207
Albums Rated
3.11
Average Rating
19%
Complete
882 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1980
Favorite Decade
Rock
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
22
5-Star Albums
8
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lazer Guided Melodies
Spiritualized
|
5 | 2.92 | +2.08 |
|
Another Green World
Brian Eno
|
5 | 3.12 | +1.88 |
|
The Sensual World
Kate Bush
|
5 | 3.17 | +1.83 |
|
Selling England By The Pound
Genesis
|
5 | 3.18 | +1.82 |
|
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Pavement
|
5 | 3.24 | +1.76 |
|
Entertainment
Gang Of Four
|
5 | 3.25 | +1.75 |
|
Daydream Nation
Sonic Youth
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
|
The Downward Spiral
Nine Inch Nails
|
5 | 3.34 | +1.66 |
|
Either Or
Elliott Smith
|
5 | 3.39 | +1.61 |
|
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
|
5 | 3.41 | +1.59 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
25
Adele
|
1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
|
Make Yourself
Incubus
|
1 | 3.07 | -2.07 |
|
Wild Gift
X
|
1 | 3 | -2 |
|
Cosmo's Factory
Creedence Clearwater Revival
|
2 | 3.91 | -1.91 |
|
Picture Book
Simply Red
|
1 | 2.88 | -1.88 |
|
Destroyer
KISS
|
1 | 2.86 | -1.86 |
|
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Raekwon
|
1 | 2.85 | -1.85 |
|
Green River
Creedence Clearwater Revival
|
2 | 3.77 | -1.77 |
|
Kid A
Radiohead
|
2 | 3.71 | -1.71 |
|
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
|
2 | 3.61 | -1.61 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 5 | 4.4 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Leonard Cohen | 3 | 2 |
5-Star Albums (22)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Simply Red · 24 likes
1/5
The funny thing is listening to this album, it was even worse than I expected it to be.
There have been some dubious selections so far which make me question the validity of the 1001 albums but this takes the biscuit. I refuse to believe that this is one of the 1001 greatest albums ever made.
If you Google 'Best albums of 1985' you get lists with some great albums, none of which are by Simply Red.
SAULT · 10 likes
4/5
In this day and age, "Sault eschew interaction with the media, they have never played a live show, given an interview or released a music video in support of their music and features an array of unnamed collaborators," is an astonishing sentence.
Been on my list of things to get around to listening to for ages
Doves · 9 likes
2/5
I can probably think of plenty of UK albums that deserving of making this list that probably aren't be the time it ends. Maybe not quite landfill indie but on the road to the tip.
Beatles · 6 likes
5/5
Any time I listen to the Beatles I'm never not astounded that they existed for such a short period, pulled songs out of the ether as it was nothing, released them on records year-after-year, and we're still talking about them more than 50 years after they split up. And that McCartney was still in his 20s when they split.
This should probably lose points for 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' and 'Why Don't We Do It In the Road'. It's a far easier job to name the worst Beatles songs than the best songs.
Worth listening to the extended version for the 'Esher Demos'
Missy Elliott · 6 likes
2/5
Another week, another overlong hip hop album with too many songs and skits. Is there any point in the making of these albums where someone pipes up that maybe 17 songs is too many and 10 or 12 is more than enough.
Some good stuff, a lot of average, the Busta Rhymes intros/outros are embarrassingly bad as is 'Missy's Finale', where she thanks the people who worked on the album.
Same time next week?
1-Star Albums (8)
All Ratings
Pink Floyd
4/5
groan of disappointment that this was the first album to come up. I guess I was hoping for something new and/or different, not an album I've listened to a million times over the last 35 years. Teenage me loved this album but it's one of my least favourite PF albums now. Back then this and WYWH were my favourites by a long way, these days DSotM is the one I listen to the most, I really enjoy Animals, have started to like TFC a lot more than I did. I've always been ok with the post-Waters stuff, possibly because I didn't have the history. There's some great stuff on this though, esp Side 3 (Hey You to Comfortably Numb) and Side 1 is also good but at times it's patchy.
Johnny Cash
3/5
I listened to the 'legacy' edition as per the album cover photo even though it's a 2006 version and possibly not the 'original' album that made the 1001 list. I think this was one of those albums I listened to once or twice because I'd never listened to it but it has the reputation. I know it's a live album but there's a lot of talking.... it would be better if it was tighter overall rather than being something more akin to a historical artifact. The legacy version is 1 hr 40 minutes, more than an hour longer than the 34 minute original (even if it doe have San Quentin played twice in a row). Also the crop of the photos for the Legacy version is pretty terrible and the orig cover photo wasn't that great to start with. I think this is the problem with all the expanded/box sets that became a thing, so much is unecessary and doesn't add a lot. After a listen or two you just end up skipping all the filler. Plus it often detracts from the original album. I'd give it 2.5 stars overall if I could, more if they edited it better.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
We listen to this in the car a lot (along with the rest of the B&S back catalogue). Having gotten used to how it sounds over terrible speakers with the drone of traffic in the background, it's surprising how rich it sounds over headphones via iTunes. I think I gave to my wife on vinyl for a Christmas present a few years ago. We've seen the band a bunch of times, including at ATP Minehead (Bowlie 2), talked about going to the Boatie w/e cruise in the Med, and have talked about going to the next one (if borders are open, the stars align etc). Good album.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Now this was the sort of thing I was hoping for from this generator, something that fills in some of the large gaps, something I probably should have listened to by now.
With that drumming, fat bass and the wah guitar, you know within 20 seconds that it's going to be a classic, even before anyone sings. The female vocals are what makes it. Some songs are better than others, I lost a bit of interest in the middle but pretty good overall.
Eels
4/5
I've got this on CD somewhere I think, possibly in my parent's attic. Always had a soft spot for it, has some interesting songs on it, interesting structures and sounds. Bit of a shame they were never as good live. Songs that bring back good memories of my life in 1996, which was one of my very favourite times.
4/5
Is there still grand ambition in music? You listen to that orchestral intro to 'Show Me' and it's the sound of someone wanting to make a big impression. This continues throughout. Has the death of people paying for music meant minimising time spent in the studio working on songs and the halcyon days of the 1980s of throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the mix are long gone? As a 1982 album, the singles from the album are songs on the radio and Top Of The Pops from when I was first becoming aware of music. Over the years. those singles (Poison Arrow and Look of Love) have been diminished somewhat due to over-familiarisation and use in adverts. I've never listened to the album in full but it really works together as a body of work. An album of its era but you have to admire the craft from the Art of Noise people.
Tangerine Dream
2/5
After The Lexicon of Love (which has been on constant for more than the day that was allowed), this just feels really boring. I always struggle with music that doesn't go anywhere. It wasn't on iTunes and only the remixed/extended 2 hrs 35 mins version is on Spotify. The first song is more than 17.5 mins. Wikipedia tells me the original album is just the four songs. I'm sure it's important in the development of electronica and ambient music....but 12 mins in to that first song and nothing much has happened. Noodling for stoners
1/5
A million years ago (1994) I was in Seattle for 9 days at the same time Bumbershoot was on. It was $9 per day although if you wanted to see X and Sunny Day Real Estate, neither of who I knew, it was a separate $10 ticket. So obviously I didn't go to see them and instead saw Penn & Teller be amazing doing loads of slight of hand in a small theatre and Richard Thompson (with Danny Thompson on double bass) basically playing on the pavement for $9. And some random stuff I've long since forgotten about although I do have a t-shirt in a bin bag in my parent's attic in the UK. Anyway, I moved to Australia and there's a completely different band called X who I'd never heard of either. I've seen the Australian X and they were pretty good. The US band are a bit punk-by-numbers years after this type of punk was in fashion everywhere else. It doesn't even really have memorable songs/hooks/melodies etc and is all a bit plodding 4/4. It feels a lot longer than its 32 minutes, never a good sign when about half the songs are less than 2 minutes.
Kate Bush
5/5
The most extravagant thing I've ever done is fly to the UK to see Kate Bush twice in a week back in 2014. It's not The Hounds of Love or The Dreaming but there's a lot of good things on this album.
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this album. The B-side (starting with 'Deeper Understanding') is a go to but I often skip the patchier A-side.
There's something about the "mmm, yes" at the start of the title track, the whole song is one of my favourite vocals of hers.
'Love and Anger' is interesting but after this the first side gets increasingly patchy. 'The Fog' is ok, 'Reaching Out' is a bit of a nothing song and 'Heads We're Dancing' is one of the worst songs she's ever released.
The second side is a different story though, some of the very best of her songs - 'Deeper Understanding', 'Never Be Mine', 'Rocket's Tail, 'This Woman's Work' plus the tacked on B-side 'Walk Straight Down The Middle' included on the CD version.
I was originally excited hearing about 'The Director's Cut', anticipating she was taking the worst songs from this album and 'The Red Shoes' and making something of them. Instead she took the best songs from both albums and made them worst.
Not her best but up there. Would probably give 4.5 stars but have no problem rounding up to the full 5.
Yes
4/5
Back in the day, there used to be a really good second hand record shop called Catapilla in Exeter, where a lot of my albums came from during the period when everyone was moving to CD and ditching their vinyl. This still has the price label on it, I think it was UKP3.99.
It's one of my favourite Yes albums, there might be some long songs but it has more direction than some of the albums that come after it. Probably because Tony Kaye wanted to keep things simple and Rick Wakeman (who replaced him) obviously didn't (and was brought in to be more expansive).
Never quite sure if I like Jon Anderson's voice but it works better in the harmonies and always love Chris Squire's bass.
The Beach Boys
2/5
Today has made me realise that at some point 'Pet Sounds', aka the world's most overrated album, is going to pop up for me to listen to. I can never quite put my finger on why I struggle to like it. Nice harmonies for sure, but the actual songs were never that good. It always seems that the people who praise it are doing so for the technicalities but the same people always seem to hate technical ability in other music. This is more of the same, but with some terrible lyrics and sounding very muzak at times. This album could only have come out in the very early 70s. The title track is ok in a bunch of harmonies tacked together to form a song way.
Earth, Wind & Fire
2/5
I tried. The funk stuff, sure but a big "Nope" to the cliched 70s syrupy ballads.
Machito
3/5
Similar to C&W and Bob Dylan, I think at some point you reach an age when jazz becomes a genre of interest. It's there, there's a lot of it, it's been around for decades, lots of people like it, there must be something in it, right? Spending time in Japan also probably helped plant the seed as jazz is the choice of background music everywhere you go.
In the last few years I've had the likes of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and more playing when at work. It's not a something to have purely as background noise but more for the typing groove purposes.
Despite never having heard of Machito before today, I could see myself listening to this more regularly as an audio aid to pumping out a bunch of lengthy reports.
Stan Getz
3/5
A second day in a row of jazz. What really stands out is how good this sounds, everything is so clear. That fade in on the first track is also unexpected. Nice.
Suede
4/5
I had an extended Suede streaming session earlier in the year. As with many bands of that era, I'd lost touch with them but discovered their last album, 'The Blue Hour', which is excellent (and highly recommended if you haven't heard it.)
I had all the initial EPs that came out before the album so at the time it felt like I'd already heard a large chunk of the album. I think I like this album even more than I did back when it first came out.
The album of theirs I listen to most often is Sci-Fi Lullabies, which has always shown they left many of their best songs off this album.
Seen the band a bunch of times over the years, including their first tour (still have The Drowners t shirt, it's not as white as it used to be) and a fan club show at the Electric Ballroom, that I can't remember how we got into. They played all of the just released/about to be released 'A New Morning' and then did a random greatest hits set where they got people out from the audience to spin a big wheel with the song names on it. Great show, good times.
Can't believe this is going to be 30 years old next year. Was Bernard Butler the last British guitar hero?
Jethro Tull
2/5
Joy Division
4/5
Is there anything else to write about this? These songs have been omnipresent in my life for most of it. It's good. I can't imagine Ian Curtis discovering ecstasy and making a record like 'Technique' (maybe I would have been surprised) so a fairly limited discography helps permeate the myth. Great cover art though.
PS I hate this website's UI. Why is it so hard to use? I was going to write some words about Jethro Tull's 'Aqualung' but rated it before adding comments and it won't let me go back to revise it.
So anyway, I was having a prog moment a couple of months back and had a listen to 'Aqualung' and 'Thick of Brick' as part of the albums-I've-never listened-to-but-probably should. There's some interesting things going on by the band, almost a folky Black Sabbath, but it's just a bit too hey nonny nonny for me. Would I have liked this more as a teenager? Perhaps.
Willie Nelson
4/5
For as long as I remember, from when I first started reading music magazines, the man/myth/legend of Willie Nelson, the pro-weed stance, the legal issues, his politics, has been written about more than the actual music. One of those people whose public persona overwhelms everything else, even the thing that made them famous in the first place.
Have I heard a Willie Nelson song before? I think so, probably, in passing. Have I ever sat and listened to one of his albums from start to finish and then repeated the process a few more times because what I'm hearing is so good? Not until this very point in time.
I like my C&W sparse, downbeat, and full of misery. Just like this.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
I was in the car recently and triple j played NWA. It was probably the most exciting thing I've heard on triple j in at least the last decade. It was startling to hear how fresh, vibrant and exciting it still sounded. It still sounded like the future.
It's pretty much the same experience listening to 'Raising Hell'.
Lauryn Hill
3/5
I like this but would like it more if it wasn't 77 minutes and 16 songs. Most of the songs are in the 5 - 6 minute range. In isolation, each songs is good but it becomes a bit of a chore to listen to it all.
It still has some of the hip hop tropes I hate; all the uh-uh-uhs, yo-yo-yos, skits, etc. Some of the ballads are very syrupy in a bad 1970s way.
The personnel credits are something; so many people. Fun fact: album includes Frank Dunnery from It Bites.
It's some culling and editing away from being a much better album.
3/5
That album cover, that title. That voice though. At times a bit too honky tonk, the ballads are the best.
Imagine what they would say about a 28 minute album in the reviews if this was released today.
Simon & Garfunkel
2/5
Everyone and their parents love Simon & Garfunkel. It didn't bridge the generation gap in my case though. I've always been left trying to work out the fervent levels of reverence.
'Save The Life of My Child' not being what I expected makes it really jarring and odd, more what you'd expect from some weird late 60s prog band. Similarly 'Voices of Old People' - which is exactly that, tape recordings of old people talking for two minutes - is just bizarre.
Elsewhere its sounds like expected, acoustic and folky with some nice orchestration. The 'Mrs Robinson' and 'A Hazy Shade of Winter' singles are the most immediate of the 12 songs
Fleetwood Mac
2/5
It's seems funny that back when I was a lad, this album had a terrible reputation. But even with the huge sale numbers for 'Rumours', and as with a lot of those late 70s soft rock/AOR/MOR band, I can recall Fleetwood Mac being regarded as very uncool and naff, a relic of the outdated music from the previous decade. 'Tango In The Night' reestablished them but even after 1987, they didn't have the reputation they have now. The full reappraisal of the Mac is a relatively recent event.
Over the 20 songs it's good, bad, ugly, totally incoherent and generally all over the place. It unsurprisingly sounds an album that was heavily influenced by a very large mountain of cocaine.
Having said that Lindsay Buckingham never gets the credit her deserves - for both his songwriting and his guitar playing. The Twilight Singers version of his "What Makes You Think You're the One" is far superior though.
Wu-Tang Clan
2/5
I always find this a strange listen. It's ok but never fully grabs me but everyone else loves it.
28 years old? I guess I was still going through my grunge phase? Tell you what I did love at this time - The Disposable Heroes of Hypocrisy.
1992's 'Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury' still sounds more vital than this. Shame Franti decided he wanted to be reborn as the new Bob Marley.
Neil Young
4/5
Not the best of Neil Young's album in the 1970s but the bar is pretty high and it's still pretty good, especially the title track and the closing 'Ambulance Blues'.
Beatles
5/5
Any time I listen to the Beatles I'm never not astounded that they existed for such a short period, pulled songs out of the ether as it was nothing, released them on records year-after-year, and we're still talking about them more than 50 years after they split up. And that McCartney was still in his 20s when they split.
This should probably lose points for 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' and 'Why Don't We Do It In the Road'. It's a far easier job to name the worst Beatles songs than the best songs.
Worth listening to the extended version for the 'Esher Demos'
The Mars Volta
2/5
I audibly groaned as soon as the screen refreshed and this loaded after voting for the last album ('The White Album/The Beatles').
Maybe not as bad as I remembered but so much wailing.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
Strange album. Bunch of 2 minute songs and then an 11 minute cover of 'Heard It Through The Grapevine' that goes on forever.
Sigur Rós
2/5
I remember seeing SR play a festival (Harvest) and finding them boring and too earnest while everyone was on the verge of tears. I want to like them...
I think it's the vocals that puts me off. It's too choir boy. The made-up language stuff makes it all a bit D&D cosplay, which doesn't help either.
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
Saw them back in '93 (with Tool supporting) at a show that got upgraded from a 550 cap room to a 1,500 venue. It was so good.
Every few days I wind up thinking "We need a band like RATM now." Does this album ever go out of fashion?
Sparks
2/5
I bought this and the 'Propaganda' follow-up on vinyl for very little money during the great vinyl purge of the early to mid 1990s.
I've never listened much to either album. They're a bit too much on the showtunes side of glam for me.
Elliott Smith
5/5
Oh man...
I love Elliott Smith but it's impossible not to feel a profound sense of sadness every time, in every song. Has there ever been anyone who has this affect? I think I get a bit of the same feeling listening to David McComb but not on the Elliott Smith level.
Wonderful and heartbreaking and beautiful and despairing.
Fever Ray
4/5
Good album, good memories of the times.
Is still an interesting and inventive listen
Raekwon
1/5
Meh.
A bit like that recent Wu Tang album but less interesting and even more like a couple of stoners mumbling over some beats.
The Kinks
4/5
An old favourite. Good enough to make you forgive them for their role in Britpop. 'Waterloo Sunset' is one of the all-time greats
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
I was a late getting into Nick Cave and this is where I entered.
Driving across the Nullarbor in the late afternoon, chasing the sun, windows down to compensate for the lack of air con and this blasting out, counting the road kill per km to pass the time and the continuous terror of WA road trains.
Stephen Stills
2/5
I liked it more towards the start rather than towards the end. It just went on forever with its 21 songs and 72 minutes.
Further evidence that most double albums shouldn't be.
Joan Armatrading
2/5
She's been pretty much a household name in the UK for as long as a I can remember and yet almost everyone would struggle to name/hum one of her songs.
Back in the 80s it always sounded like the sort of music old people listened to but even as a legit old person, I still don't feel adult enough to get Joan Armatrading.
Ice Cube
3/5
It feels very old school in terms of style and sounds but lyrically it hasn't really dated, which is scary and depressing.
Still sounds kinda breezy and fun despite the content.
Joan Baez
2/5
It's surprising how English folk this sounds at first, less so once you find out most of the songs were English/Scottish folk songs.
When it's just guitar and voice, you've got to love the voice....
Bet there's no Vashti Bunyan in the 1001
New Order
4/5
Never been much of a New Order fan outside a few singles. They've never been that good when seen them live either.
Picked this up in an op shop on CD for $1. Loved it. Subsequently bought it on vinyl. Their best album.
5/5
Where do I even start? Or end? The band and album that changed everything.
From hearing 'With Or Without You' in the car on the drive back from school, seeing them on Whistle Test the week the album came out playing 'Exit' and 'In God's Country', buying the 12 inches for the extra tracks, my first concert at Cardiff Arms, buying the program full of Anton Corbijn photos which really kicked off my interest in photography. All of it. Seeing them in pre-COVID play the album in full, going with low expectations and being completely blown away at how stunning it was.
However annoying Bono might have become, however patchy the band might have been over the last 20+ years, this album is still pretty perfect. It not be quite as beautiful sounding as 'The Unforgettable Fire' (being more of a Lanois album than an Eno album) but it's the band at the peak of their powers.
There's so much on here that still floors me for a band in their mid-twenties on their fifth album. Bono's voice when it was still beautiful, before age, drink and smoking wrecked it. the minute and three quarters at the start before you hear a voice. 'Bullet The Blue Sky', still probably their best song even if there's plenty of live versions on YouTube that surpass the album version. The B-side of non-singles that are better than the singles - 'Red Hill Mining Town', 'In God's Country' (I think it might have been a US single), 'Exit', 'One Tree Hill'.
An album that always makes me wants U2 to rediscover themselves and realise they can make an album like this if they choose to. The band is still pretty good, Bono needs to pull his finger out and remember how he used to write lyrics.
Jurassic 5
3/5
Is it me, or is there a lot of hip hop in these 1001 albums? And why are all hip hop albums so long?
Yeah, it's ok
Pavement
4/5
I haven't listened to this in an age.
I remember Everett's review in Melody Maker calling them the "New Nirvana", buying it based on that single written review from HMV in Exeter and being disappointed they sounded nothing like Nirvana.
It really grew on me though, although it is a bit patchy.
Listen to their other albums more regularly as they're more fully formed but would guess they're not going to be in the 1001.
Bob Dylan
5/5
This was my first Dylan album experience.
Got it via the small tape collection at Exmouth Library in the late 80s but unfortunately at the same time as borrowing his 1986 album, 'Knocked Out Loaded', which I've read as being rated as his worst studio album (and there is some serious competition for that honour).
So on the one hand, 'BIBH' was a revelation and is still one of my favourites of his (took a while to get into 'H61R', love 'BotT, also a big fan of late Dylan, esp 'Time Out Of Mind', always struggle a bit with 'BoB'), on the other hand, the 'Knocked Out Loaded' experience stopped me from further investigations into his back catalogue for a long while. Probably not helped by Dylan's late 80s output at the time.
The Beach Boys
3/5
Oh, more Beach Boys.
Maybe you just had to be there.
Is part of the problem that this sounds more like a 1950s album than something that came out in the same year as Rubber Soul, Help, Highway 61 Revisited, the first Who album, and A Love Supreme.
Or is it the portrayal of all-American wholesomeness that permeates throughout that's just hard to take.
Sure, nice harmonies, as you'd expect but it just sounds so old fashion and out of place.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
I accidently clicked on some super deluxe version which goes for 6 hours and five minutes but luckily found the original 78 minute version.
Even on the original version, the songs go forever but nice guitars. I think I would have liked this a teenager.
Simply Red
1/5
The funny thing is listening to this album, it was even worse than I expected it to be.
There have been some dubious selections so far which make me question the validity of the 1001 albums but this takes the biscuit. I refuse to believe that this is one of the 1001 greatest albums ever made.
If you Google 'Best albums of 1985' you get lists with some great albums, none of which are by Simply Red.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
I've always thought of this as 'the singles' but overall the third best Jimi Hendrix Experience album.
(The JHE is always the argument I use for why Crowded House aren't an Australian band. Although I'm more than happy for JHE to be considered a British band, given 2/3 of the band were English, they made their name in the UK and the first two albums were recorded in London, even if 'the talent' was American).
Black Sabbath
4/5
I got to photograph Tony Iommi (and Geezer Butler) when they toured as Heaven and Hell with Ronnie James Dio doing that era of Sabbath songs. Standing in right in front of Iommi for a few songs and watching him play really close-up and seeing how much the crowd absolutely adored him was one of life's great moments. Dio was pretty great too
I saw Sabbath with Ozzy on their last tour (as ever via a last minute ticket fire sale for a seat towards the very back of the Entertainment Centre because I'm such a cheapskate), and it was so much better than I ever expected it could be (the reason why I left it so late on deciding whether to go).
There's good stuff on most of the Sabbath albums, irrespective of who's singing, but those first two albums are really all you need.
Fiona Apple
3/5
Love the voice, but it's a bit too late 90s 'jazz' for me
Portishead
4/5
The greatest secret about Portishead is that all of their albums are really good, not just the first one. 14 years since this last one, must be about time for another?
Donald Fagen
3/5
I always used to think this wasn't as good as any of the Steely Dan albums owing to its absence of extremely tasteful guitar playing. I like it more these days (and picked it up cheap on vinyl in Tokyo) but it still doesn't have enough guitars. (3.5 stars)
Tricky
2/5
An album I've listened to countless times in a vain attempt to like it as much as some other people do and as much as I probably/possibly should.
The answer might be that I've never had the need for a late-at-night album for stoners. It's one of those albums where you get 5 or 6 songs in and wonder how it's not yet at the end.
One thing I will say about Tricky is that he has the greatest West Country accent.
Kanye West
2/5
I've photographed Kanye a couple of times and it was fun. Fun for the spectacle and ridiculousness of it all. Fun for 20 minutes but watching it afterwards it all became a bit boring.
Inside this 21 track, 76 minute album, there's probably a fairly ok 10 track, 45 minute album trying to get out. At least half of this is just unnecessary.
The Crusaders
2/5
This album sounds familiar. I think I may have inadvertently heard to it while on hold on the phone or in a lift.
Radiohead
2/5
I think I saw Radiohead twice as a support band before they were famous, (once supporting the Frank and Walters, I can't remember the other time) something that only became interesting once they did become famous. It wasn't something that happened seeing them play.
Loved The Bends
Loved OK Computer
Seeing them headline one of the nights at Glastonbury in 1997 was one of the greatest shows I've ever seen.
Hated Kid A (mostly)
Never been able to quite put my finger on why. Some good songs (esp 'The National Anthem') but patchy, Starts well, but well before the end I'm bored by it. Sometimes I think it's because I bought it on the 10" double vinyl and it's just annoying to have to turn it over ever three songs. I keep going back it but even on streaming it just doesn't improve, which is sad because it's largely when I stopped listening to Radiohead.
Saw them again at Glastonbury around 'Hail to The Thief' and songs from that album were so much better live than on the album. Seriously good live band.
Sonic Youth
5/5
An album that makes me wonder if 'alternative' music still exists.
How did a band like Sonic Youth become so massive and influential and could it ever happen these days for a band that sounds like this?
Leonard Cohen
2/5
I think everyone has a gap in their musical knowledge, someone big/famous/influential that they don't really know that well, if at all. I think Mess+Noise might have had a thread on this back in the day. Leonard Cohen is one of those blindspots for me (as is Tom Waits (don't hate me!). I have heard songs by both so could probably identify the performer by their voices without knowing the song or whether it was a big song for them.
I think I remember 'First We Take Manhattan' from when we got satellite tv and MTV in the family home in the late 1990s (Recommended read: 'I Want My MTV' by Marks/Tannenbaum, which brought back so many memories of those times).
But thing about the song at the time was just how weirdly campy, Euro Pop it sounded. And in the late 80s, I wasn't in a campy, Euro Pop space. The album is the same. It might be lyrically rich and you can't deny the voice but it sounds almost dated by the time it was released in 1988. There's something about it that reminds me of Roger Water's 'Radio Kaos', not sure why. Possibly just how stuck in the 80s it sounds.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Back when I started university in Newcastle, I lived in student flats out in the 'burbs. We used to frequent our local pub on an afternoon if we'd finished lectures early as they had a pool table and that time of the day we at least felt that we were unlikely to get beaten up for being students by the locals. Or "Get worr heed kicked in" in the local dialect.
As well as the pool table, they also had a mostly terrible jukebox but I used to select the title track from this album, and other things like 'Rainy Days and Mondays' by The Carpenters that I'm sure made us really fit in with the daytime clientele in a suburban pub in the North East.
The Collingwood isn't there anymore, they knocked it down and built an Asda. The university sold the flats and now it's a weird motel place. Which is kinda sad as that first year at university was one of the absolute best years.
The title track is so good they basically repeated it for the fourth song. And look, any album that has a song called "You Sure Love to Ball" has to have something going for it.
The Pharcyde
3/5
Oh good, more hip hop skits on an overly long hip-hop album with far too many tracks
But to be fair, this ain't too bad. There was always something more interesting about the Daisy Age sound and the samples they used.
It's kinda sad that even in the 2020's, listening to a group of mixed gender MCs sounds really fresh and interesting
Brian Eno
5/5
One of music's great injustices is that Eno is best known for his work on other people's albums.
This is at least as good as the Bowie Berlin albums that came in the next couple of years get all the column inches, and probably better. It's more coherent as an overall collection of songs and a lot denser sounding and textured, more polished, and I say that as a massive massive Bowie fan.
Admittedly, he doesn't have the greatest voice but maybe if Eno had had better hair, it could have all been different.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
I liked this more than I expected.
Does everyone reach an age where suddenly music like this appeals? I'm less likely to put something on the turntable that's harder, faster, louder than maybe even 5 years ago and listen to something softer, slower, quieter. That might just be an after work/evening thing; it's different during the working hours with headphones.
Also I have a theory that all art, whether it be music, painting, architecture, whatever, reaches an artistic peak and then descends to its lowest common denominator over time. Craftmanship and beauty become far to expensive, quick and cheap trumps all. You can't fail to listen to the orchestral arrangements in this and think "Well that's really lovely".
Everything But The Girl
3/5
I read Tracey Thorn's Bedsit Disco Queen bio last year and it was pretty good, and am really keen to read her latest one about Lindy Morrison.
Her Marine Girls stuff is great but then it all went far too 80s jazz-lite. Then post-Massive Attack's Protection it all went trip hop lite. The sound of young professional dinner parties in the second half of the 1990s.
Listening to it now, it's not terrible, just not that interesting and a bit samey song-after-song
Pixies
5/5
It's impossible to rank those original era Pixies albums, at least the first three. 'Bossanova' is probably my favourite, then maybe this one, then 'Doolittle' and 'Trompe Le Monde' fourth. And I really love Doolittle and some days it is their best. That Pixies at Brixton show on YouTube in 1991 is amazing if you haven't seen it.
While No Kim, No Deal might be true, that last album (Beneath The Eyrie) wasn't too bad. Their best since Trompe Le Monde
Donovan
2/5
Sometimes I wish I could see the entire 1001 and some breakdowns of the total. Of all the albums released in 1966, this makes the cut, which gets me thinking about what albums didn't.
Back in my undergrad days, the girl who broke my heart was an absolute militant Donovan fan. Woe betide anyone who didn't take this seriously.
'Sunshine Superman' is fine as are 'Bert's Blues' and 'Celeste' , but then there's a lot of hey nonny nonny. And at times he sounds a bit like Matt Berry singing something from The Mighty Boosh/House of Fools/Toast, etc, which makes it hard to take seriously
Rahul Dev Burman
3/5
A pleasant surprise, not what I expected based on the album cover. It's a lot less Bollywood-sounding than it looks.
The title music sounds like something from a 70s Hollywood thriller and other instrumentals have shades of Morricone western soundtracks. The film sounds pretty good as well.
Roni Size
2/5
Is this what they meant by repetitive beats?
It's ok but long-winded. At least Jazz and Prog kind go places. This just plays the same riffs over the same drum patterns without going anywhere
Missy Elliott
2/5
Another week, another overlong hip hop album with too many songs and skits. Is there any point in the making of these albums where someone pipes up that maybe 17 songs is too many and 10 or 12 is more than enough.
Some good stuff, a lot of average, the Busta Rhymes intros/outros are embarrassingly bad as is 'Missy's Finale', where she thanks the people who worked on the album.
Same time next week?
Chicago
3/5
I think largely because of Peter Cetera's 80s solo career, I assumed Chicago was some dull 1970s US soft rock band and had no need to investigate.
Scratching at the surface with this album, it sounds like a lot of the 1960s rock music I like and wouldn't sound out of place in my record collection. I don't know if this is a typical Chicago album but there's some sweet guitar playing, and even some of the vocals sound Hendrix-like. Might need to listen to some more of this.
Roxy Music
4/5
As good as the two Eno Roxy albums are, the next two after he left are better. Overall I think 'Stranded' is better than 'Country Life' (although I prefer this album cover!).
Still tonnes of great songs on this one though. 'The Thrill of it All' is an incredible album opener. The second half isn't as strong as the first and 'If It Takes All Night' and 'Bitter Sweet' are weak moments .
Interested to see what other Roxy albums appear on this list, as it could be most of them. The later 70s albums might get given a bad time but they sound like a bunch of bands who were big in the last decade. And I'll always have time for 'Avalon'.
Jacques Brel
2/5
According to Wikpiedia, Jacques Brel is the 3rd best selling Belgian music artist. Technotronic are languishing back in 8th place.
Yes, I know Bowie, Scott Walker et al, but it's all a bit showtunes
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
2/5
Somewhere between Guthrie and Dylan but not as good as either.
Charles Mingus
4/5
I know the name but have never listened to any of his stuff.
Never heard this before but it's really nice. I'm always slightly amazed at how crisp and clear all the instruments sound in the classic jazz albums.
On first listening, 4 stars, but could be higher with more time
3/5
Do I have to listen to this? It was going to turn up eventually...
Perhaps The Beatles' 6th best album (with at least Hard Days Night, Rubber Soul, Revolver, White Album, Abbey Road ahead of it. And maybe also Magical Mystery Tour and Help)
Sonically it's a beautiful sounding record, the bass playing is amazing, but it never gels despite some of their best songs. I probably never need to hear those first 3 songs ever again though.
Queen Latifah
3/5
The sounds of the very late 80s.
Some of those sounds and the production sounds so dated now.
But it's fun in a weirdly nostalgic way
Pavement
5/5
In the mid-90s I would have happily have said this album as in the my Top 10 favourite albums. Not listened to it in ages, probably overplayed it a bit in the 90s.
Probably not in my Top 10 All Time these days but still a pretty great album. More coherent and consistent than S&E. Saw them on this tour, bought a very poor quality bootleg maroon long sleeve t-shirt outside afterwards for a fiver.
Minutemen
3/5
'This Band Could Be Your Life' brought to Minutemen.
Book is ok but a bit overrated, just a compendium of fairly standard band write-ups that could be in any music mag back in the day (albeit with a smaller word count)
Band is ok but a bit overrated. 43 songs just isn't a good idea, even if most of them are less than 2 minutes. Some you end up wishing were longer, some you wish they'd kept back
Garbage
3/5
Q. Why do streaming services only have the extended/remastered versions and not the shorter originals?
I think they released 'Vow' as the first single and it's still sounds amazing. 'Supervixen' too. 'Vow' is one of those songs that pops into my head every now and then and I have to go and listen to it straight away.
But they were never as good as Curve! Curve should have been massive. As a palate cleanser, I'm gonna go listen to 'Doppelganger' now I think.
The Byrds
3/5
Have just finished Jon Savage's weight tome '1966' (not as good as 'England's Dreaming') , in which there are words about The Byrds, 'Eight Miles High', the influence of drugs in the music of 1966 and the start of psychedelia.
Strange how their career was largely based on Dylan covers. Disappointing how the songs sound strangely thin. Despite all the covers, Gene Clarke's songs stand up pretty well, especially 'I Feel A Whole Lot Better'. Where would indie jangle be without them?
Nina Simone
4/5
I have yet to find a Nina Simone album that I haven't liked.
And yet, with a nod to Alan Partridge and his favourite Beatles album, I tend to find myself just going back to "The Best of Nina Simone"
Shack
3/5
One of those bands I'd heard about, read about but never heard.
I like this, there's some good stuff on it and yet I know there'll probably be a whole bunch of stuff from this late/post-Britpop era that's more deserving of being included in the 1001 (e.g. both of Mansun's first two albums).
Leonard Cohen
2/5
I probably should like Leonard Cohen...
I can't quite work out why I don't.
Musically it's all a bit dull and I don't think I have enough time in my life these days to sit and listen to the lyrics in depth
Amy Winehouse
3/5
This album was on in the background everywhere I went in the late 2000s but I never realised how short it is (35 mins). It's pretty good but it's strange that the production and that Mark Ronson sound feels a bit dated when they were trying to make an old school sounding album.
The 'Amy' documentary is one of the saddest things I've ever watched.
Otis Redding
4/5
I felt a bit harsh only giving 'Back in Black' 3 stars so glad this came along to reinforce that it was reasonable.
It's a bunch of covers and the songs I know (e.g. Respect, My Girl, Satisfaction) aren't as good as the originals but everything about this still sounds classic. That Stax houseband was so good
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Not much of a fan of reggae.
Band sounds good.
Ok if it is your thing.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Have long known the story behind the album. Knew less about the post-script but it's nice that they eventually got along.
It's a lot better than I had been led to believe, even as it leans slightly into being a more 1980s sounding soul album. I was under the assumption that it was a much-panned album but looks like has been re-appraised in recent years.
Too long though, and the songs are generally too long as well. Would have been better as a single rather than a double.
Femi Kuti
2/5
For one of the best 1001 albums, the wikipedia entry is pretty scant.
Starts of sounding like bad 80s jazz before becoming the sound of dirty hippy stoners in the mid-90s and keeps on this path throughout.
Janet Jackson
4/5
Knew a couple of the singles but this is immense. Seriously impressive pop, the production is next level (give or take a few of those late 80s synth sounds).
Can I become a Janet Jackson fan at my age?
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Oh man, from Janet Jackson to this. That's a big ask...
Never been much of a Manics fan, I think it's because I don't like his voice. It's always a struggle when you don't like the bit that's front and centre.
I saw them on one of their early tours (You Love Us, Feb 92), when they were still in their Gn'R phase, they weren't very good. Always been a bit bored them.
Tracy Chapman
3/5
According to Wikipedia, sandwiched between Breakfast In America and the Flashdance soundtrack in the best-selling albums of all time.
Fairly astonishing that it sold that many copies on the back of a hit song. Does anything like that still happen these days?
TV On The Radio
3/5
Every time I've seen them live, they've been disappointing.
Better as a studio band. I didn't think this was meant to be their best. It's ok, fine, some nice sounds and textures but can be a bit background-y
Beck
3/5
I kinda liked 'Loser' and the singles off this album but generally find Beck a bit insufferable and average.
There's always been something a bit fake boho and smug about him.
Always struggled to get how some people think he's the absolute best.
Incubus
1/5
It's like they combined all the worst bits of grunge, alt rock (for want of a better genre description), industrial and nu metal and made it into an album
The Doors
5/5
Last year I finally got around to reading 'No One Gets Out Of Here Alive' and Jim Morrison was even worse that you might have thought. A truly terrible person, even when he was a kid (army family brat)
Some people passionately loathe the Doors. I love them. They were such a gateway band into music and literature. They're the band that every teenager needs at that time in their life.
The singer might be a total dick but his songwriting and singing is great. And the band and their songs are really interesting thanks to those jazz (Densmore and Manzerek) and blues (Krieger) backgrounds plus Morrison's poetry. They still sound like no one else.
Pulp
5/5
The best Britpop album (at the time)
The best Britpop album (in hindsight)
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Apple Music has this under the genre of 'Old School Rap'.
Is it Jason Nevin's fault that most of this album sounds like it's playing too slow?
Genesis
5/5
Still their best album overall, still listen to it regularly.
The worst song is the one with Phil Collins singing, a sign of what was to come.
There's a live version of Cinema Show on Youtube from 1976 with Bill Bruford doing the twin drummer thing that's amazing if you haven't seen it.
Shame they didn't bring this last tour out here. One of the few bands I've never seen. Haven't seen PG ever either.
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
Somedays I have an instant lol reaction when the new album pops up as the screen refreshes.
Shame about the late 80s production, some great vocals
The big question is do I keep going onto 'Neither Fish nor Flesh'?
Kacey Musgraves
2/5
I finally listened to this to be able to get back on track
It was very syrupy. Deep inside there might be a half decent C&W album trying to get out of all the glossy production
Beatles
5/5
I think the 1001 is punishing me for my absence as it made me listen to Deep Purple's 'Made in Japan' but when I went to add my notes, it had updated to 'Rubber Soul'.
So Rubber Soul. Maybe the 5th best Beatles album (Revolver, Abbey Road, White Album, Hard Days Night, better than Help) but still an easy 5 stars.
Madonna
4/5
Good enough to make me forgive her for playing hours late in Brisbane, not finishing until hours after public transport had stopped running, having to wait forever at Boondall (middle of nowhere location for the Brisbane Entertainment Centre) for a taxi, not getting back until something like 2:30am and having to get up and go to work a few hours later. She was really good, but still.
Peak Madge, but also peak MTV.
Tom Waits
3/5
Some people I know really love Tom Waits. I kinda never minded without becoming much of a fan.
I bought this album a long time ago as I felt I was missing out on something special. It's an occasional soundtrack when sometimes flicking through the wall of albums as something I should give another try. Some songs I like, some songs less so. Sometimes it veers into a bit of parody of Tom Waits. That's my general impression of most Tom Waits albums I've heard.
MC Solaar
2/5
Feels like a bit of a token 1990s French rap inclusion. Am sure there's probably something a lot better from this era/genre that could could have been included.
Gang Of Four
5/5
I remember when magazines used to do their occasional Top 100 albums of all time, when I'd go through the list and count how many I had. Generally I had a pretty good return in the Top 20, by the time it was into the 40s it was a lower percentage and after 50 it was more sporadic.
I can always remember getting to 'Entertainment', which was usually around the mid-50s and noting that I'd never heard this band and didn't know anything about them. When I finally got around to listening to it, in my mid-late 30s, I couldn't believe that I'd missed out on this for so long. It's the sort of album I should have had in my collection since my teens.
I saw them in Brisbane and they were amazing. I was going to see them again the following day at Soundwave but their stage was already running really late even by mid-afternoon and so I decided I needed to head back to the main stage for Slayer, which I regret.
I was going to go see them in Brisbane again a few years ago but it got rescheduled from Feb or March to November and I was over in japan when they played but in Japan in the wrong weeks to see them there.
I got offered an interview with Andy Gill and snapped it despite not being able to go to the show. It went through scores of interviews and it was so hard coming up with questions that he hadn't already been asked, even when I thought I had something that was more obscure. The interview was great, one of those you can't really believe is happening and where it felt like a very natural conversation and you could have kept going long after the 20 minutes. Whenever I open Skype, he's still there in my contacts on screen, which always makes me feel really sad.
Culture Club
3/5
There was a time when you could pick up multiple copies of this on vinyl in any and every charity shop in England...
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. Strange to listen to early 80s pop in the fullness of time and be impressed by how well the songs are crafted and performed. At the time the visuals via Top Of The Pops, Saturday morning TV, etc were so front and centre.
Did think that if you slowed it down a bit, the vocals would sounds like Alison Moyet...
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Maybe if I spent more time with Leonard Cohen, something would click.
Still getting nothing much from him
Lambchop
3/5
There's a clear musical link between this and Leonard Cohen, who was last up.
Leonard doesn't do anything for me and yet there's something I like about this album. It feels more thought out, structured and accomplished.
Ice Cube
4/5
Cut & paste text to be used to summarise most hip-hop albums on this list:
Too long, too many songs, too many skit-bits. but when it's good, it's really good
Paul Simon
2/5
There's so much good 80s music and yet this has so much of what was bad in the 80s, including some terrible songs about allergies and cars (being cars all over the world....
SAULT
4/5
In this day and age, "Sault eschew interaction with the media, they have never played a live show, given an interview or released a music video in support of their music and features an array of unnamed collaborators," is an astonishing sentence.
Been on my list of things to get around to listening to for ages
The Rolling Stones
3/5
But do they mean the UK version (as featured in the photo) or the US version?
Either way, it's ok but The Beatles released 'Revolver' in 1966
Skunk Anansie
2/5
Strange choice being well after the Britpop era they came out of. I think I first saw them in 1994 on an NME tour thing headlined by Verruca Salt.
Nothing special or that memorable.
Aerosmith
3/5
Such a hit and miss band.
When they're good (and they can be) they sound like themselves. When they're not, they sound like very bad Led Zeppelin or bad Rolling Stones.
It's always amazing to listen to ST's vocals on 'Dream On' (as later covered by The Mission!) and then listen to how coke-ravaged his voice is by the time they did this album a couple of years later.
This is such a mixed bag. I think they found their true place in the '80s with 'Permanent Vacation' and 'Pump' (with a few bangers on '93's 'Get a Grip'), with MTV playing a large part.
Kid Rock
1/5
Felt dirty just cueing this up.
Then the first song was better than expected.
Then the rest wasn't.
15M people bought this
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Soul music just sounded so much better in the 1960s.
I remember talking to a producer about why albums didn't sound like they did in the 60s and 70s anymore and he told me that they could do it if they wanted, they just don't want to. I feel this is a bit of a lie because if you could make albums sound this warm or make drums sound like John Bonham, you would.
Funkadelic
4/5
Fun fact: I've seen George Clinton shows more times than I've actually listened to anything he recorded.
Another one of those things I just never got around to but also something that was harder to do in the times before streaming. You'd read a lot about Funkadelic and Parliament but actually getting to hear it was another thing.
Missed opportunity as this is really good.
Eurythmics
3/5
Fairly typical early 80s album of some killer singles and a bit of filler. A fairly average early 80s album, despite Annie Lennox's voice. It still sounds contemporary and fresh though.
Can't think of Eurythmics anymore without thinking of the Matt Lucas/David Walliams 'Rock Profile'.
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
Managed to select the wrong album so ended up listening to two never-ending Drive-By Truckers albums....
I think I preferred to the other one (The Dirty South) but this one is ok. Bit Neil Young, a bit of a Southern version of the Hold Steady, (which I guess makes them Southern Springsteen-lite). Imagine they'd be quite good to see live.
The Byrds
3/5
First listen: Can we blame the Beatles for this?
Second/third listens: There's some nice stuff on this (e.g. Draft Morning, Wasn't Born to Follow)
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Another week, another Paul Simon album.
A couple of moments, a traditional English ballad, a terrible Dylan pastiche, a Christmas Carol made interesting by having the evening news program recorded under it providing a nice juxtaposition.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2/5
I don't think I've ever heard of this band
2+ hours of bluegrass and I'm struggling in under 2 minutes. I managed the first half and feel I deserve some kind of medal to be honest.
Hugh Masekela
2/5
Ok but just not that exciting. Didn't make it to the end
Madonna
4/5
Probably her best album.
Her first album is massively underrated but sounds a bit dated. Having not listen to this one in ages, it's definitely got that late 90s sound in parts . 24 years old and yet feels like yesterday...
Not listened to it in a bit so had forgotten some of the songs. A few listens in and it all comes flooding back
She still doesn't get her dues as a songwriter.
Bon Jovi
4/5
I bought 'Livin' on a Prayer' and 'Wanted Dead or Alive' on 7" at the time but never got around to buying the album. Not quite sure why. 1986/87 was a big time for me buying albums so I'm guessing I just never got around to it as there was always something else to buy. Even after all this time I still don't have it.
It's the sound of me being 14 and I'm ok with that.
I also wrote my first car off with 'New Jersey' playing on the car stereo but that's another story.
Pere Ubu
3/5
It's not as good as 'The Modern Dance' but not expecting a second Pere Ubu album to be in the list.
Indie music in the late 2000s owes them a big debt and they've never got the acclaim they deserve. Saw them when they played that weird ATP at Altona (it was good but no Mt Buller) and they were great.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
There has been a vinyl copy of this in our house for a few years but I've never gotten around to actually listening to it. Not sure why. Have listened to (and enjoyed) 'Carnage' a lot. (Also can't believe Skeleton Key was six years ago).
I don't know what other NC records are in this list but even without listening to it, I didn't have it down as an 'Essential". I guess it's another from his 'New Age' period. The period where the Bad Seeds just seem to be a bit superfluous. Still good.
System Of A Down
2/5
A front cover that always reminds me of the introduction to 'The Tomorrow People', a 1970s sci-fi for children, that tried to be ITV's equivalent to Doctor Who but with even less budget and even worse special effects.
I can't get this band. It's the weird mix of being angry men but also possibly trying to add in some humour but just ending up sounding manic and a bit deranged
2.5 stars if I could give it.
Sepultura
2/5
At times, under all the angry shouty man stuff, there's some interesting things going on at times.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
I've always struggled with Elvis Costello. I think it's just that I don't like his voice.
Makes me think there might be some truth in music critics liking Elvis Costello because music critics look like Elvis Costello.
So when the first song sounded like Pulp, I though this was going to be the moment it all clicks. But then it wasn't. Some it does though, enough to have it on for a fair few listens though. Strangely it doesn't feel like a 51 minute album, which is normally a good sign.
Björk
4/5
A bit background-y, which makes it easy to drift out while writing reports but good stuff.
A few years ago my sister gave us Xmas presents of a gift vouchers for some VR place in East London and we did the Vulnicura VR thing and it was mental. I couldn't stop laughing at how good Stonemilker, the first track was, with Bjork singing right in my face on a deserted beach on Iceland.
https://hypebeast.com/2015/6/bjork-unveils-virtual-reality-video-for-stonemilker
Coldplay
3/5
I own the first three albums on vinyl. I kinda lost interest after that, as I do with a pretty much most bands, although have dipped in a few times over the years since and sometimes they've sounded ok, other times less so.
Haven't listened to this in a long time but I still like most of it (I never really liked 'Clocks' and it then got overplayed on every other TV sync).
A really good live band, one of the very few I've every seen that can play massive shows so effortlessly. I saw them headline Glastonbury circa this album and it's one of the most accomplished festival headline sets I've ever seen.
Also local boy done good. My sister was at 6th form college at the same time as CM (knew who he was but didn't know him)
John Lennon
4/5
I bought Imagine on 7" when they released it after he died. It's strange as it's become a song to avoid but when you listen to it after a long time and in isolation, it's not as terrible as you remembered it becoming.
The albums the Beatles could have put out in the first half of the 1970s would have been up there with anything they did in the 1960s and also better than the individual solo albums they released over the period. And this is a pretty good Beatles solo album.
John Prine
3/5
A bit Dylan-esque. Probably a bit too Country for me to listen to regularly but ok. Some nice words in there, especially liked the bit Jason Pierce stole on Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.
LL Cool J
2/5
For maybe the first few minutes I was presently surprised. Lyrics not good but a bit Old School and the music had a Daisy Age feel. It got old fast after that.
Title track is a banger though.
Depeche Mode
3/5
I've never been able to permeate DM. Never quite sure why. Possibly because I was always more of a loud guitar teen and DM was always too 80s lightweight keyboard-y and drum machine .
Thought 'Never Let Me Down Again' was going to change everything because it's a great track, a fantastic opener. Despite being a single, can't ever recall hearing it. And you know from the very first second that the video for it is an Anton Corbijn clip. But the rest of the album, while not unpleasant is not making me revaluate my opinion on the band.
Feel sad that never got to see them live though.
Beatles
4/5
Where it all starts to come together. As with all their albums, ridiculous that they just knocked it off so effortlessly.
The worst tracks are the covers and there's too many of them. And the covers are really good songs within themselves
Not as good as A Hard Day's Night, probably better than Sergeant Pepper's. Which makes it in the bottom half of Beatles albums and yet it's still essential Plus it has a great cover.
Richard Hawley
3/5
It's a strange choice for this list as the influences are so obvious it comes across as a pastiche tribute album. You might well as just gone back to the 50s/60s source material and picked an album from there.
The Young Gods
2/5
Today wasn't the day to have an angry man shouting at me in French.
I have friends who love this band but was never for me.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
I don't know if I've ever listened to this... If I have, it's only been in the recent years of streaming.
Could have picked up at any time as it was one of those albums that you pick up for peanuts at every charity shop during the 80s. Kinda crazy but I think the only McCartney albums I own are Give My Regards to Broad Street (still never seen the film though) and the 'All the Best' greatest hits. Also have Frog Chorus on 7" which is a hill I'd die on defending.
Erm, it's really good isn't it?
Even more impressive via Wikipedia that "McCartney therefore played bass, drums, percussion and most of the lead guitar parts."
As I said a couple of days ago on the 'Imagine' write-up, those early 70s albums that the Beatles didn't get to make would have been so good.
Ride
3/5
I wasn't into Ride at the time. Always found it too thin and trebly, not enough bottom end. Lightweight and just not that interesting.
Bought this plus the EPs for between 50p and a UKP1 in the Oxfam near where I used to work (plus Doolittte and the first Stone Roses album for about the same amount of money) but it still didn't do much for me.
Got media pass last time they played here and enjoyed it. Much better live than on album. See they're back to play this album in full at the end of the year. Will probably look to go and photograph again, even though it's an ok but not amazing album.
Orbital
2/5
Slightly non-plussed by it. It just washed over me. And I don't feel like I need another listen to see if my view changes. It's very of its time.
KISS
1/5
If I'd been organised I'd probably have put in to photo their Gold Coast show this coming weekend but I was also thinking about the last Violent Soho show (which I'm not gonna get to either - it might have to be Mark of Cain if I get around to it.
But wanting to see Kiss was about photographing the spectacular of the show and the LOLs. They're terrible, as evident on this album. I saw them once at Donington in 1988 in their no make up period and they were also terrible.
This time of year when it's my busiest period, I always go through a massive Alice Cooper back catalogue phase to help the report writing. (currently up to 1983's DaDa, one of my favourites, from his blackout period that he has no memory of making, weird as fuck, lots of Fairlight strangeness and drum machines going on).
This sounds like really bad Alice Cooper. Makes sense as they got Bob Ezrin in to produce and also Dick Wagner to play some guitar. But the songs are just awful, as are the vocals, especially the Gene Simmons shouty songs . The original Alice Cooper band albums from the early 70s are sooooo much better than this.
How and why Kiss ever became popular and made a 50 year career of it is one of music's greatest mysteries.
Public Enemy
4/5
Sometimes I listen to PE and imagine how much better they could have been if it had been just Chuck D without Flavor Flav. Yeah, boy.
Also how much better it could have been without the live call & response stuff.
Even with these, it's a still a classic.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Took my breath away, when this cover popped up on the screen.
Teen me loved Wish You Where Here and The Wall.
Since then, this has always been my PF go to. It's one of the most staggering beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. Sonically it's second to none.
That they were only in their mid 20s (and this was their 8th album) makes it even more remarkable, that they could write about the stresses of life in the way that they do and in a way that still talks to people a lot older than they were when they recorded.
Another amazing cover design. I love everything about this. It is the perfect album. Five stars isn't enough.
Tom Waits
2/5
Still not really getting this. Some ok bits but not enough
The Smiths
5/5
A slightly eyebow raising moment given today's news. Coincidence that this was pre-programmed for today? Not sure of the exact maths but it's going to start with 1001! = 4.0278964733 × 10^2570. So I'm guessing either they choose day-by-day or they made a quick substitution include this one today.
Morrissey and Marr at their very best. But also fantastic contributions from Rourke and Joyce who never get appreciated for what they brought to the band.
I've often said the Smiths were the last truly great British band, and I'm still sticking to that view.
The Auteurs
2/5
Just found them a bit boring at the time. 29 (!) years later, still the same.
Talking Heads
3/5
I struggle with Talking Heads because I'm not a fan of David Byrne's voice. The rest of the band are great though, especially that rhythm section.
Despite that, I could resist picking up a signed copy of 'How Music Works' from Rough Trade when I was over in London years ago.
Also kinda sad it all ended so acrimoniously for them.
4/5
Reminds me of a time living in London.
Good album, not listened to it for a while. Is a bit front-loaded but the front half is really good.
According to Discogs, it's one of my most valuable albums although when i went to check the current price, it wasn't there so either I've accidently deleted it or Discogs has somewhere along the line. Almost all my most valuable albums are from the 90s and early 2000s when no one was buying vinyl. I didn't get a dedicated CD player until 2007.
Dizzee Rascal
2/5
1. Can't believe this is almost 20 years old.
2. Losing the will to live a couple of songs in.
3. I think 20 years ago, I was too old for this.
4. 20 years later, I'm still too old for this.
Pantera
3/5
As someone who bough Kerrang every fortnight in my teenage years to supplement the weekly inkies, 'metal' in the 90s lost me. 80s metal was just more fun and colourful even if it wasn't really 'metal'. Far better for escapism from small rural towns by the sea than the angry shouty men that came after it.
This is ok. Still better than a lot of what came after it.
Liz Phair
2/5
Sometimes a sweary Shania Twain, sometimes a lo-fi Alanis Morrissette.
Are the songs any good? Overall, it's just not that interesting and 18 songs is far too many. Either overpolished (the Shania ones) or half-baked ideas for songs (the Alanis ones). I didn't realise her alt music roots and connections were so strong, its so MOR.
In a fair world, Aimee Mann would be a household name for the albums she put out in the 90s.
Dire Straits
3/5
I ended up buying this on tape a long time ago as it didn't seem to exist on second hand vinyl anywhere (eventually I pickled it up for peanuts). It was bought purely for the 'Sultans of Swing' and that bit of the tape must have been well worn out.
Every now and then I'd try the whole album but rarely made it through, especially the second side, which starts with SoS. Listening to it now in full, it's not a bad album. There's a lot of tasty and tasteful guitar playing, even if it's almost the start of all the 80s MOR that came afterwards.
Motörhead
3/5
It's odd because it's not that good a live album - the editing between songs doesn't even try to make it sound like the songs came from one show.
It's no 'Live At Leeds' but it's ok. You kinda know what you're going to get.
Public Enemy
4/5
I did not know this album. I liked this album. A pleasant surprise.
Musically it sounds more contemporary, richer, fuller and less dated than their earlier albums. Even Flavor Flav is generally less annoying.
Bob Dylan
4/5
It's established canon (by the gatekeepers) and has been for the whole of my lifespan and yet it's nowhere near my favourite Dylan album.
Don't know what it is, it has some of his best individual songs but never gels. To many songs? Too long (overall)?
It's no 'Highway 61 Revisited' or 'Bringing It Back Home' or 'Blood On The Tracks' and maybe that's the only thing that's really wrong with it.
Steely Dan
4/5
Nowhere near the top of my favourite SD albums (Royal Scam, Aja, Gaucho).
But some of the most tasteful guitar solos.
Was outraged to see them described as 'Yacht Rock' and I'm not having that.
Merle Haggard
2/5
Struggling to think of something to write, whether it be positive or negative.
At least its only 31 minutes long.
Alice In Chains
3/5
I always found this a bit dull.
It's grown on me a bit but is still not that exciting. It's all a bit one dimensional.
The best band of the era and the genre were the Afghan Whigs, so I wonder if anything ('Gentlemen'?) from them will pop up.
The Youngbloods
2/5
Not terrible but not good.
Surely this sort of stuff is ten-a-penny from this era.
5/5
Not my favourite DB album (Station To Station), not my favourite of the early 70s period (Hunky Dory). There was a time, a long time ago where I didn't like it that much but things are different now.
Brian Eno
4/5
I think I bought this cheap on tape from some mall somewhere near Scranton, PA when I was working in the kitchen on a summer camp for rich kids from NY. Good times, good album.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
Great bassist, great bass playing but the sound of World Music in the early 90s as played by white people for white people
3/5
The times I have spent in this very spot on Berwick Street veering to the right hand side to go into Selectadisc and buy albums.
Despite all the records sales, despite the Knebworth ticket phenomena, despite all the media hype, at the heart of it are two average albums. When they're good, they're very good but there's still a lot of filler on both of the first two albums. Liam is a great singer though. Funny how it all started going wrong when they sacked the drummer.
But as a memory of one of the very favourite years of my life (1996), it still has a massive pull.
Deep Purple
2/5
A band that's always left me cold.
It would be better without 'Child In Time' and all that wailing.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Back when I was in school, Kerrang did a four-part booklet for the '100 greatest heavy metal albums of all time', with this surprisingly coming out at No. 1.
https://www.facebook.com/rockcandymag/posts/in-january-1989-kerrang-came-up-with-100-greatest-heavy-metal-albums-of-all-time/689402001261021/
At the time of the list I don't think I had a copy, at least not an original and it was a bit of a holy grail for a time. It's a strange album. I love it, it has some of their best songs and it's incredible that so much of it is cast offs from other albums. It's not perfect, there is filler, especially towards the end, and I often skip the last few songs.
Britney Spears
3/5
As far as pop albums go, it's ok. A bit formulaic and the sound of the late 90s shiny Max Martin pop. Not terrible but not amazing.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
As someone who now goes to multiple Springsteen shows on different nights (although not yet at the interstate travel stage of doing this), this could be his best album. This, Born to Run, Nebraska, Tunnel of Love, and The Rising are the Top 5.
Would have loved him to have done this album when I saw him a few years back but he surprised probably everyone at the Entertainment Centre by doing the whole of 'The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle'.
The only thing that could have improved this would have been including the Racing In The Street (78) from The Promise album of outtakes from the album sessions. The Promise shows just how on form he and the band were at this point.
The Stooges
4/5
Another one of those albums I was realllly late getting around to. I blame Iggy's solo stuff from the late 80s/early 90s which didn't make me want to go and check out his earlier work.
As with its predecessor, when it's good, it's amazing but then there's a long song or two for filler (We Will Fall on the debut, Fun House and LA Blues on this one). And when you have short albums with a small number of songs, it's detrimental and means you only have 5-6 amazing songs
Spiritualized
5/5
My most seen live band until I moved to Australia.
Saw them a bunch of times touring when they only had this album and it could be my favourite, (although big shout out to The Complete Works Vol. 1). Back when it was Spiritualized as an actual functioning band, not just the guy from Spaceman 3 with a random cast of players on each album.
There's a coherence about it with its simplicity when compared to some of the later albums.
Saw them at Glastonbury playing these songs in 1992 and 1993 so this album is forever the sound of sunset at Glastonbury on a perfect summer's day.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
One of my least favourite LZ albums.
Individually everyone sounds great, especially Bonham, and it's a great sounding album overall. But it's always been too straight, too traditional for my tastes. At last when they nicked everything from the old blues guys on later albums they put their own stamp on it. So much of this first album sounds like an album of blues covers plus a couple of folk covers.
Much greater things were to come.
Arcade Fire
2/5
The only thing worse than this boring album was its legacy was a thousand Brisbane bands with 7+ members starting up and wanting to be the Australian Arcade Fire.
It surprises me that after all these years, it's so revered. I expected it to have been long forgotten by now.
Pink Floyd
3/5
Not my favourite era, I find the Syd years just too whimsy.
But I think half the reason I like PF so much is that there's this album plus the next, then there's the pre-Meddle period, then there's the classic band years, then there's essentially the RW solo albums (The Wall, TFC), then there's essentially the DG solo album years (AMLOR, TDB). What a band!
Simple Minds
4/5
Photographing SM at a Day on the Green a few years ago (with the B-52s supporting) was one of life's great thrills.
This is the album when they start to morph into the 80s stadium band they became. Some great songs - the title track, Glittering Prize, Promised You a Miracle - but not their best album. I prefer its predecessor, Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call, which, like their earlier albums, is a lot more 'Kraut-y' (if such a word exists).
Some good footage of them on the Tube playing these songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK-thT2IaaA with their best line-up.
Eagles
3/5
Terrible people by all accounts but I liked this a lot more than I expected.
I always thought the high parts on 'Take It Easy' were female backing vocals...
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Even if it's not your normal thing, I think the PSB are one of those pop acts that you can't dislike
Fats Domino
3/5
Ok, so this doesn't seem to exist on Apple Music or Spotify (or YouTube, although there is an album called the confusing "This is Fats" released the year after "This is Fats Domino"
He sure loved the letter "A". "Domino was married to Rosemary Domino (née Hall) from 1947 until her death in 2008; the couple had eight children: Antoine III (1950-2015), Anatole, Andre (1952-1997), Antonio, Antoinette, Andrea, Anola, and Adonica."
Three stars for the few songs I listened to on compilation albums
Aphex Twin
4/5
Hearing this always brings back the very vivid memory of the first time of ever hearing this album. One of the best Saturday nights of my university days: drinks and pool at the Poly, a random party in Jesmond that got shut down by the local constabulary, listening to Apex Twin back at our house with everyone in my housemate's room at 3am-ish, up at 9am for Sunday morning football. I miss being 20.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
2/5
Using a live band with real instruments has always made any hip hop band infinitely better. It's just a shame about all the nasty syruppy ballad songs.
Fela Kuti
2/5
Didn't need the 16 minute drum solo. No ones needs a 16 minute drum solo.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Another day, another Paul Simon album.
The Wrecking Crew is on fire and yet the older I get the more I dislike the production, especially the sound of those drums with the massive reverb.
Once again it's an inconsistent album. Leading with the title track makes most of the rest feel like filler, especially the inclusion of the live Everly Brothers song. 'The Boxer' is lyrically impressive and after the recent(ish) Buffalo Tom cover of 'The Only Living Boy in New York', I have a new appreciation for it.
Funkadelic
3/5
Fun record with great Bootsy bass playing. Can't argue with the notion that fried ice cream is a reality
Dirty Projectors
3/5
The sound of Pitchfork circa the late 2000s. Does Pitchfork have the same cultural impact and ability to make a band as it did back then?
It's kinda interesting in that it's a weird blend of English folk, that Vampire Weekend Afropop sound, David Byrne-esque new wave, and prog rock.
I think I was due to see them at a Brisbane festival that got canned. I did see Deradoorian, the band fronted by their ex-singer/guitarist. Was probably the worst attended show I've been to at a Zoo, not helped by being a Sunday night. I do remember her saying they tried to get food but everywhere was shut. Hooray for the "New World City" that is Brisbane.
The Prodigy
4/5
I remember this being a slight disappointment at the time as it came out after the the singles. They were always great live in a way that made the albums a bit secondary anyway. Album sounds better than I remember but it might just be the nostalgia talking.
You reach an age where you forget that people have died and Keith Flint is always one of those people that I have to remind myself isn't here anymore.
Buck Owens
2/5
it's not great is it
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Usual hip hop story. Some good bits but far too long
Röyksopp
2/5
I got about a third of the way in and decided I needed to go and listen to some mclusky
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
Modern soul albums always sound better when the sound like they were recorded in the 1960s.
I saw him a lifetime ago at Splendour (2012?) and he was good (second on the second stage IIRC) but never followed up by actually listening to the album.
Adele
1/5
Oh well, at least the portrait on the cover is quite nice.
I think this is probably the worst album that the 1001 has sent my way.
Turbonegro
3/5
Fun but too long.
Wonder if they paid Alice Cooper some royalties for that first song.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
The drums and guitar are great. Always struggled with the vocals.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
So much boring blues-rock. It always surprised me that CCR are so big in Australia.
'Bad Moon Rising' is one of those songs you hear as a teenager, think it's not too bad the first few times you hear it out in the wild and then spend the rest of your life trying to avoid.
Talk Talk
3/5
In theory I should love this band. That's lot to like and admire and yet however much I've tried, they've just never clicked. Maybe one day?
Dr. John
2/5
Another one of those heard about, don't think ever heard. Showed promise at the start but even by the end of the first song was starting to lose its appeal.
Spiritualized might have nicked its best bits but they also made those bits into a much better album.
There's probably a time and a place but at my age, but it was probably back in my undergraduate days of late nights and looser times.
Metallica
4/5
Seems weird that Metallica and thrash metal peaked more than 35 years ago.
I would have said almost as weird as the people who think Metallica still have a good album in them, but that latest song, Lux Æterna, was actually pretty good.
Doves
2/5
I can probably think of plenty of UK albums that deserving of making this list that probably aren't be the time it ends. Maybe not quite landfill indie but on the road to the tip.
New Order
3/5
It's not their best (Technique) but is still not bad. (But still not something that's worthy for the 1001)
One of those albums I don't listen too regularly but when I do I end up thinking I should listen to it more often.
Happy memories of being in band and sitting around teaching ourselves how to play Love Vigilantes.
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
An incredible album.
Listened to it far too much, then it became an album with too many (bad) memories so didn't listen to it for years, but in recent times give it a spin every once in a while to marvel at how good it sounds.
Who'd have thought the follow-up to Pretty Hate Machine would have sounded like this?
Brian Eno
3/5
I remember getting this out of the library on tape back in the mid-80s but not getting into it.
Older-me likes it more than teenage-me. It's a bit front-loaded, the first half being really interesting and pretty amazing for a 1981 album of samples, the second half sounds like unfinished ideas.
Am I wrong to think of this as the dad of the Passengers Original Soundtracks 1 that Eno did with U2 in the mid 90s?
Dwight Yoakam
1/5
As soon as the album cover loaded, my first though was "Surely I have to draw the line somewhere." To my credit, I made it over a minute into the first song.
Beatles
5/5
14 songs, 34 minutes, the melodies, the harmonies, so many good songs, a great cover and a pretty decent film too.
The Clash
3/5
Oh, the world's most over-rated band. Good cover though.
I own this on vinyl (from back when records were cheap and easy to pick up second hand) and on in the expanded CD form (cheap from Cash Converters). Have tried so many times to get into it and surprisingly this was the time where I found myself enjoying it. Maybe it was listening to it on noise-cancelling headphones? But then I got a bit bored in the second half
Waylon Jennings
2/5
Drifted along with out anything much of not happening but still felt a lot longer than 28 minutes. Imagine the outrage if people put out 28 minute albums these days.
Beastie Boys
4/5
Could be a copy and paste of so many hip hop album reviews.
When it's good, it's great, a good half dozen stone cold classic songs. But I don't need 20 song albums lasting an hour and it would have made a much better 35 minute album. 3.5 stars but I'll play nice.
Soundgarden
3/5
The album that broke them, thanks to the power of MTV but not their best - the two before it were better. And too long.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
2/5
An album I'd never heard of by someone I'd never heard about, which was exciting as it might have been some amazing lost album that I needed in my life.
The Wikipedia story about him and the album definitely made it seem like that might be the case but overall it was a disappointment, sounding like some rough demos of some half-baked ideas. Was hoping for something like Pink Moon but didn't get it.