belter. 5 stars all the way.

This was tremendous. Aretha on spectacular form here alongside some really tight arrangements, funky guitar and her own bluesy, soulful piano. Just about every track is a stone cold classic. Love it.

This is the first time I’ve played a full album by George Michael, I’ve always been aware of his music but mainly just the singles. This is an odd one. Bit of a hodge podge of influences/styles like he’s still finding his feet. Some sound a bit Madonna-y, some a bit Frankie Goes to Hollywood-y, some a bit INXS-y. I love Faith though. Top pop.

As much as I love Enter Sandman, I found the rest of these very samesy and boring.

Echoes of Animals-era Floyd are interesting, and they have a good ear for a hook. Feels a bit bitty though, with even some of the songs sounding like a couple of melodies have been half completed and then shoved together. I liked it all the same.

One of my all-time favourites. Particularly like Goodnight Ladies.

I feel as though I might finally be approaching the right age for Steely Dan. I always found it too noodly and soft jazzy in my younger years, but now I’m in my dotage it’s a lot more appealing. I like the ironic detachment, self awareness and I admire the musicianship, Not quite sure when I’d listen to it again, but I did enjoy it.

This was good fun, but not very memorable. Scouse Git is still great, but the rest are a bit of a blur. I think if I was going to pick a Monkees album I’d go for a best of over this, even though it’s a cop out. Interesting it was a contemporary of Sgt Pepper.

Bit of a struggle, this one.

Lovely album. It was a way in for me to jazz, which was always quite a challenging genre to find access to.

I like Peter Gabriel but found this tedious and scattershot. Yeah Solsbury Hill is very good, but there’s not much else here I’d want to listen to again. I know Here Comes the Flood is much revered but I just found it a bit over dramatic and pompous.

Had its moments, but this slickly produced soul style isn’t really my bag. Plus, it reminds me a lot of the eighties which was full of rip offs of this sound.

I really enjoyed this album. I was familiar with the singles but hadn’t really listened to them closely before so was struck by the sadness in Fast Car, for example. It’s a thoughtful, righteously indignant and poignant collection. As others have pointed out, that revolution never came, and the issues of race, poverty and inequality feel, if anything, even more entrenched. So, of its time and yet contemporary, softly spoken and yet angry.

Tricky one to review objectively as it’s all tangled up with my childhood. That said I could never stand Walk of Life, and that hasn’t changed. I like the noirish storytelling, dislike some of the more 80s production, find Brothers in Arms moving however much I try to maintain some semblance of cynicism and that barely controlled while at the same time completely under control guitar sound on Money for Nothing still sends me.

I like the production on this, bass to the fore, which reminded me a little of Morcheeba. However, it’s a very samesy album otherwise, I didn’t come away with any sense of individual tracks, just a mood. Ok, but nothing memorable.

Not as much fun as I thought it would be. I like Sheryl’s voice and I’ve always had a soft spot for All I Wanna Do but aside from Run Baby Run I wasn’t too struck by anything else on this one.

So much to love here. I’d forgotten how great this album is. The riffs! The operatics! It feels like a mad jumble of brightly coloured rags and mirrors and yet the musicianship is unquestionable. Ace.

Pump it Up and Chelsea are bangers but the rest just went on a bit I thought.

Great vocals and a mellow vibe but I was getting impatient about half way through.

I like me a bit of bluegrass and love these harmonies.

Really enjoyed this one. Melodies are light as air but extremely catchy.

That was…interesting. I knew Sure Shot and Sabotage pretty well, and I was surprised the album wasn’t just more of the same. It’s an impressive array of styles and influences, but on a first listen through it seemed a bit chaotic and unfocused. I think I admire it, but I’m not sure I’d venture much beyond the singles in the future.

Not my favourite Dylan album, but there’s no doubting the raw power of it. And Don’t Think Twice always gives me goosebumps.

I couldn’t find this exact album anywhere but played a load of Fats’ songs and love em to bits.

When I first heard this, many years back, I assumed it was a greatest hits collection as there were so many greats. Such a weird blend of laid back vocal and funky beats over a sort of half-understandable social commentary. And I don’t mean that as a negative. The overall feeling is of hedonistic cynicism and all the contradiction that entails.

Loads of elements I like but the way they’re mixed here just doesn’t work for me. Admirable stuff, but I don’t think I’d listen again.

It’s nice, melodic and I do like Travis, but I don’t think it’s all that memorable.

I listened to this years ago, clicked ‘Since I Left You’ and then rather disintegrated rest as a ragbag of plastic soul. Which turned out to be unfair as this is a lovely, summery cocktail of an album. Maybe veering a bit towards the cheesy on occasion, but it’s just made with such obvious pleasure and the desire to give pleasure. Sunshine for the ears.

After a promising start this drifted a bit I thought. I like Abba, but I still reckon their best album is always going to be a greatest hits compilation.

I don’t think this is a bad album exactly, it’s just not for me. To entirely fail to coin a phrase, I love rock n roll, but this is just consistently not quite my jam. I get why Eddie V’s vocals are loved, and he sounds like a very nice chap in real life, but they’re just a bit grating for me. The rest of the band feel like they’re somewhere between Jeff Buckley’s backing band and Soundgarden, both of which I like very much, but still…I just don’t much care for this. Sort of frustrating really, as I can’t quite pinpoint what’s bugging me.

There are times when listening to Coldplay makes me think of hurtling through the sky, wide-eyed and every nerve tingling. Sometimes the songs are heartbreaking. Speaking of which, this album would get 4 stars from me on the strength of The Scientist alone.

Pleasant enough, but I think that under normal circumstances just one track would do. A little goes a long way.

I enjoyed this very much. I love this era of Fairport Convention and Sandy Denny’s voice is amazing.

I mean, America alone is 5 stars.

Enjoyed this but not quite sure when I’d listen to it again. It’s like a less friendly Buena Vista Social Club.

Not as bad as I expected from the cover, but still this really isn’t my bag.

I thought I really liked Jimi Hendrix but it turns out I really like The Best Of Jimi Hendrix. There’s some sublime stuff here but it’s buried under endless jazzy noodling.

It’s better than I remember it from my first listen back in the 90s, but to my ears it’s a bit self-important. I like my gloom, but find this a bit too heart-on-sleeve. Probably just my repressed, Brit mentality, but it means this is (to me) worthy rather than particularly affecting.

I like Tom Waits when he’s in Blue Valentine mode, but this is just too much for me. I find it hard to follow when it’s tuneless and overly melodramatic when it’s tuneful. Not my bag.

I thought I knew my Beck, but this album eluded me. I liked it! As others mentioned, shades of Odelay, but with some of the poppier sensibilities that were to come with Colors. Definitely one to return to.

Bold to open with their biggest song, and it’s a cracking rendition. The drumming throughout is amazing, real powerhouse stuff, but it all blended together a little after a while. I think I’d need a few more listens to get the hang of the songs and differentiate them.

I enjoyed this. A right rollicking bit of Americana and rock n roll. The longer tracks like Jawbone, Unfaithful Servant and King Harvest were a bit tedious but the rest is jaunty enough drinking music.

It was nice to hear this album again after some time has passed. It was just everywhere for a while there and I got a bit tired of it. It's artfully made, incredibly catchy and surprisingly melancholic in places. When I was first playing it, Buena Vista Social Club was also a big thing and I was on holiday in Scotland, so Play also makes me think of Cuba and the Isle of Skye. Which is nice.

Nightmare more like

Love this. It’s not my favourite St Etienne album, that’s ‘So Tough’, but I really enjoyed it. A playful blend of samples, 60s style and infectious pop hooks, this manages that delicate balancing act of coolness/self awareness with heart on sleeve fun. I’m particularly fond of Nothing Can Stop Us Now.

This one caught me out. I’m not a fan of The Beach Boys despite having had several goes at trying to get into Pet Sounds. This earlier recording was actually relatively more musically simplistic, but I thought this worked in the album’s favour, since they’re not exactly songs of great philosophy or depth. Light and frothy and, although still too full of sunshine for this morbid Brit, this was an unexpectedly pleasant listen.

Well, what’s not to love here really. Personal favourites are the chilling and atmospheric Riders On The Storm, the bluesy shuffle of Cars Hiss By My Window and Hyacinth House: with its refrains of ‘Why did you throw the jack of hearts away? It was the only card in the deck that I had left to play’ and the infinite sadness of ‘I need someone, yeah, who doesn’t need me’

Possibly my all time favourite Dylan album. Rough, beautiful, melancholy, surreal and caustic in equal measure. Helps that the tunes are bangers too of course.

Impressive musicianship, but not really my bag tunes-wise.

I wasn’t that taken with this one. I like a fair bit of Goldfrapp’s work, so was looking forward to it, but found it a bit less striking and a bit more generic than expected.

I spent about four years in a garage punk band where we played a cover of Strychnine at about twice this speed and with half the ability. It introduced me to this incredible band and I’ve loved this album ever since. It’s a proper raw, fuzzy, distorted blast of glorious noise and I recommend it wholeheartedly. 10 out of 5 from me.

Yes to Beat It, Thriller and Billie Jean, the rest can go and jump in the sea.

Really enjoyed this. It’s good time music; raucous and raw.

Yeah, no.

Despite having been there at the time, I’m not a huge fan of the 80s. The tinny drumming and synth that kicks off the title track just makes me unutterably miserable, so even though I’ll allow it’s not the paean to America I had thought it was as a kid, it still sounds dreadful. That keyboard riff is so repetitive and strident I want to chew my own face off. And then Glory Days goes and does ‘da da DA da, da da DA da’ which just drives me insane. It’s like Dire Straits’ execrable Walk of Life but somehow worse. Anyway. I liked Cover Me. But not much else. Friends tell me if you see The Boss live you get it, but this is not live and I did not get it.

I had no idea this existed, but it’s great. Loving it.

This is a very silly album and I think it’s great.

My favourite of all the Velvets’. It walks that difficult line between romanticism and jaded cynicism, perhaps After Hours the best example of this in a literal sense. Pale Blue Eyes and Candy Says are masterpieces and if they’d bunged Stephanie Says on there as well it would have been the Strawberry Fields cherry on the Lonely Hearts Club cake. As Matt Johnson said of Mind Bomb, this is one to play very late, very loud and very alone.

I like the shoegaze element more now I’m in my dotage than I ever did at the time. There’s something hypnotic and compulsive about it. That thing where chords are deliberately manipulated to drift in and out of key really, really sets my teeth on edge. So a big of a mixed bag for me. Glad I heard it, not sure I’ll go back to it.

This was a real surprise. I’d thought Talk Talk was a synthy 80s pop band, but this is big, bold, beautiful stuff. First listen was amazing and I think it’s likely to be a real grower.

Good fun! I love me some Atlantic Soul but had somehow managed to overlook Solomon Burke, although I recognised quite a few tracks when I had a listen through.

Enjoyable if a bit dated. Walk This Way still an absolute banger.

I like some of the Black Keys songs but this album was interminable and I was relieved when it finished, which isn’t really what you want is it.

I rejected The Divine Comedy as a novelty act, a bit of tongue-in-cheek, loungecore cheese, thanks to this album. A great friend of mine who is a huge DC fan later introduced me to the track Our Mutual Friend on a later album (Absent Friends). It absolutely blew me away and I now have huge respect for the band. Doesn’t change the fact that I can’t stand this album though.

I love the singles but the rest left me a bit cold.

I think this is ok.

There’s a fair bit of Clapton’s work that I really love, and that’s despite his own personal behaviour which sounds relentlessly toxic. However, this was the first time I’d tried this album and just found it unfocused, indulgent and boldly. If I was to hazard a guess, I’d say this is probably the result of band members having ready access to a huge amount of cocaine. Aggressively average, despite all the talent in the room.

Brilliant. No notes really, it’s a sleek, black arrow to the heart.

Energy fools the Magician made me think of incidental music from a 70s detective show.

I think this album’s worst sin is that for all its aggressive posturing it’s just really dull.

Really enjoyed this, although it wasn’t new to me. If ever you wondered what Queen would sound like covering Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti western soundtracks with Thom Yorke on guest vocals, then you’re in for a treat. I would love to see this lot live - must be epic.

We’re than I remembered. I’d always liked the rockabilly of Brand New Cadillac but found Strummer’s vocals a bit grating over a whole album. Well, more fool younger me as it’s an album full of playful musicianship and righteous anger. Just clicked for me on this playthrough, not sure why. Good stuff.

I remember this one fondly. I really liked Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine, and it’s still a terrific opening track. Unlike the rest of the world I wasn’t too smitten with Brightside, but really dug Somebody Told Me. Outside of those tracks though, I can take it or leave it, album-wise.

Lovely. Disappointing to read of Getz’s treatment of Astrud Gilberto as the songs with her lead owe so much to her contribution. Still though, a breezy, cool little burst of sunshine of an album.

A bit slow and swampy for my taste, but I admire it all the same.

Couldn’t get hold of this one. From the reviews I’ve read that’s probably a blessing.

Enjoyed this a lot.