It listens as the album where Radiohead mixed the elements from their rockier-oriented career start with their later electronic experimental style. Call it a Kid A meets OK Computer. This was certainly not an album I 'got' in just one listen. It has taken a few proper sessions to get through the somewhat dark and inaccessible layers this album has. Not just musically, but lyrically the band seems to be a lot more cynical and angry than I've known them. But I'm enjoying the album more with every listen, mostly because there's so much to discover with every playthrough. There are so many details that are revealed with each new listen, and those details are presented in a truly varied way. There is rarely any repetition; the variety is huge and you're traveling quickly from one place to another, which sometimes makes the album feel a bit disjointed at the start. But after a few listens I think only We Suck Young Blood is a lesser song on a truly great album. Slowly this might be becoming one of my favourite Radiohead albums. I'm putting it at 4,5*, but this album might end up as a 5* album in a few years if I revisit it.

I have listened to this album twice now and I just don't get the generally positive reviews. The album actually makes me almost angry, that's how much I disliked it. This is the epitome of what was wrong in the 80's (even though there also was a lot of great music). It sniffed New Wave but doesn't seem to get it, saw soul from a distance, uses filler sounds like a trumpet or harmonica to make the music sound smarter than it is. Ugh.

This is my introduction to the Beta Band and the first listen made me straight want to go to a second. And third. So this album has been on at any opportunity I could find. With headphones, in the car, or just my home stereo. And with every listen another layer in a different song makes itself known, which was even more surprising since it seemed like a bit toned down indie electro at the start with some trip-hop influences. But there's so much more to it than I thought. I will be playing this a lot on the coming months and it might slowly make its way into my favourite albums. What a discovery! 4,5*

This one really blew me away and is apparently the absolute best Talk Talk have ever made, there's something new to hear in every song every time I put it on. Definitely an album to keep revisiting

What a great discovery. This is just a superb album that I kept listening to on repeat. The fretless bass makes this album even one step better than the songwriting already does. I hear influences of Roxy Music and Bowie, and you'll definitely hear where 80's bands like Duran Duran got their inspiration. Absolutely great album from start to end with no bad songs in between. Even as a big VU & Lou Reed fan, I really could appreciate the cover of All Tomorrow's Parties. Fall In Love With Me & In Vogue are my two favourite tracks 4,5*.

The first two songs of the albums are absolute bangers, but after that the quality of the first two doesn't fully hold up.

A live album by one of the best voices to have ever existed with a truly professional band. The chosen songs are some of the more famous jazz songs, but not fully engaging throughout the album. Where they go a bit more uptempo, they band gets to showcase themselves a bit more.

It's an album with lots of collaborations with other artists. Some, like Los Lobos, work a lot better than others, like Santana. After the terrible first song of the album is slowly turns into a real bluesy John Lee Hooker album. 3,5 stars

I can hear where Tom Waits has gotten much inspiration on his slower songs on this concept album by Sinatra But an album full of this gets quite monotonous to me, even though his voice is absolutely stunning and the music is great.

I have never really listened to a Janis Joplin album before, strangely enough. I knew some of the 'hits,' but nothing really more than that. I now know I was missing out. This rocks!

It's one of their rawer albums, but that does not make it one of their better. You clearly hear the mid 90's sound, but, as with a lot of Foo Fighter albums, you have 2 amazing songs, 2 good and the rest barely average.

Clever, musically and lyrically. Not sure how well this album has stood the test of time, but I was fully appreciating it

Was great to listen to this album. It's actually better than I remembered it from when my parents let me listen to it. Ballad of a Thin Man is absolute top

A deserved classic from the 1990's. Beautiful songs, an album that's worth another listen time and time again

I know why people can like this. It's this time where people like Earl blew some fresh air in the country music. It's just still really not for me, and as far as I can tell, musically also nothing special.

I will be honest, and say I'm still not and have never been impressed with "Bridge over Troubled Water". Ofcourse, on this album you'll find several pop classics, but this album is far from a masterpiece. The title-track itself, and quite a few other songs, are immensely overproduced kitsch in my ears. Violins, choirs and the lot. There's a few plus points to the album as well ofcourse. Songs like 'The Only Living Boy In New York' is beautiful, but it doesn't save the album. It feels it's an album on multiple thoughts and might be known as one of the all-time classics. But not for me.

An absolute classic. This might actually have been the first time I've listened to the album in full but I've been aware of every single song, some in different versions. What a quality in songwriting and musicians on this one album.

It's an almost perfect pop album and personally I think Blondies best. With so many known songs songs it's almost a best-off album, and marks the moment where Blondie switched from their punkier side (still to be heard in Hanging On The Telephone) to their poppier side (One Way Or Another) to later do some more disco-ish sounds (Heart Of Glass) Unique pop album that captures the times well.

Listening to this album has brought me to an entire day of Talking Heads and it's a discovery I really enjoyed. Now I've likely listened to most albums once or twice in my life before, but it has made for a great day with some incredible music. First of all, this album itself, it's so incredibly infectious and fun. The basslines are jumpy, the lyrics are different, the music is clever. And, what's more, it's a strong album. There's no song to skip, not even the Al Green cover.

One of the best albums ever made and the showcase of everything Nick Cave has to over.

An absolute amazing Rolling Stones album that has some of their best songs on. "Midnight Rambler" is my favourite Stones song, and classics like "You Can't Always Get What You Want," "Monkey Man," "Gimme Shelter," make this album a pure feast for the ears. An album well worth a listen on headphones as well, there is just so much happening. Only 4* from me though, because as an album, there are songs I already started skipping on second listen, like "Love In Vain" and are not up to the high standard of some of the previous mentioned songs.

The opener Black Sabbath is the most evil this band has ever sounded and is the first doom song ever written. After that incredible opener we have a few great songs (like N.I.B.) and one or two lesser ones (like the cover "Evil Woman") On a seven song album it's just a little too much up and down to be a 5* album, but the dark blues-rock combined with the major influence this has had in retrospect makes this highly enjoyable. 4 1/2*

This is almost the ultimate Britpop album. The lyrics are clever, the music is upbeat but sneering. An album with songs I can dance to and others to sit down and listen.

Even though this is not fully my thing, this is an absolute classic in its genre. From start to finish this is, for me, the best that Pink Floyd has to offer. And Wish You Were Here is just the best song they've ever made. 5*

Even though I really like Belle and Sebastian, this is not the album for me. The lyrics are already great, but for me, Belle and Sebastian still had to grow musically which they more did on their albums following this, Tigermilk and especially The Boy With The Arab Strap.

I grew up with this album on cassette in my early pre-teen years. And it has been fun to re-listen to this after so many years. And interesting how well this music has been ingrained in my memory. It's a great album with some really good songwriting, even better than I remember. But on the other hand Tears for Fears suffers from the thing that's so prevalent in the 80's, and that is that every possible silence had to be filled with another sound. And another. A cowbell here, a trumpet there, a quick voice over the top and then a drumroll. Nothing wrong with their songwriting, clearly talented, but the lesson of 'less is more' never reached them.

I think enough has been said about this album. 4,5*

A high lyrical quality on this album, like NAS on Illmatic, from deeper like So Many Tears to straight up Gangsta. Tupacs technique might not be the best, but his delivery is amazing. And I can now see why he's regarded as one of the greatest. The beats on the other hand are relaxed but simple. Some would say effective, but they don't do anything for me.

It sounds like a great first album of a great artist. Still with a lot of rough edges, and on the balance of the rock 'n' roll and new wave.

Steve Winwood writes nice intros to songs

I'm not a big fan of live albums, but I might make an exception for this one. Where I know Sam Cooke normally from his smooth and somewhat boring studio work, this is something entirely different. There's a lot of soul, swing, power and music in this. It sweats, it cracks, and his voice is great. If I would now have to recommend someone to listen what Sam Cooke is, I'd refer them to this album, and not to any of his studio albums. It has changed my perspective.

An absolute classic and what a debut. After dozens of listens I think The Suburbs might even be the better album, but this is superb.

Another album I'm ad I finally listened to. I'm ashamed to say I don't know much about Springsteen aside from his singles. This album was a bit of an eye-opener. Thunder Road, Backstreets and Jungleland are absolutely amazing. This is 40 minutes of rock classic.

I've played this album till it was worn and grey back in the 90's. Trip Hop at its finest. There's not a bad song on this album.

This was my introduction to Common and it was really quite a pleasure. In the barrage of crap rap and hiphop this was a breath of fresh air. Great lyrics, great music and no need to shout.

A She-bob album by an artist that showed she was 'out there' and that's indeed how the music sounds. There's really nothing wrong with her voice and the songs jump up and down. It's a very happy 80's pop album. I've seen her in concert in the 2010's and later on in life she has gone in a somewhat different direction, with a bit better songs but also a lot less success. Time After Time might be the only song that really holds up after all this time (after time). And the score might've been a bit higher if the album finished after the first 6 songs. Reasonable debut by a talented artist, but not one of the best albums in the world, not even one of the best by Cyndi Lauper.

A strange pick for an Alice Cooper album because this is not even close to his best. Relistening this, I also put on Killer, Billion Dollar Babies and Love It To Death, in my opinion all 3 better albums than this one. The opener, that everyone know, is brilliant. School's Out really is a classic. But the rest of the album is not up to standard of the opening song and plays on 2 minds between rock and musical, and it's just not doing it for me. After 3 listens I put on some of his other work and have been rocking out at my desk this workday

Listened to the album 3 times. It's a good album, with sound collages, incredible harmonies and clever music. It just doesn't do anything for me, doesn't elicit any emotion. In the end I just zone out with this music.

Really one of the best Bowie has released. After the soulful era came this Thin White Duke. 4.5*

The album starts off amazing, but isn't consistent throughout in my opinion. The first 6 tracks are the best of what the French funky techno scene had/has to offer. But after Phantom Pt II the album collapses, and songs like DVNO and Tthhee Ppaarrttyy are just annoying. It goes up a little again with Waters, but not enough. 3,5*

I'm listening to a brilliant songwriter who didn't give two cents about commercialism and that's abundantly clear. It's getting better with every listen. On the 4th listen I still hear more amazing transitions. It's a very curious album that is walking a thin line between unbridled creative genius and rambly outtakes that could've stayed that way. I'm putting it on 4 stars but wouldn't be surprised if I find myself coming back to this album in a few years and giving it the full 5

Probably the most raw Smiths albums, both lyrically as musically. It's a bit harder and a bit more serious than other albums (even though there's still enough humour to be found) The speedy funky basslines on this album in combination with Marr's incredible guitar-work really get a lot more swing going than on other albums. And Morrissey has things to say about hitting children ("Barbarism Begins At Home"), eating meat ("Meat Is Murder"), Depression ("That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore") Homosexuality and also unrequited love in the absolutely beautiful "Well I Wonder". "Gasping - dying - but somehow still alive this is the final stand of all I am Please keep me in mind" An absolute 5* amazing album, front to finish. Even the lesser songs are top.

This really does nothing for me, and I like my hard-rock. It's stock-standard music with lyrical that are utter piffle and are so below par it's painful. I know KISS from their Alive Albums, and am aware they're a great live band. But musically, lyrically and production wise, this is empty for me.

This is a sleazy unremarkable glamrock album which grabs their influences from Alice Cooper to the New York Dolls. The songs are very stock-standard, 13-in-a-dozen. Never bad, but never achieving anything more than mediocrity. Thus far, 50 albums in, I have the feeling that the creators of the list of 1001 albums you must hear before you die never really enjoyed hard rock much because the inclusion of the albums are terrible, even though there's so much greatness to be found in the genre.

Simple music done extremely well, with a voice for the ages. I'm digging it.

Re-listening after years I have to be honest that it has lost quite a bit of its appeal. Now this came out when I was discovering punk and even in those days was not my favourite. Some songs still stand up fiercely over time, like Genocide, Come Out and Play and the title track, but the other half have lost something over time, like It'll Be a Long Time, Self Esteem and Killboy Powerhead. 3,5*

This kind of album really is not my thing normally, but I'll gladly make an exception for this one from here on out. This might be one of the best folk albums ever written. What a stunning and heartfelt album.

It's very decent pop/rock album and Alanis sure can sing. But it never rises above that sublime single "You Oughta Know" with its Chili Pepper basslines and guitar. The rest of the album never gets bad anywhere, but it's all very radio-friendly produced pop music. I would've loved for this album to just be that bit more Flea and Navarro and a little less Glen Ballard. It's an album I wouldn't turn off when it's playing, but also not one I'd put on myself

A tale of two sides. Side A and Side B. Side A of this album is probably the weakest The Police have released in their career. Synchronicity I and II are both nicely rocking songs and save this side a bit. Especially II. The songs "Mother" and "Miss Gradenko" take away at least one star from the album. So incredibly bad. Then comes part B, starting with the overplayed "Every Breath You Take," followed by everything The Police became admired for in "The King Of Pain." "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "Tea In The Sahara" belong to the best that the Police have ever done and the jazzy "Murder By Numbers," which was, iirc, a b side to Every Breath finished this side strong. 2* for the first half of the album, 5* to the second half.

Music is emotion. And there's a lot of that on this album. Of the darker kind. The album isn't perfect, but almost there. 4.5*

This is the album to introduce people to Frank Zappa with. Especially when you're a rocker and a bit into jazz this is where you start before you dive into the man's immense back catalogue. If you're into instrumental solo's, whether guitar, clarinet, bass, violin, drums, this is the album for you. This album got it all and is likely one of the best Zappa has released.

I kinda only knew Joni Mitchell from that one hit (Taxi) and the Prince cover, but I'm very glad I finally fully listened to some more of her music. The album is an amazing combination of folk and jazz.

It's one of those really good debut albums where you can hear what on later albums will become amazing. But this one is just too disjointed.

A typical Verve album with ups and downs, where you start skipping several songs on the album, but really listen to the few marvels on here (like History)

I was pleasantly surprised by this Kinks album. I mostly knew their rambly (but pretty cool) older era music, but this is more room for the songwriting. The songs become a lot better than I know of them and even though you can hear beatle-esque inspiration on some songs (especially the opener) they're creating an own style. I do want to give the singer a hug though, he really wasn't going through the best of times it seems.

Listened to Die Mensch-Maschine, I just like this album just that little better in the original German, especially Das Model. I grew up with this music, my dad put this in my casette player when I was just 3 years old. And I enjoyed it back then and still do. Classic

I'll be terribly honest, but Leonard Cohens old music never did it for me. And I've given this album another 4 listens and tried. But even though I really enjoy his poetry/lyrics and know how good of a songwriter he is, most of the songs just leave me feeling... nothing. I know I'm probably alone in this, but I like his later work better

The major hit More Than A Feeling and two songs after (Peace Of Mind and Foreplay / Long Time) are really quite good. Everything after that is decidedly mediocre. The production on this album is really quite good, especially for the time. They seem to have been able to get this full bodied sound, where a lot of their contemporaries struggled.

Definitely the album where it all came together for Zeppelin. The mysticism of III, combined with the rock of I & II

At first listen I didn't really know what to do with the album, but with the second and third listen it started to grow on me. The songs are of a high variance in quality, but there's power and emotion enough to be found

What a great discovery. This is just a superb album that I kept listening to on repeat. The fretless bass makes this album even one step better than the songwriting already does. I hear influences of Roxy Music and Bowie, and you'll definitely hear where 80's bands like Duran Duran got their inspiration. Absolutely great album from start to end with no bad songs in between. Even as a big VU & Lou Reed fan, I really could appreciate the cover of All Tomorrow's Parties. Fall In Love With Me & In Vogue are my two favourite tracks 4,5*.

Neil Young, drunk, recording an album in one night, to recover from the loss of 2 of his mates. "I'm singin' this borrowed tune I took from the Rolling Stones, Alone in this empty room Too wasted to write my own." There's a lot of raw emotion here and at times a terrible voice. I get why this a classic and why Neil Young is revered. It's just... not for me.

Well, wasn't that a surprise. Aerosmith does indeed Rocks. I'll be honest, I only really knew the band from their 'MTV-years' and never really had taken the time to listen to their back catalog because of it. Something I wished I knew before I was in my 40's

I have listened to this album twice now and I just don't get the generally positive reviews. The album actually makes me almost angry, that's how much I disliked it. This is the epitome of what was wrong in the 80's (even though there also was a lot of great music). It sniffed New Wave but doesn't seem to get it, saw soul from a distance, uses filler sounds like a trumpet or harmonica to make the music sound smarter than it is. Ugh.

Yeah, I'm glad they got better over time

The album falls short compared to their later work. Safe From Harm and Unfinished Sympathy are beautiful though.

"Sing out loud We all die Laughing into the fire"

The guitar riffs are great, the bassplay is amazing, the lyrics are as non-sensical as always. But the whole thing is flat. From production to songwriting, it's safe and a bit empty.

Sometimes an album just click after a second or third listen. This was one of them. I have owned the album for quite a while and might've listened to it once or twice. Never got into it, I thought The Who had made much better. Now years later re-listening it on a 3rd and 4th listen and it fully clicked. It's an amazing album.

It's beautiful and esoteric. And one of the best singers that's ever graced this earth. But this album is just not their best work.

It's an ok album till Dancewitme, it's very easy soul with just a little flair of funk. But starting from 'Til the Cops Come Knockin' the album collapses into generic RnB. Listened 3 times, and will not put this on ever again.

This was one of the best albums of the genre around that time. Especially when they slow down, with Bittersweet Symphony, Sonnet, Lucky Man and Drugs Don't Work they're at their best. Good album. Not great. 3,5*

It's a hiphop classic, and you know where a lot of famous bands got their sounds from. Still, it' decidedly simplistic album, beats wise and lyric wise. Some songs are quite catchy though. Jay's Game, Rock Box and Sucker MC's in particular.

Singing this album from front to back. It's one of my youth favourites. From Out Of Nowhere grabbed me the first time I heard it. It's album 3 of the band that was still growing. Album 4 was their masterpiece.

5* One of the best albums of the 2000's. The deceptive easiness of the songs will give up their depth after a few listens. City With No Children is a truly amazing song

It's nice and funky, a fun time to find all the samples. The time before hiphop had to be a certain way. And they've got something to say luckily. But it never transcends into a great album. Enjoyable and very listenable. Just not great.

Amazing voice that pulls you into the songs and music

This album sounds a bit as if Elvis Costello felt like starting a punk-rock band in the 90's with a brass section. And there's nothing wrong with that. It rocks away really well. The brass section gives it a little more schwung. But it's not really either catchy or punk enough to really hold interest long.

Back in the 90s I found this a bit of a let down after the great 'Live Through This.' Now listen to this album again. It's just a good alt-rock album that balances between the poppy sound of the era and the grunge of the previous album. It all sounds radio-friendly enough and I think that was the purpose of this album. You can clearly hear the influences of Melissa Auf Der Maur and Billy Corgan in addition to the songwriting violence of Courtney Love. Because of this, the album sometimes sounds a bit limping on different thoughts. But besides the somewhat slick and smooth songs, like Awful, which drag the album down as far as I'm concerned, other songs work a bit better, like Malibu, Reasons To Be Beautiful and the beautiful (and for me best song) Northern Star All in all a little less black and dark than its predecessor, and just a good rock album.

Tja... It's ok folk music. I wouldn't get annoyed if it played somewhere in the background. But I also wouldn't be intrigued to listen to more of it. His original is at least better than Nillsons version.

It's just a really great pop album. Quality.

Listening to this album I think Tom Waits might've listened to it once or twice. It's nicely smooth jazz, but in my limited knowledge of Jazz, nothing really special

This album filled me with an urge to break LP's. This really does nothing for me, just makes me annoyed

This is everything I dislike in Country music. Please no.

Score 4* for the Jamaican version of it, before the additions

This IS the pulsating rhythmical remedy! It's an incredible album and totally blew my mind when it was released. Listening back to it, I am still fully rocking out to the best rave album that was released when the rave-scene was slowly on its way out. It returned to the feelings of anti-authoritarian punk and hiphop, but is a full rave album, with influences from both. The song that brought me to the album 28 years ago was No Good (Start The Dance) with its breakbeats and might for me still be the best dancehall song ever made. Where the album really comes out is in the song that has all the rockrave influence in it: Voodoo People. Other highlights are Break & Enter, Poison and Claustrophobic Sting Why no 5 stars? Even though all 13 songs differ wildly from each other, in this 78 minute opus, there are also a few lesser songs. They could've taken some of the 'fillers' out I'm afraid to make it perfect.

I did. I did listen without prejudice. Didn't dislike it. It's a decent pop album. Cowboys and Angels is a great song. Next.

I really don't know much about Kid Rock, but this album is just one of the worst fake rock/rap albums I've heard in my life. And I finished it even, gave it a full chance. These lyrics are such highschool bullshit, I don't even know where to start on this one.

This is one of the best Salsa albums I've ever heard. Now I don't know much about it, but the complexity and musicality are on par with the best I've heard. Great album!

It's a good album and I remember it slightly from when it was popular. It paved the way for a whole swath of immensely talented musicians from the African continent to get some recognition in Western charts and sales. This album by itself is a bit slick, very 80's, even with the afrobeats.

A great listening experience from a very very talented songwriter.

This album feels quite dated and a bit uninteresting, especially after hearing their B.E.F. sides of 6 months before this.

Elvis Costello is one of the best. And this is one of the best of Elvis Costello. This album doesn't have any hits, or numbers that really stick out, but it's quality throughout the album, with superb lyrics and musical arrangements. I personally prefer the more new wavy and straightforward Costello, but this is a class album

It's a very country & western sound with some folky influences. With the flutes, violin, slide guitar, banjo it has quite a slick Americana sound. The songwriting certainly isn't bad, but this really isn't for me. It's foundation is too much of the twangy country sound.

It's your typical 60's pop album. Really nothing special. There was much more quality around at that time. California Dreaming is still a great song though, but rises above the rest of the album.

Another album where the hand of David Bowie revives a legendary artist, like he did with Lou Reed. This album's A-Side is full of amazing songs, Lust For Life, Sixteen even The Passenger. It falls slowly away during side B with a few missers, so it's a 4* rather than a 5* album.

It's pretty daring starting your album with a Neil Young cover, but it's a fun one! Unfortunately, for me, the album just continues without reaching any heights or standout songs. Sarah Cracknells voice makes it a pleasurable listen. A bit like a less dark and more easy-going poppy Portishead. It's really not a bad album and I didn't mind the 3 full listens, but it has not opened any deeper sound or feeling. A 3,5* album

Tito Puente is apparently the king of latin jazz, but it's a lot less memorable than I thought it would be. I'm not sure who the singer is, but she is definitely a plus to this album, her warm voice really suits the atmosphere of the album. For the rest, I really have heard better latin jazz

The first listen made me prick up my ears, since I am quite fond of what I know of the synth-art-pop genre. But after a third and fourth listen, is really does not leave a lasting impression. The opening two tracks form the highlight of the album, and it goes a little bit down from there. The melancholy that people seem to like from this album sounds a bit too dreary to me after a while. 3,5*

I saw someone else doing this, and decided to keep a score like this as well: Quality of Album: 9/10 1001 album list worthy: 10/10 Personal enjoyment: 8/10 Juanita ; Kiteless ; to Dream of Love is the intense and powerful opener you'd want on any dance album. Followed up by ambient breakbeat of Banstyle / Sappys Curry as second song it almost doesn't get better in the genre. And that's the first half hour already filled. On the bonus CD is the song Cherry Pie and that might be the best Underworld has ever released.

Noisy, raw, energetic and with a lot of depth.

Jazz, funk, soul, electronic and hip-hop, in an electrifying concept album mix. Listening to this I realise what I've missed when I stopped listening to hiphop due to the insane amount of dribble that kept flooding the market. I'm glad to know things like this exist. One of the better hiphop albums I've heard in my life

13 songs in 33 minutes of full blown energetic, raw rock & roll. The guitar sound is sharp, the music rocks and rambles, the drums are loud and Frank Black sounds like he's bordering on a meltdown. The importance of this album in music history, can't be overstated. It's where the 90's began in the 80's. Still, not every song on this album is a bullseye. A song like Cactus feels like filler. And there's one or two other misses. It's such a pleasure listening to it though, it gives off vibes of happiness

I really like Sonic Youth and this is their most accessible I think. It was a bit of a changeover from their earlier albums, and it sounded a bit more clean, especially with the production. It's an album I can still listen to on repeat. Not a masterpiece, but just great noisy rock 'n' roll

Listening to this, it's a fun and uptempo album with a range of good producers, like Timbaland to the Neptunes. And they leave their respective marks on the songs. But the album as a whole has way too much filler in between some really decent songs. Not a standout.

The only positive thing I can say about this is that they really know how to sing in harmony with each other. But that's about all. There has been quite a bit of country in this list, and I've given all albums a fair go, but I just can't. It's not for me, I don't understand it, and I'm even unable to hear if it's good or bad country. Online searches have lead me to believe this is an important album in the genre. Personal Enjoyment: 0/10 1001-list-worthy: 4/10 (I'll take other people's word for it)

From the first to the last minute you're covered in this wall of guitar sound that could either pick you up or annoy the hell out of you. I'm in the former camp and consider this debut of Oasis as their best album. The strong songwriting of Noel and the fact that Liam actually did show up to the studio these years to sing the songs (which he does a lot better than his brother) makes this a raw rock 'n' roll album. Some songs are indeed a bit better than others, but songs like Supersonic, Slide Away and Live Forever are standing strong. And I don't care that Cigarettes and Alcohol is a complete T.Rex ripoff. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Personal Enjoyment: 4/5 1001-Worthy: 5/5

I have always found it hard to rate Boards Of Canada because there is a huge discrepancy between my knowledge of how clever and good this is and my enjoyment of listening to it. I understand the warmth and everything, but the ambient soundscapes of this album just don't do anything for me. Personal Enjoyment: 6/10 1001 Album List-worthy: 10/10

Hunting High & Low is very much a mid-80s album. Accessible synth-pop made at a time when it was a commercially safe choice. Nevertheless this album has two things that set it a little apart: Firstly, the beautifully emotional voice of Harket and secondly, the melancholic tone of many of the songs. It ensures that this album goes just a little deeper than many of its contemporaries. And even though there is really nothing wrong with the songwriting, it really does have the 80's issues of filler sounds, the need to fill up silences with an extra synth-trumpet, drumcomputer-loop and background violin. Especially clear in the song Hunting High And Low. Solid Debut for this Norwegian Band and I'm glad to have learned about songs like The Blue Sky and Here I Stand And Face The Rain

It funks, it rocks, it's a classic.

This really doesn't do it for me and I'm surprised this is still such a revered album. Leonard just hasn't got a voice to carry an album with very mediocre songs. And the clever lyrics are rather dull. The Leonard Cohen that actually became a bit darker and clever later in life is much more up my alley.

It listens as the album where Radiohead mixed the elements from their rockier-oriented career start with their later electronic experimental style. Call it a Kid A meets OK Computer. This was certainly not an album I 'got' in just one listen. It has taken a few proper sessions to get through the somewhat dark and inaccessible layers this album has. Not just musically, but lyrically the band seems to be a lot more cynical and angry than I've known them. But I'm enjoying the album more with every listen, mostly because there's so much to discover with every playthrough. There are so many details that are revealed with each new listen, and those details are presented in a truly varied way. There is rarely any repetition; the variety is huge and you're traveling quickly from one place to another, which sometimes makes the album feel a bit disjointed at the start. But after a few listens I think only We Suck Young Blood is a lesser song on a truly great album. Slowly this might be becoming one of my favourite Radiohead albums. I'm putting it at 4,5*, but this album might end up as a 5* album in a few years if I revisit it.

There's a few things going through my mind for rating this album. Going to take a star off for basically stealing every song and claiming credits Going to put an extra star on because these versions are truly the best versions of these songs Going to take a star off for the song "You Shook Me" Going to have to put 2 stars extra on for the raw and rocking "Babe I'm gonna leave you" Going to take a star off for cringy lyrics like “Every day I work so hard, bringin' home my hard-earned pay/ Try and love you baby but you push me away,” Giving a star back for this being their debut. All in all, this is freaking rocking. The songwriting of Zeppelin definitely became better over time, but never was it this raw, blues and energetic.

The great strength and beauty of this record lies in minimalism. The atmosphere is masterfully portrayed. Every beat and sound is in exactly the right place and hits the spot. Not a note too much or too little. It's for me just unfortunate that the album sounds like it wasn't finished, which, after some Googling, seems to be exactly what happened. Money budget was so short they couldn't re-record songs because the tape ran out. Masterful, minimalistic, atmospheric, mystical, beautiful. 4,5*

This album is pure garage rock 'n' roll. Rhythmically all over the place, with some killer riffs. With just a guitar and drums. I don't think you need to look deeper into it than that. Hardest Button To Button might be my favourite White Stripes song. 4*

It's at least better than the kitschy mess that's A Bridge Over Troubled Water. The music is nothing special, but that's how I've always felt about S&G

I don't think I need to explain this album to anyone. It's an absolute masterpiece, whether you like the Beatles or not. And it would be a 10/10 album if Yellow Submarine wasn't on here. Now it's a 9/10. Taxman is also one of the best songs Harrison ever wrote. The tempo, the bassline, the extra cowbell, the sneering lyrics, the guitar solo. It's nigh on perfect.

Unfortunately only been able to give it one full listen, but was impressed with what I heard.

It's a greatly enjoyable rock-album and probably the best the Manics have ever made, with the pain from all of them on missing Richey Edwards as a guiding thread through the album, even though the songs are quite hopeful. After a while the 'wall-of-sound' production makes the songs sound alike a bit, with only the real standout songs (especially the first three) jumping out. Still, an album I listened to with much pleasure.

This is always the record that I use to introduce people to the wonderful world of PJ Harvey. This is all a bit lighter, rockier and poppier than much of her other work. Although it does a lit less to me than much of her other albums, it is not inferior in quality and always a pleasure to put this on.

An album I've never listened to before now. And I've heard a lot of these songs before because they've been covered by bands I like (This Mortal Coil, Placebo, Jeff Buckley) or are covers themselves like Femme Fatale. A very interesting ramschackle of an album that seems to have had more success among musicians than it did commercially. And now listening to the entire album a 4th time it dawns on me why it is. My first listen was a decidedly 'meh'-experience. But it sure is growing, into an album I would listen to again and again, especially songs like Holocaust and Kanga Roo. It's dark, it's emotional it's terribly played. Absolutely amazing album. 4,5*

A very jazzy album from a talented voice and songwriter. Some great music on this album but my main issue is the Alicia Keys-like drumcomputer in some songs like You Sent Me Flying. Lots of songs could have shone a lot more with a better production. But I know that happened on the next album!

This is the 3rd Elvis Costello album coming past on my list, and I'm only 140 albums in. Side A has two highlights: opening song "Accidents Will Happen", with its lovely melody, and Party Girl, a somewhat languid song, different from the rest of the album with some nice piano work. On the B-side, Busy Bodies in particular stood out, with a faded intro, uptempo and this albums characteristic organ; again that fresh new wave atmosphere. And yet, the other songs do much less for me, even after repeated rotations. While at the same time, they do rise above the average, I hear that. I don't really understand why they bore me faster than most of the songs on the other 2 albums I've heard. This album is a great, fresh, up-tempo and razor-sharp produced record, to which I nevertheless and to my surprise can only award 3*

Brothers in Yawns. I won't give this the long review and multiple listens it (probably) deserves. But this elevator-rock really does nothing for me. 'Brothers in Arms' and 'Money For Nothing' are great tracks in their own right. So there's 2 stars for this album. But 'Walk Of Life' is just annoying, songs like 'Why Worry' and 'Ride Across The River' are nothing more than snoozefests without any depth. 'The Man's Too Strong' and 'One World' are unnecessary tracks.

Dire Straits' first and best album. An album with an atmosphere where you could see Tarantino creating some of his best scenes. It's bit more playful and less boring and perfectionistic than their later work.

Dylan at his best. What a discovery. Of course I knew Dylan from his hits (and the well-known Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 albums.) But I never really listened to this one and must say I personally think this might be Dylan's best! Sparkling, bitter, sneering, intimate AND intense music.

It's not bad but it really isn't more than that. It's a re-listen because I've heard the album before in the 90's. Even then I had the same feeling. It's not bad, but it never stands out. The single version of Wilmot was a lot more interesting than the version they put on the album.

Even though you're jumping into the hippy-folk from the first tones, I didn't mind this eclectic and inventive folk album. This is especially due to the amazingly talented guitarists on this album who bring a very psychedelic tone to the whole.

The title track is immediately symbolic of the entire record: extremely simplistic, with a different chord only at the end of the third line, continuously repeated riffs, a minimalistic guitar solo, a rustic text full of country town pleasures, an accompaniment that has no frills – but it works. The melodies immediately stick in your head, bobbing along, the voice of Fogerty is honest and superb, the band swings and the overall sound is somewhere between rock and rockabilly, with a little less blues and a bit more country than on earlier albums.

The album starts off really strong (with the exception of her annoying posturing chats in amongst the songs) but after a couple of listens I'd have to say this might be the least of Missy's albums. Timbaland and Elliot's beats are just groovy and they're trying to get a bit of that old school soul and hiphop feeling here, but after a few songs it feel like they just weren't fully in it. As for all the guest appearances, Ludacris has never been one of my favourite rappers, Jay-Z is not adding anything special, 50 Cent is not nearly as bad as most people make him out to be, but it's not a good last song of the album. The TLC colab "Can You Hear Me," would've been a better choice. One good appearance is Method Man though. Love his work in Bring The Pain. Also I'm always smiling with the Beastie Boys references, like in Work It All in all, not a bad album, but not really special either.

What is there to say about this album that hasn't been said so many times before. This album doesn't have a weak moment, all songs are absolutely right. It's an album with the atmosphere of night. One of my few 5*

MC Solaar shows what hip-hop can be, relaxing jazzy beats with incredible raps. Now the message of the album unfortunately passes me by a bit, but that is by no means an obstacle to any enjoyment you can get from the album. The first half of the album, with its Gang Starr influenced eclectic mix of hip hop, jazz, funk, reggae and the French troubadour style, ending with the great hip hop ballad Caroline is a classic in its style and would be a 5* album Unfortunately, there's also the second half of the album, a bit of half-hearted dub style that brings the album down and was a bit unnecessary. So it ends with 4*

On the one hand you have Strange Brew, Sunshine Of Your Love and the best song of the album: Tales Of Brave Ulysses. On the other hand you have Blue Condition and Take It Back which both really shouldn't be on the album. Mother's Lament I can take as a funny, if somewhat discordant ending. And every music lover knows the Bruce, Baker and Clapton story of Cream. But this, to me, is an ok blues-inspired psychedelic rock-album. With hits and misses.

It was 2001, rock music was at its lowest level in decades and all of a sudden there was this album called Is This It by a group called The Strokes, from NYC, that played uncomplicated rock 'n' roll. An album that influenced a lot of new bands in the early 2000's and brought about a revival of the alternative rock-band scene. And this is by no means a bad album, it's simplistic and passionate rock 'n roll. But looking past the immense influence this album had, truth be told, it's not that this has really added something special to the ever-growing rock history. It's good, but it's not great, it's not inventive, it's nothing new. 3,5*

Not a single moment of boredom while listening this album, but it's all a bit too safe. The album feels like a cross between blues-folk-rock bands like The Band and prog acts like early Genesis. And anyone who can appreciate a dash of jazz will also like John Barleycorn Must Die. 3.5*

Tom Waits is one of my favourite artists of all time but this is not one of my favourite albums I'm afraid. I like this as the semi-live showcase for Tom's showmanship it is. His banter is amazingly funny and the jazz quartet he took in the studio with him are incredible. You can quote hundreds of lines from this album. Still, in the end, it's the music that counts and Waits has made better than the ones on this album. Bad? No, it's still Tom Waits. Just a little lower tier than most of his other work.

Everytime I hear an album of Sonic Youth I absolutely adore it and wonder why I'm listening to it more often. Everytime I tell myself to dive deeper into the whole discography and listen to the rest over and over as well till all the creaks and squeeks of every album are ingrained in my head. Until the next time I'm hearing a Sonic Youth album and I tell myself the same again.

I always gave Anthrax a wide berth for one reason or the other. But this album definitely showed why they were considered part of the Big 4 in Thrash Metal.

There are the big four records of the Stones (Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers & Exile On Main St.) and this one is like the Beatle's White Album. And for me that means it's a bit too long and the real fans adore it. I like it. It's rock 'n roll and the band really feels like they know what they're doing at this stage. They're pulling off every genre within the Stone's repertoire. It's a really good album, but I'll let other persuade me why it would be their best, because I can't hear it (yet)

It's a great slick and happy album to listen to. Not as jumpy as their first, but a bit more polished. Good music.

Absolute killer voice. Reasonable songs.

I like me some good hiphop, but overall I just find this a very inconsistent album, with on one hand some absolute great songs (TakeOver, U Don't Know, Renegades) and on the other atrocious missteps like Girls Girls Girls and Never Change. I seem to always be in the minority when it comes to this album. I have a lot of time for Jay-Z, but this isn't just fully it. Would love to see an album with the quality of the top songs throughout. And this just isn't it. 3,5*

This morning I was walking in the nearby wetlands, on a foggy morning. Revisiting this album. I almost forgot how warm, ethereal and beautiful music can make me feel. This is one of the most amazing pieces of music ever made.

It's the famous Beatles White Album. A record I've heard dozens of times during my life, and it's the typical double-album with double-album issues. There are some masterful songs on here, but also some songs I loathe with such a passion I could never rate it as high as some of the Beatles' other works than are just amazing albums start to finish. An album where I start skipping songs is just not worthy of 5*. Still, the album never gets boring and the Beatles play a wide range of songs and styles. Stay for: While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness Is A Warm Gun, I'm So Tired, Julia, Helter Skelter, Long Long Long Skip every time: Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, Rocky Raccoon, Honey Pie, Sexy Sadie, Revolution No.9

Normally I would try and write this a bit more subtle and less crude. I actually like symphonic rock but thought this was a whole bunch of wank. One extra star for the musicianship

I have been told by several friends that this is a true masterpiece of its era. But I can't do much with it. I like about half of the songs after 5 listens and the rest either go one ear in, one ear out or I actually dislike them. The psychedelica/folk combo is not for me.

What an amazingly intense album on survival. The songs are incredibly strong, her voice broken and you can feel power, pain and disillusionment throughout the album. And an absolutely haunting version of Working Class Hero to boot. 4,5*

Goo is always my recommendation as a starting point for anyone wanting to go on a Sonic Youth tour. It is rough and - with the layered guitars - noisy enough compared to their previous records. On the other hand, it has acquired a bit more of an alt-rock appeal because there are some more structured songs with a starting and end point. For me this album has the perfect balance between the two giants on both sides of this album (Daydream Nation and Dirty). There really isn't a note wrong on Goo and the song Disappearer is the best they've ever released. And from here you can slowly return to the delicious raw creativity of Sister and EVOL. But this album is rock solid.

You have live albums and then you have live albums

This was a surprisingly good album. I've listened to and not disliked Megadeth whenever one of my friends played it, but this is the first album that really stands out. An absolute masterpiece of the thrash era. Musically, especially the first couple of songs, are the absolute top. And whatever you think of Mustaines voice, it surely adds a uniquely Megadeth sound.

It's the first album where the Beach Boys show a bit more that they're talented. Where Brian Wilson takes the time to write songs. It's the step between their surfpop and Petsounds. You can hear it's coming, it's just not there yet.

Very briefly: Duran Duran popped up and I thought to myself: Ah yes, a nice 3* album, just the standard 80s. I was so terribly wrong, I think this is an incredible album. I really had no idea anymore. How did I dismiss this all these years as 'just another 80's band' The bass, the melodies, everything on this album is just right. I'm not skipping a song. Personal Favorites: My Own Way and New Religion 4.5*

Elvis is great by voice on this album, but I'm just not a fan. Album gets 1 bonus star for the great rendition of fever though.

It's not a bad album, but there's so much better music from Senegal than this specific album.

Aqualung is of course Jethro Tull's best-known album and is generally known and loved by rock fans (The titletrack and Locomotive Breath will still be heard anywhere, and you'll find them on rocklovers lists). It is indeed the best introductory album to Jethro Tull. However, as I've been told by many of Tull fans, this is probably not their best work. That honor goes to the more progressive Thick As a Brick. Still, Aqualung has enough highlights for a successful listen. The title track is magnificent and My God also remains Jethro Tull at their top.

I didn't give this album the listening time it deserved. Only listened to it once during a car trip. Didn't mind it.

The first song is a classic and I really gave the rest of the album several go's, but I can't remember a single note anymore. It's all quite forgettable

It is truly remarkable how many songs and lyrics can be remembered after 35 years. I listened to this album on repeat when it came out; I was only 8 years old and a huge fan of Michael. And after all these years I was able to sing and/or hum along to every song except "Leave Me Alone", which I just discovered wasn't on the cassette (!) release. Listening back now, I really recognize how my music taste and knowledge have changed over the years. Where as a little boy I thought the song "Bad" was by far the best of the album, it is now one of the lesser songs in my ears. BAD is Michael Jackson who became a little less funky and a little more pop/rock. Now the poppy side is ok, but I'm actually more surprised how well his voice fits the more rocking tracks like "Dirty Diana", or the almost prince-esque track of "Speed ​​Demon". And these songs, along with "Man In The Mirror", are real highlights of the album. Other songs that put a smile on my face are "Smooth Criminal" and "The Way You Make Me Feel" But to put the nostalgia aside, this is certainly not a great album in every way. I find songs like "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" a listless trifle, "Just Good Friends?" almost instantly forgettable and "Another Part of Me" feels very strained and unnecessary on the album. Ultimately, the album has more ups and downs, and - since he wrote 9 of the 11 songs himself - it shows that Jackson was a talented songwriter. But even though the album has been hugely influential on pop-music, I can't say it's great throughout.

It just isn't for me. It's good for the style and one of the Byrds' best works as far as I've heard

This is an album that will stay on high rotation for a while

It's never been a love affair and it'll never become anything between S&G and myself. You can hear on this album how Paul Simon is a gifted songwriter and lyricist. And while I appreciate his craft, these albums are just not for me. On album 1 they started off folk. Album 2 became a bit rockier Album 3 (this one) is a bit more poetic, Album 4 is a bit more psychedelic Album 5 was a kitsch monstrosity. I've had 4 of them now in this list. Hopefully this was the last one.

A proto-punk 70's album, somewhere between 1960's The Doors and 1980's Black Flag. A good listen!

A double album of really 4 different themed sides. I would guess that this would make the most sense on the LP's on which this was originally released. If you felt like some bluegrass you'd put on Side 2, if you were in the mood for something heavier, you'd put on Side 4. Which for me would mean I could skip a side because when this album goes from side 1's great latin-rock into the country on side 2, my mind starts wandering and i feel the need to start skipping songs. I recognize the quality of the songs, I hear the amazing songwriting and musicianship, but it's just not my style and will never be. The folk on Side 3 and Bluesrock on Side 4 are once again more to my liking fortunately. All in all is this an incredible album, with quality songs throughout and that's not something you see much on double-albums. This might in fact be one of the best double-albums of all time.

An interesting album by the Temptations. I read about this album being the transition album from Motown to the funk of later years. I would therefore expect that there would be a lot of songs with a combination of styles, but strangely enough the songs are either Motown or funk. The funk, mainly on the A side, appeals to me a lot more than the Motown, especially on the B-side. The cover of 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine' should not have been necessary and is quite poor. All in all, I don't think this is a bad album at all, but for me it's not the masterpiece some people are talking about.

It's a funkadelic funkalicious funktastically funky Parliament album. The Mothership came down and influenced thousands of artists in the years to come.

It's one of the albums out of R.E.M's incredible productive era, 6 albums in 6 years. And this one falls in between the other two great albums Life's Rich Pageant and Green. But where the other two albums are a bit more stable in their quality, does Document have some of the best and worst songs of this period on them. It starts incredibly strong with "Finest Worksong" and "Welcome To The Occupation". It goes down a bit with "Strange" and "Exhuming McCarthy" then picks up immensely with It's The End Of The World As We Know It," "The One I Love" and mostly "Fireplace." Then "Lightning Hopkins" pushes the album down again. It might not be a perfect album, but it's and album I will always listen to with a lot of pleasure. 4,5*

This is like a best-off album of CCR, but to me, it's all the lesser hits. It misses the power and conviction of some of their earlier work. And I know I'm almost alone in this opinion, judging by the average votes

Ah, one of the most famous albums of the 90's. This album shows the Chili Peppers at their peak creative form and thanks to producer Rick Rubin as a cohesive and great sounding band. But, clocking at 72 minutes, it's almost a double album and with it come double album problems. There are songs that feel like filler on this classic, and a small cull to make it 45 minutes might not have been misplaced.

This album has the feeling like you're listening to a theatrical rendition of the stories being relayed. So many songs are heavily orchestrated, some are the intermezzo ballads before bringing you back to movement III. And even though every song is vastly different than the rest and Rufus Wainwright is an incredible vocalist, plus the songs are all quality, this album certainly isn't for everyone. The lamentations, with Rufus and a piano, are overly romantic, and many of the songs are just over-the-top orchestrated. And to be honest, a lot of the songs really aren't all that good, with notable exceptions. Rufus Wainwright is clearly immensely talented, but for me, this album does not showcase that talent well.

I don't think I need to explain much here about this album. It's an absolute influential masterpiece in world music history and Stevie Wonder's Magnum Opus, Even though it's already his 18th(!) album, this has him playing, singing and writing at the peak of his creativity. Before it all crumbles apart and we go into the 80's. Absolutely packed with masterpieces like Sir Duke, I Wish, Pastime Paradise and If It's Magic.

Noise, layers, ethereal. It's such an amazing album.

While I enjoy some of their contemporaries like Genesis, Yes and Rush, I find it really hard to enjoy ELP. Someone on this site called it prog-for-prog sake and I totally agree with that assessment. Yes, they're amazing musicians, but a 20 minute song without start, finish or recurring theme to keep you hooked is just a miss. And side two of the LP didn't get better.

It was a great listen again. The poppy grunge, the clever lyrics and some killer songs

Obnoxious, sleazy, funny, dark, quirky and kitsch. And a bonus-point for Sex Dwarf, the absolute highlight of this album.

"Give the scum a gun and make the bugger fight. And be sure to have deserters shot on sight. If he dies we’ll send a medal to his wife.”

I appreciated this for his great voice, the music history relevance, inventiveness and for the song "You're Good For Me" But in the end all song are pretty much turning into a blur and after 3 listens, nothing really sticks, stands out or made really much impression

I really lost track of Rap / HipHop the last decade and a half because of the insane amount of absolute garbage that is being released in the genre. I'm glad I'm catching up on some excellent albums The production on this album is superb. And what I genuinely like about it is that besides a great flow, and excellent beats and melodies, the lyrics are actually the greatest strength on the album, much more than with a lot of his contemporaries. The Art of Peer Pressure and Money Trees are great coming of age stories. Swimming Pools and Good Kid (with the fantastic Pharell beats) are superb. The only dissonant on this album I find the weak Backseat Freestyle and Compton.

Whatever happened to Chicago if this is their first album? I went into this listen with a bare minimum knowledge of the band, only some of their famous singles of later periods like If You Leave Me Now and Hard To Say I'm Sorry. Songs that are not inviting for a music lover to search deeper into a bands repertoire. How wrong was I. Chicago Transit Authority is a great jazzy and soulful rock album with a copper wind section to boot. Lots of changes in tempo and styles, and some great musicians. It's not a 5* album due to the absolutely terrible "Free For Guitar," and the way too standard "South California Purples" But an amazing album for the rest. And I'll be listening to this again.

I've now listened to the album 4 times and I still don't know how I feel about it. It's got all the ingredients for me to enjoy it, but it has all gone past me very easily and nothing has stuck. A few times my ears pricked up with interesting parts of the (long) songs, but overall it just failed to hold my attention. Enjoyable listen, would never turn it off if it was playing somewhere, but not groundbreaking for me.

It might not be my Tom Waits' best album, but it's one of my favourite listens. It has everything Waits had up till this point. The pumping bluesrock Waits like "Heartattack and Vine" and "Downtown". The Jazzy Waits on a song like "In Shades." Then it has the orchestrated balled Waits on songs like "Saving All My Love For You" and "On The Nickel." Songs so bordering on kitsch that you'll only allow Waits to make them. And then there's the Waits best listened at night like "Ruby's Arms" Is it his best? No. But it's an underrated uncut gem.

A very relaxing and summary bossa-nova/samba album with a flair of jazz. The title of the albums covers what to expect. But with the exception of the opening song, it never gets exciting, it never peaks. It's very decent, but it's a watered down version of authenticity.

In 1996 I heard Novocaine For The Soul and hurried that afternoon to my local record store to listen, and buy, the album. The album with its weird cover, parental advisory sticker and emotional, quirky indie-rock music became one of my most loved albums of that year. And it has not lost any of its power over the years. The clever lyrics, the many beautiful tributes to his mentally ill sister, the wide array of techniques, samples, instrumentation and inspired production makes 'Beautiful Freak' one of the most interesting, and at times haunting, debut albums I've heard in my life. The songs go between samply dreamy to guitar grungy and the tracklist makes it you're never bored by alternating between styles throughout. And to think that this the prelude to Electro-Shock Blues, which might be even a better album.

I don't know what it is with Elliott Smith and me. I understand why people have this in their favourite album lists, I understand why Elliott is regarded as a very talented songwriter. It just never clicked for me. And have listened to the album 3 times over the last day. But it's all going past me.

It's some really nice jazz with the African/Cuban influences, especially on the drums. At times some relaxed jazz to have on in the background, other times uplifting jazz to dance to, but it never really gets special for me. I appreciate the importance of this album in music history and am glad I listened to it a few times, but will likely never put it on again.

A quick note on this album, but I've been enjoying this a lot. And album filled with smart lyrics, great bass and just all-round good musc. That's Entertainment might be one of the best pop songs ever written and the rest of the album is filled with great jams (pun not intended) It seems after the first 200 or so albums in this endeavor I've learned that I'm a bigger fan of New Wave and post-punk than I imagined.

A very enjoyable experience. This is Elvis on his best

This was a great listen. I got to know REM in the early 90's, and have followed them ever since, but never really gotten into Murmer. Glad I did a couple of listens, because it definitely is a grower of an album. Great debut album from a great band

It's been quite a listen for a lazy Sunday afternoon. I've seen the band live a few times because I have a friendgroup that sees the Butthole Surfers as genius. I really don't mind them, but the feeling of 'weird because weird' always keeps persisting.

This was great rock album to listen to. Especially the opening and closing songs are flaming, but I'm quite taken by the stranger songs like Bitter-sweet. Definitely an album that will stay in my playlists

Today, Missy Elliott's debut album is regarded as one of, arguably THE most important R&B and hip-hop albums by a female artist of the 1990s. Despite this, this album is far from flawless. Missy Elliott is still an intriguing character because she writes and—with Timbaland— produces her own songs. Furthermore she's talented in rapping and singing. The song material on the other hand falls short in many ways, especially lyrically, even if you can already tell that the production was ahead of its time in terms of sound. With those great trumpets and the well-crafted chorus, "Sock It 2 Me" is unquestionably the album's highlight. Although "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" makes good use of that sample, the verses that surround it just don't sound right with the background track or the sample lines. The laid-back vibe, along with a gorgeous guitar riff from Eddie Floyd's Check Me Out that plays throughout the song, makes a somewhat darker production like "Why You Hurt Me" appealing. But those stand out as the album's highlights. Although it might possibly be a result of the album's lackluster song selection, there are a lot of guest appearances that don't add anything (read: nothing really). It's also difficult to find anything good in songs like "They Don't Wanna Fuck With Me" because the lyrics are yet another example of how ridiculous they are. A mixed album across the board; so three stars.

A great listen. Busy day, no story attached

It's not an album I was Made To Love. Even though this album only clocks 28 minutes, every new song feels Just Too Much on whiteness and late 50's songwriting. Where the songs kept asking to Just Stick With Me, I couldn't help to Sigh, Cry, Almost Die with every note and harmony that was thrown my way. Even side B - with mostly songs written Felice and Boudleaux Bryant - could not give me a Change Of Heart. So How Come (No One Loves This Album)? The cover of Lucille tells the story. It's without power, without swagger. It's safe. It's plain-oatmeal-for-breakfast-music. The earliest rendition of the Bryant classic Love Hurts can't save the album either. So Baby, What Do You Want Me To Do? 1*

Is it possible to despise Morrissey, but still love The Smiths? The answer is: Yes Ofcourse

The selection of World Music in the 1001 list that I've gotten has been... lacklustre... to put it politely. But luckily I now know that albums like this one have been included as well. 40 minutes of incredible funky, danceable and high tempo afrobeats and samba. Especially the second half of the album with Cavaleiro Do Cavala Imaculado as the final highlight have made a great impression. Great album from, apparently, one of the icons of Brazilian music. I will look into some more of his repertoire.

I don't really mind U2, but there are a few things that make this album not a great album to me. First of all it's the production. The echo, background synth orchestration, extra choir in songs like Red Hill Mining Town really take away from the songs. Secondly, the album drops off after the first four songs. After the absolute highlight of this album (Bullet The Blue Sky) the album becomes a bit forgettable, with the exception of One Tree Hill It's really not bad, but also not great and I've never really understood the U2 fans' reverence for this album.

It's nice background music for a triphop album, but really nothing more. It didn't annoy nor excite me in any way.

It's been a long time I was this impressed with an album on first listen. I have always been aware of Aphex Twin, but never really listened to him. Until now. And it has opened up a whole new world of music. Maybe not all songs are of the same quality of Heliospan, Schottkey 7th Path or Ptolemy, but reading up I certainly see even more how genre defining this work is and where later Radiohead during their Kid A era got their inspiration. This is going to be played a lot more in the coming months and years.

I was happy to have given this a second and third listen, for the first listen did nothing to me. The rambling half punk only did something to me with their great cover of Heard It Through The Grapevine. But the second and third listen brought forth much more of the fun that this album has. Great tunes, great attitude. Punk

It's just a really good pop album. With the exception of clocks, the album flows great and it just really makes me wonder whatever happened to this band.

A great psychedelic garage rock album with some incredible songs like "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" and "Get Me To The World On Time" and some songs that shouldn't have been on the album (Onie) Enjoyed this a lot!

An absolute topalbum in the nu-soul.

The repetitive character of the guitar riffs, the keystrokes and the rousing drumwork have an hypnotic effect on the music, and musically and lyrically it provides a somewhat nihilistic and grey view of the world. It is the link between the punk and the post-punk. Killing Joke succeeds in creating a the atmosphere and sound that is characteristic of the British urban environments in the early 1980s. The album cover also contributes to that feeling. Absolute masterpiece

This became much more of a pleasure to listen to than I thought on first listen. It's wonderfully dreamy, slightly experimental britpop like Elbow or Blur, but with the cheerful gloominess of Coldplay, Travis or The Verve. And then with a hint of Kula Shaker. It's a good blend of all the melancholic and melodic Britpop bands of that era, but this album stands by itself.

Even though the songs are a lot more straightforward than the two previous Velvet Underground albums, the same uneasy feeling of discontent and disconnect flows through me while listening to this album. Opener Candy Says is a bit of a strange one to me, is very slow, but it gets picked up shortly after by What Goes On. Pale Blue Eyes is absolutely beautiful and one of the best love songs ever written, even if it has the Lou Reed strangeness in story. The straightforward songs continue till the strange Murder Mystery - with its several stories and voices at the same time - which would've fitted perfectly on the John Cale experimental beginnings of the band. Only to have the drummer Moe Tucker close the album marvelously with the sweet After Hours. It is a great VU album, even if it doesn't have a Venus In Furs or Heroin on it.

Started this album with a complete open mind, I only really know a few of the singles. The first notes of Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine really surprised me. A great 80's baseline that could have come straight from bands like Duran Duran or Japan. Unfortunately these upbeat danceable tunes are hard to be found in the rest of the album. With the exception of the two major hits, which have justifiably become classics, most songs are songs by a mediocre uni-band. As someone on this site already proclaimed: "A few Killer, but mostly filler"

If this was just the first half of this double album, it would've been a full 5* album. Unfortunately the second half doesn't have the impact of the first half.

'Why can't a rockband sell a record to a Elton John or Michael Jackson-fan without losing your original market?' - Steve Clark (R.I.P) The goal of this album was very clear, make a rock album that would sell millions to a different audience than their contemporaries. And they succeeded insanely well with their hardrock bubble gum pop crossover. Incredibly catchy but with 68 minutes the album might've lost bit of filler to make it not strand into songs that are starting to sound the same in the end. But any band in this era would've loved to be able to pen something down like Gods Of War, which is the highlight of this album

Peter Gabriel's first solo record starts with 'Moribund the Burgermeister' that still contains quite a bit of the Genesis atmosphere of 'Lamb', but with the beautiful 'Solsbury Hill' Gabriel takes a different path. A perfect pop song with great lyrics and a catchy melody. Next song is the Bowie-like rocker 'Modern Love' makes it clear that this is going to be a varied album. When we continue in a kind of vaudeville style song with the somewhat strange 'Excuse Me' we are going all over the place. Together with Side B's 'Slowburn' and 'Waiting For The Big One' these are the songs on the album that drag it down from a superb debut. The songs feel too much all over the place. Closer 'Here Comes the Flood' is once again a brilliant song, and therefore a nice end to a fine solo debut. The stripped-down version of that song on 'Shaking the Tree' is also very worthwhile.

It's an album I'm glad I persisted with. I'm really quite fond of synthpop and new wave, but if it was only for Side A I'd have given up and would've been wondering why in the world this should be on a 1001 greatest album list. It gets interesting on the B Side of this album and the album finally gets lifted out of mediocrity with the last 4 songs, starting with the interesting "I Am The Law", turning into the great "Seconds" and ending in the classic "Don't You Want Me." 4 songs can't save an album, but is does make it stand out among contemporaries.

Listened to it 4 times over 2 days and I just can't get into it. I get it, it just really doesn't hold my attention and I don't really find it all too nice to listen to. Their 'normal' parts are bland, their 'strange' parts are just that.

We are never going to be friends, Amnesiac and I.

Because I had to listen to this album I started reading and now know about the origins of the “Bakersfield Sound". It's the typical country music with the typical themes. Here and there the Honky Tonk is going a bit more rock 'n' roll, like in the song 'Memphis,' and there the music becomes bearable. I'm just not a fan of this kind of music. And Lord knows I've tried.

A unique, sensual and introverted album, that listens best in the late darker hours of the day. Unlike a lot of the other albums of Alison Goldfrapp this one has not lost anything of its strength. Mysterious songs like 'Lovely Head' and 'Human' as highlights still crawl under my skin. It's only unfortunate that the pretentious 'Oompah Radar' breaks the carefully built up magical spell this album has built up. It's not a 5* album because of it. After that break 'Utopia' luckily comes out as the best song of the album. Stellar debut. 4*

Incredibly beautiful. Best folk album I've ever heard. The song Three Hours might've even lasted that amount of time, what a great piece.

Absolutely incredible

According to a lot of fans (and also the 1001-album-list) the best of Earth, Wind & Fire. With delicious funky songs like "Shining Star" and "Yearnin', Learnin'", ballads like "That's the Way of the World" and "All About Love", and jazzy groove songs like "Africano," I can fully understand why this would be the case. On the other hand there's also songs like "Reasons"; the disco ballads style with those abnormally high-pitched vocals, those sterile strings and horns. All in all, a really funky and soulful album. It's just not fully the thing for me.

A really pleasant listen. Not a masterpiece, just good music

This is my 246th album I must hear before I die, and already the 5th Elvis Costello one. Entire genres seem to have been overlooked thus far, but at this rate I'm guessing Costello's entire repertoire has made it onto the list. Now, this might need some culling because not all of them really have the importance or musical need to be there, but at least keep this one on the list. This might just be Elvis Costello's best. Costello, who proves again he's a sort of mix between Graucho Marx and Woody Allen creates razor-sharp songs with rhythm, with a vibe and a sneer here and there. And that sneering clever anger in his lyrics is where his voice lends itself really well for. It's an album that still sounds fresh, even though it's over 40 years old.

It feels like I'm playing the next installment of the Fallout franchise. This is one of the best country albums I've heard and I'm certain there's a place, time and crowd for it. It's just not here, now, and me.

All Directions as an album seems a bit disappointing to me. It remains a collection of covers. But then it has some nice highlights, especially 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone' of course. You can tell they're stuck in the 60's after all. Artists like Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield moved on to soul and had become a bit more socially critical. That also shows a little bit on this album, but for the majority this remains popular Motown. The music is beautiful and the harmony vocals of The Temptations are certainly good.

I never know what to do with The Doors, I'll be honest. So many of my friends and other people I respect their musical tastes off see this as a landmark in musical history, even calling it the best debut album ever made. But I must be really missing something that everyone else is hearing, because this never clicked with me. I know this album well, I enjoy listening to it, and it has some great moments on it (The organ solo in Light My Fire, and The End of course.) But songs like 'Twentieth Century Fox' or 'Take It As It Comes' are just decent rock songs and I'll always nod my head up and down when I hear them in a pub or a party, but nothing more. It's a 3,5* album and maybe some time in my life it'll click.

'Is That Enough' is an absolute great song, but for the rest it meanders a bit too much for me

I did not think I would like this as much as I did. Only had time to listen to it twice, so will revisit

After having found the original UK version; then onto to American version (with different songs); then falling in the rabbithole of why to listen to which version. Finding out that the song order on the later US version is more to Jimi Hendrix' liking, but that he was pissed the Americans left his songs like "Red House", "Can You See Me" and "Remember" off, I just created my own playlist with all the songs of the original version, added the single's and put them onto the U.S. versions order. And was a great 2 hours of dicking around with an incredible album. So here we are: "Puple Haze" "Manic Depression" "Hey Joe" "Red House" "Love Or Confusion" "May This Be Love" "I Don't Live Today" "Can You See Me" "The Wind Cries Mary" "Fire" "Third Stone From The Sun" "Foxey Lady" "Remember" "Are You Experienced?" Now, Jimi Hendrix has never released that 'perfect' album that some people have, but this one is as close as you're going to get to it. 4,5*

I might've liked this in highschool, but even though the beats were really good in places, the humour got tiresome

A surprisingly good album. Britpop avant la lettre and an almost perfect 90's alt-pop album. Will re-visit!

This album impressed me. I knew Seven Seas and of course Killing Moon, but there were a lot more songs on here that captured a great atmospheric whole.

Even though postpunk seems to be the music I am attracted to more than others, this album took a few listens before the penny dropped. And when it did, it really did. There's a rawness and sometimes a bit of brutality to the songs but still with a poppy edge to it. Channeled energy that hardly ever goes to plain noise and shows how artful most of these songs are made. I enjoyed this a lot. Even with Vixen being a pure ripoff of 'Run, Run, Run' by the Velvet Underground

The slyly catchy "Wishing Well" alone proves that Terence Trent D'Arby, these days known as Sananda Maitreya, was the ambassador of soul at the time. The album still sounds good today, despite the typical production cues of the 80s, such as the drum beat with echo and the keyboards on "If You All Get To Heaven", the album's opening track. The sultry "Sign Your Name" sounds modern still though and is one of the highlights. He also shows remarkable singing talents on the a cappella "As Yet Untitled". Later he would not be a musician so much as a personality with grandiose opinions on himself, which distracted from his work. This multi-platinum and Grammy-winning album is a worthy memento of his considerable talent. 3,5*

Rocketing straight into mediocrity

After a first listen I was really disappointed in the album. The first four songs were incredible, but the album fully dropped off after that. During the second listen new songs like "Ready, Able" and "Cheerleader" popped out of the album. A third listen it finally fully clicked as an entire album. I knew Grizzly Bear from when this album came out and thought for all those years this was one of those boring new-folk albums that were popular in that era. I'm glad to have been proven wrong. Really great. 4,5*

I know Fiona Apple from a few of her singles but mostly from 2020's absolute masterpiece "Fetch The Bolt Cutters." Strangely enough I had never, until now, taken the time to listen to her debut album. What Fiona Apple shows on this debut is astonishing maturity. An atmospheric melodic album with substance, and that for an 18 year old woman. One of the qualities that sets Fiona Apple apart from other female singer-songwriters is her voice. From low and cool in the opener "Sleep to Dream" to darling sweet in the choruses of "Never is a Promise", it contributes to the dark, intimate almost poetic atmosphere that covers the entire album like a veil. There is never any sweetness or tacky romance, instead she gives the listener a sometimes enlightening and sometimes frightening glimpse into her psyche. It's encouraging that she hasn't given up hope for love after a traumatic childhood experience ("but he washed me ashore and he took my pearl and left an empty shell of me") but it's a wry feeling to enjoy music with such a pain in it. Because I know what's about to come afterwards, I know she'll grow even better in voice and especially instrumentation. But this is a stunning debut. 4*

Beautiful melodies telling me terrible things

What do you release after a landmark album like "It Takes A Nation Of Millions..."? You harness all that pent up anger and use it to create "Fear Of A Black Planet." Highly political, powerful, clever and all members are at the top of their game. Hiphop with a message. A true classic in music history.

Yeah, it definitely is an improvement of some of their earlier work, but I truly don't get the high scores for an album that's still decidedly average.

As a teenager I snubbed Oasis. Wonderwall was overplayed, the band didn't deserve all that attention, the music wasn't even that good. I'm glad I re-listened to this album later in life. And I've full come around. I like Definitely Maybe quite a bit, but this album is the best Oasis have released. Yes, Wonderwall is still being overplayed, but I can't really fault the band for writing a song that apparently resonated with so many people. And besides, songs like Hello, Roll With It, Don’t Look Back In Anger, Hey Now!, She’s Electric and Champagne Supernova are just amazing. Happy to have (re-)discovered it and have finally given it the time it deserved

It's a nice heavy late-nite blues rock album that came out in the time when grunge was getting absolutely huge. Lenny Kravitz already showed a year earlier there was still a market for 70's rock. So here The Black Crowes came with an album that really was nothing new, a combination of The Stones, The Faces and Rod Stewart. But it rocked. And still does.

I understand this album is on the list due to its impact on popular culture and the landmark in time. But, it's a soundtrack. And it sounds like one. Probably sounds well as background music for whatever is happening on screen. But aside from the killer opening track and the 20 minute jam-session on Do Your Thing, without the visuals, this album is mostly just funky elevator music. Right on.

My first thought about this is: I know I listened to this album about 15 times in 2009 & 2010. But I can't even remember what kind of music this was. It has left no lasting memory at all. And now that I've re-listened to it a couple of times over the last 2 days that feeling hasn't subsided. It's all pleasant music, I don't dislike listening to it. It's clever enough, musically, rhythmically and lyrically. Musically it's in the Indie style I loved back in the day (Yeasayer, TV On The Radio, the whole Brooklyn scene). But it doesn't do anything for me. It's passing me by. And I don't feel I need to listen to this again.

What an energy. What a raw power. What great riffs. What an absolute legendary album.

This is great jazz

Late in the evening, in the land of one-armed dwarves, broken promises, women with wooden legs and dive-bars, Tom Waits is King. "I like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things"

An album must click with you emotionally. No matter how good the music is, how non-intrusive the listens, when no song makes you listen closer and no lyrics stand really out, there's also not really a use to listen to it anymore after these first 3 playthroughs. The Band does nothing to me.

The final, and best, of his solo albums. It goes downhill after this

How have I've only just discovered the Undertones' Hypnotised album? I can't remember having this much fun listening to an album in a long time. And only 40 years too late! Is this the best album ever made? Absolutely not. But this proto poppunk makes me want to move and makes an bop my head. 4,5*

I never realised that all the Van Halen songs I liked are all from one album. And their debut nonetheless. If your 4 opening songs on your debut album are the classic rocking 'Running With The Devil,' guitar virtuous 'Eruption,' super cover 'You Really Got Me' and one of the best riffs of all time 'Ain't Talking About Love,' than how can this be any less than 4*?

That was a fun listen of two great musicians

Och

Another album from The Fall and another album that took a few listens to 'get'. Superb album

It's a decent enough debut album but honestly nothing more than that. There's a few songs that rise above the mediocrity (American Girl, Strangered In the Night) but how you would open the album with a song like 'Rockin' Around (With You)' is beyond me.

It was good to listen to the album when the Stones stopped being a coverband and started making their own. Brian Jones definitely has a good influence on it, but not all songs are as strong as others. A good debut of their own songs, that's for sure

Such a phenomenally good album. Between the Glam of the 80's and the Grunge of the 90's was a small period with hard rocking alternative music like Sonic Youth, the Pixies and these guys, Jane's Addiction. And they were reinventing music as they went along. This album just rocks. The lyrics are clever and fun, Navarro's guitar solo's are the best he's ever recorded (before the heroin knocked it a bit out of him). Just a straight up classic in the genre, and in music history.

I just can't do it. I really tried to find the positives, but after 4 songs I just had to turn it off. Started it up again the next day at song 5 and it was another half-hearted R&B light with more vocal acrobatics than actual lyrics. I tried, but I just really dislike this.

A masterclass in Texas Blues with a thick layer of Southern Rock, and some funky licks. The songs in the middle get a bit less than the start, but luckily that downward spiral then gets broken by the amazing La Grange - A song I could listen to 5 times in a row and not get sick of. "Hey look! It's ZZ Top! You guys rock! "

TAAAAAAAAAAMMMEEEEE

Another great band that used to be a blindspot of me. I was aware of their existence, and even though they seem to fully fit in my music tastes, I never listened to it. Luckily that's now changed and I've fully enjoyed this.

This 2 hour long triple LP has a five star album in here, but is surrounded in a thick layer of 4 star songs, enclosed by a 2 star jam session.

It really has some amazing highlights, like "Right Here, Right Now" (especially with video clip) "The Rockafeller Skank," and "Love Island" I know this album well and after absolutely adoring it for quite a few years, I now find this album to be dragging on a bit.

Westernized Sitar Music. I can't believe of all the amazing world music there is, this album that has been built on the western poppy influences made the list. 'Metamorphosis' is the only real positive on this album. It's the only song where barriers get broken and Shankar dares to take it a bit further.

This is just not really my thing. I appreciate it for the quality though

This is an album where I really enjoyed the music much much than I enjoyed the vocals. It's the same reason I can't seem to enjoy Anthony and the Johnsons. The music, especially rhythmically, is really good, but the falsetto voice, in my humble opinion, takes too much away from it, stands too much in the foreground and is starting to annoy quite quickly. The few songs where it doesn't happen are my favourites.

There are a few albums in this world that make you shout "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS?" every time you hear it. Chicago's 'Transit Authority' and Live's 'Throwing Copper' spring to mind. Parachutes by Coldplay is another one. Do you just enjoy the music, get a little smile when that guitar in 'Don't Panic' starts building up, and sing along with the classic 'Yellow'? Or do you get sad that a band who showcase so much talent and songwriting skills on this debut became what they have become later in their career? Because no matter what comes afterwards, this first Coldplay album is still rock solid, even 20 years afterwards. Listen to songs like 'Shiver' or 'Spies' and there's no denying how incredibly good this is. And anyone can understand why this album became such a hit, with the masses as well as the indie crowds.

It really is an album that jumps between two ideas. The older Britpop era of Blur combined with the more adventurous new era about to come. It makes the album feel a bit disjointed, and not all songs are strong. On the other hand, Beetlebum might be the best song Blur has ever released.

This one is just a bit too much. A bit too much filler, a bit too much extra sounds, a bit too much drumloops.

What is there to say about this that hasn't been said yet in 1000's of articles, hundreds of documentaries and dozens of books on just this album? Mainly my opinion that it's not the Beatles' best work. That would be Revolver.

Interesting to have a bootleg on the 1001 album list Now besides Dylan being overzealous on the harmonica, this is a great time piece of Dylan live.

Teenage angsty straightforward lyrics on music that was the bridge between grunge and alternative rock. With dark over and undertones, superb guitarriffs. A classic from the 90's

Vepsertine might just be Björk's Magnum Opus. Where the albums before fell on occasion more into clubby style electro, this album is organic, warm, subdued, dreamy and mysterious. And every time I hear it I'm amazed at how beautifully everything falls into place. The sudden background chorus in Undo. The incoming bass at Pagan Poetry. The strings that come in to enhance things very tastefully. So there is more than enough to hear. And with every listen I pick something new up. A musical detail or even an atmosphere some song will make me float towards. Details, but also a beautiful tranquility in the songs, even though the electronics simmer happily under the skin. Exciting and restful at the same time. Björk uses her voice in line with the songs as well, so with a lot less reverb. There's no miss on this album. 5*

I started listening to this album fully thinking that this would be an instant 5* for me. I absolutely adore Gary Numans sound that almost feels trademarked. The low droning Vox Humana synth sounds, superb melodies with the Polygoog over the top of simple structured songs. I'm a bit more acquainted with his later work and what I've found during my several listens of this album over the last two days is that Numan has become a much better songwriter over the years. I really enjoyed this, but not all songs are of the highest caliber like Metal, ME, Cars; or than a lot of his later albums.

It really is quite a good album, but that first song just starts it off on the wrong foot for me.

I find Nixon is a highly uneven album, with a strange combination of country and soul. Sometimes it really works out, like on the song 'Up With People,' but other times the falsetto and half-hearted soul just really don't do it for me. Gave it a couple of listens, but it never hit anywhere.

When folk, punk and whisky came together, something brilliant happened. It starts with the rousing title track, after which the musical journey continues through various landscapes. A modern version of the Irish traditional The Broad Majestic Shannon is effortlessly alternated with the dreamy Lullaby of London and the uptempo carnavalesque Fiesta, which again is very different from the melancholy of (Christmas) single Fairytale of New York, in which the late Kirsty MacColl sings. An absolute masterpiece

I know this album quite well from my youth, and the main reason I never listen to this album is due to the immensely overplayed ànd overrated title track. I could never again go past the first track. Now I've listened to it again and with one exception, Life In The Fast Lane, this entire album to me tries to balance the line between emotion and kitsch. But too many times falls over to the latter (Pretty Maids All In A Row, Wasted Time, The Last Resort) that this is an unlistenable mess. It's just really not for me. Glad I did the re-listen though.

All the songs on this album just come at you like a wave of echoey voices, surfing on another wave of additional choirs, bells, string quartets, horn sections on top of another wave of perfectly aligned maracas and other percussion shaking and rattling underneath. Because where in these days Phil Spectors multi-layered, orchestrated, muddy wall of sounds just tires me out, it really did work well on these old mono recordings with the 1960's girl groups where the songs were the focus, not the musicians. This makes this album quite a joy to listen to and is justifiably regarded as the best Christmas album of all time. And the only album I would put on if I absolutely had to listen to any of its music during it.

I was about to write a similar blurb I've done with the other Leonard Cohen albums I've heard on this list. That, even though I appreciate his earlier 60's and 70's work, I'm personally a bigger fan of his later work, from the 80's onwards, and that I find 2010's songs like "You Want It Darker" and "Almost Like The Blues" the best he's made. Where it all lyrically became a bit darker and his voice got that low timbre. But then I listened to this album a few times over. The first set of songs (Avalanche, Last Year's Man & Dress Rehearsel Rag) are the musical equivalent of pure beauty in a successful white / black photo. And where in previous two albums I found the added choirs and female vocals taking away from the beauty, on songs like Last Year's Man they add to the atmosphere. Not all songs are as good as the rest. Diamonds in the Mine feels like a angry country song that with a burst of cynicism feels out of place. Love calls you by your name is a lesser rendition of what was already established on Avalanche. But then we get Famous Blue Raincoat, which is absolute beautiful. It just pours emotion without getting tacky. After that, the album doesn't get to these heights anymore. But for his early period, this is his best

A country & western album that mostly steps in the western spheres. It just makes me want to play Fallout New Vegas again, with the radio off on my pipboy.

Dark, grim, intense, loud, confrontational, lyrically strong, fierce vocals, killer guitar sound. The Holy Bible is an absolute amazing album and the best the Manic Street Preachers have released.

Fun, fast, juvenile, punk. It does miss that extra spark though.

The huge transformation of a band. From the ashen dark wave in 1981 to the acid house in the late 1989's. This is what the new drugs can do and how to keep the 24 hour party people partying. This even was recorded in Ibiza - center of house music. Some really great songs on here, amongst some lesser ones. 'Vanishing Point' lifts this album up an entire point, and 'Fine Time,' 'Round, Round' and 'Mr. Disco' put down a solid base.

Revolutionary album of the first Grindcore band with the mixture of Punk/Hardcore/Death/Metal. 28 songs in 33 minutes. But even though I think it's great material, it has never grabbed me in the least, no matter how groundbreaking and essential it all must have been in 1987 and probably still is.

This one really blew me away and is apparently the absolute best Talk Talk have ever made, there's something new to hear in every song every time I put it on. Definitely an album to keep revisiting

Normally I'm not a big fan of the acoustic singer/songwriter genre. Mostly because those albums lack the actual songwriting to make it good listens. Not this album though, this was stunningly engaging from start to finish, with great lyrics. Beautiful!

Brian Eno fills the A side with nervous funk, rock, new wave and art pop to switch completely in style and then fill the B-side with ambient songs. And even though I keep coming back to this album, I never really jived with this album, but I've switched in my preference over time. It's now the B Side that I appreciate much more than the A side. The A Side is a good idea where Brian Eno and David Byrne would take The Talking Heads later. Fun sidenote: King's Lead Hat is an anagram of said Talking Heads. I'll say 3,5*

Nice and smooth Ramones-like punk rock from 1981 that clearly draws influences from rockabilly, B52's and Roy Orbison ("Adult Books"). And it's clear that the band, on the other hand, also influenced bands that came later. Listen to songs like "We're Desperate" and "I'm Coming Over" and you clearly hear where the Pixies come from. And even though this is really up my alley, it just doesn't click for me.

I'm reading all these immensely positive reviews and calls of 'masterpiece' and I've listened to this album 6 times over 2 days. Apparently I'm missing something. It really is quite pleasant to listen to. The first two tracks really start the album off amazingly but this line is not followed through the rest of the album. I duly recognise how talented the musicianship, how influential and important this album is, but it never really caught me anywhere after a while. Not to say I dislike it and I've become quite curious what their later albums would be like, if they came to perfect their songwriting. I'll start this off as a 3,5*

I am not a big jazz connoisseur. I like to be guided by others who occasionally pass me an album. And now 1001 Albums brought me this one from Thelonious Monk. And I am very happy with this recommendation. To me this sounds like technically challenging jazz with very interesting rhythms, but played so languidly that it seems to come close to a kind of smooth jazz at times, despite the fact that the dissonant tones of the piano always keep you on your toes and make you listen a bit more intensely. Accessible jazz, which reveals more and more the more you listen to it.

I can't say anything here that hasn't been said better by other people before. This album is full of subtle sounds, incredibly atmospheric, it needs headphones and a couple dozens of listens to hear it all. It's a marvel if you give it the time

It's not the best music ever made. It's certainly not the best produced album. The lyrics are simplistic bordering on silly. But not of that even remotely matters. This album is 100% vibe. The mixture of samba, latin, cuban rhythms with French, Spanish, English, Portuguese and Italian lyrics about the joys of life (sex, drugs & music) make this a refreshing, open, relaxing yet danceable album. It there ever was an album that captures the spirit of backpacking, this is it. The album lets its songs flow into one another. Like visiting a new city on the same continent, not too far away. Sometimes just changing a ska-organ for a bossanova guitar and changing languages, while letting the underlying sounds continue and all of a sudden you realise you went into a new song without noticing. I remember the summer of 1999 when this album was everywhere on mainland Europe and probably elsewhere around the world. It captured a vibe and spirit and now, re-listening to it, I can see why. It's clever, worldly and a joy to listen to.

When Trent Reznor brought the industrial sounds to a bigger audience by focusing on songwriting. It's a classic

I will probably be one of the few people here to think this, but this for me is a major step forward after the records he made with Garfunkel. I enjoyed listening to this, both lyrically and musically.

There's not much to add to all that's been said before. Side A and B are different sides of the same story. This is a masterpiece

The album where it all became a bit more experimental, after Black Celebration already made it a bit darker. Not as amazing as the follow-up Violator, but with songs like Behind The Wheel, this is an amazing album and one I like to listen to every now and then.

Really, don't get me wrong. I like this album. I remember when it came out I adored the delicious American blues rock, delivered energetically and contagiously. Especially a song like Howlin' For You got me nodding my head to the music and this album came out at a time when the raw and energetic seemed to be disappearing from rock and indie music - where quite a few bands turned to Synthpop around that time. This was, for that moment, a breath of fresh air, even if the music of course lends heavily from the blues from halfway of the 20th century combined with the T*Rex sounds of the 70's. But now listening back, unfortunately, there are no truly memorable tracks besides the one previously named and there is not enough variation within the song material to keep the album captivating for the full length. After about 10 songs it slowly falls down. Was it a case of style over substance? In 2010 this was my 4* album. Now it's a 3*

At the first tones I really though I would dislike this album. But I kept listening, putting the album on for a second time, a third. And it really kept growing. Some great lyrics, some outstanding song, but also some filler. I can understand why this became a big album and artist - and not just sales wise.

This is just great poppy new wave, under which lingers a dark layer of punk, which is completely in line with their origins in late 1970s LA. Lyrically also certainly much more interesting than the bubblegum from that time. After 3 listens I'm ranking this album up there. Will listen to this a few more times in the near future, but starting this off with a 4*

Sometimes languid, sometimes up tempo, sometimes sensual. One of the best trip hop albums ever made

I went into this thinking I'd really enjoy this. But I've listened to the album 3 times now and I must miss something. It's ok, but not as mind-blowing as some people make it out to be. Enjoyable, but not more than that.

What is there to say about this album that hasn't been said. It's dark, funny, profane, clever and beautiful. Beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.

Tasty, greasy, dirty rock 'n roll nestled somewhere between The Stooges and The Rolling Stones. Wonderfully rattling and rolling and played with style and knowledge of sound and instruments.

I just really don't exactly know what to do with ELO. I've listened to this album a couple of times again (I already knew it from my parents' record player) Jeff Lynne is clearly insanely talented and a great songwriter, but the orchestration an overload of sound takes away from the talent. I liked LP2 of this double LP a lot better than LP 1 though.

A riveting and strange album which I thoroughly enjoyed. But I can't shake the feeling this would be much better experienced live than on record

A really enjoyable 60's sound. Can hear where The Doors got their influence. But Side B really didn't do it for me

Never thought I'd get moved again in such a way by an album. Absolute masterpiece.

What a stunning record by Joni Mitchell, the artwork alone makes me long for a road trip, far away from home. Hejira falls right in between pop songs and some more jazz structures, so that it remains nice and relaxed listening/musing music. This album is especially amazing with the combination of all these songs, written for guitar, with bass, vocal and guitar. After all the (deserved) praise for Jaco Pastorius, I would like to point out that he is not the only bassist on this album. Max Bennett and Chuck Domanico also leave their mark on the songs they play on. Hejira is therefore perhaps the highlight of Joni's impressive discography for me, a beautiful album!

I've heard this exact thing done better by multiple other artists.

A great Side A and a pretty ok Side B.

An absolute mystical album. An A-side where every song is of such high quality that all could be a single (and I think even were) And the B-side with a full concept album of her near-death experience with the woman adrift at sea metaphor. An absolute classic.

I'm reading all these negative reviews here and am thinking I've been listening to an entire different album than the majority here. It's an upbeat album that makes perfect use of these double burundi drums. Adam Ant when he was still good.

2 bangers and for the rest a snorefest.

This is New Order at their finest. With the exception of The Perfect Kiss, every single song deserves several listens to show you their treasure. amazing

It's a good album, but I don't think its Nick Drakes best. This album, for me, just are too many hits or misses. The song One of These Things First is an absolute jewel though. The instrumentation and orchestrations are masterful accompaniments to the song. Unfortunately that's not the case with all songs. The unnecessary instrumentals Bryter Layter and Sundays but especially Poor Boy feel forced. The accompaniment is unfortunately a disturbing factor. Terrible use of trumpets and background choirs. But luckily we still have Northern Sky. A relief from the previous. And maybe one of the best songs Nick Drake has ever written. No matter how beautiful the title track and Northern Sky are, this album is not that strong throughout.

If this album kept the quality of the first four songs over the whole album, this might've been one of the best albums in the (early) metal genre ever made. Rapid Fire is almost speedmetal avant la lettre and feel like where NWOBHM takes off, Metal Gods with its hypnotic rhythm that emanates the relentless march of the robots, Breaking The Law is a Beavis and Butthead classic banger and Grinder with its K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton guitar battle in an almost AC/DC like simplicity is pure rock 'n' roll. I was blown away by this part and then came United. What in the everloving metal hell was that? And The Rage. And the atrocious bonus track Red, White & Blue. Maybe broken up by a few decent tracks, but it really drops the average of this album quite a few points. And that's really too bad.

I wonder how I would've responded to this audible assault back in 1986. This is honestly the first I've even heard of this album and I now know where some of my favourite bands found their inspiration. This is brutal, energetic, noisy and bleak industrial and still sound like it could've been released in this decade, even though it's already 37 years old. What a revelation.

This re-listen of Licensed To Ill was a nostalgia trip. I've listened to this album a LOT in my youth and I still know every song. I very much enjoyed listening to this incredibly fun and energetic album again. Listening and almost giggling to the bashful and playful lyrics. And it certainly belongs on this list due to the impact it had on music. But putting the sentiments of my youth aside - this is not a really good album by itself. Neither is it revolutionary. The music was a couple of white boys doing what Run-DMC had already been doing for years - and was doing better. This brought a bit more punky and ska ('Girls') feeling to it. A few standout songs are still on here, 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn' is still a catchy and hilarious rocky anthem that should bring a smile to anyone's face. 'Paul Revere' and 'Brass Monkey' are standout tracks on this album and are giving a glimpse of what brilliant madness is to come on Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head

A true 5* album. With the mix of Zeppelin like guitars, one of the most breakable voices to have ever sung and the redefining of the song Hallelujah for a new generation, this is a truly superb album

It took me three listens to get into the right mindset to enjoy it. But when I got there, this ambient space rock was a great experience.

The absolute pioneers of the groove and I'm a sucker for a good bassline. And this is about the best of them you can get. The basis of the music is of course Edwards' really fantastic bass and Rodgers' signature guitar playing. The strings and the vocals on Risqué are really great as well and add to the general funk, atmosphere and groove. And it's no wonder this is a classic and one of the most sampled albums I know of. Still. All songs feel about twice as long as they should be. It's made for dancing, but with only 7 songs on the album the long ended repetitions feel contrived. And that puts a little damper on the party for me.

I'll give this a rating between the best song "Everybody's Been Burned" and the atrocity "Mind Gardens."

Ryan Adams is not able to do it for me. Some songs I can listen to, with difficulty. I've given this album a couple of tries, so Ryan has already been in the rematch several times, but I think it is generally too slick. The emotion strikes me as affectation. I simply don't believe him.

I listened to "Listen Without Prejudice" before, and that was a real decent album. This? This isn't it.

I haven't given this album the full attention it deserves in my humble opinion. I've spun it twice, lost track a bit. But what I heard was really enjoyable, well written, and the britpoppunk from The Jam is excellent. Will revisit.

This album is to be listened for the beats, production, invention of the g-funk and the guest-rappers. They make this a very pleasant rapper, and probably the Top-5 of the best West Coast albums ever. But don't listen this album for the sexist and homophobic lyrics or the wooden Dr. Dre raps. Every time Dre opens his mouth, I'm already looking forward to the next verse of Snoop, Kurupt or RBX. And that just takes this album down. Then we have to talk about the skits which are just not funny at all and bordering on infantile and ths bring absolutely nothing extra to this album. The influence this album has had can't be overstated, but when Dre released 2001 about 7 years later it did show he learned from a few of the mistakes of this album (minus the puerile lyrics) and created an even better version of this.

"Highway Star", "Smoke On The Water" and "Lazy" are the highlights on this heavy and well made album. "Never Before" doesn't share in the main prize, and should've been switched for "When A Blind Man Cries" on the album, but even that songs can't diminish the fun in this funky hardrocking 70's classic. 4,5*

Highly energetic and pleasant poppunk album

He has a beautiful voice, but all songs on this country blues pop album are very slick honeyd and smoothed over. It feels empty. I didn't hate it, but also didn't really like it

It's really just not for me. And I just can't hear the quality in it. I must be missing something.

That was a really long elevator ride this album just put me on. It's a little bit of late-night jazzy feel but nothing stands out, nothing makes me listen a little deeper, not even after a few listens. It all just pretty average songwriting, but offset by an amazing voice.

Is it punk? Nah. Are these complex songs with a lot of depth? Also no. Is this an 'anti-american' and political album? Nah, not really. Was this 'punk-opera' the first of its kind? Nope, been done several times before. But is it a fun, catchy and just rocking album? Sure as hell it is!

After a few listens this album was actually a lot better than I gave it credit for at the start. I never really got used to his way of singing, but the songs are diverse and of a high quality

The time in the late 60's where the jazz audience, the cool soul frogs, the blues birds and the hippies all came together and listened to a very stoned David Clayton-Thomas. Because there are so many styles on this album and it jumps from compact jumpy songs to long experimental instrumentals, the album does have a somewhat ambivalent character. But there's something for everyone to be found on this album.

Definitely a bit of a surprise. I was very aware of most of the singles on this album and have heard, and played, them quite a bit in my life. Frozen, Ray Of Light, Power Of Goodbye are one by one incredibly strong songs, written by a very talented songwriter. The album might not be strong throughout - there's certainly some filler on here and the album could lose some minutes - but it also has a few songs that might just be the best Madonna has released in her career, especially the very danceable tracks 'Sky Fits Heaven' and 'Skin' A solid 4*

Not all songs are as memorable as others, but the heights on this album are really worth listening to.

I grew up with people around me worshiping the ground Stephen Malkmus walked on, so I stayed back a bit with my adoration of Pavement. I heard it a lot in my teenage years, never disliked it, but it also never stood out for me, for whatever reason. Still, this is a great album. Unpolished pop songs with barbs here and there, but always melodic. And where the lo-fi sounds really give it its character, I sometimes, blasphemously, wouldn't have minded a little more polished sound.

Point 1: Live albums shouldn't make it on a 1001 album list Point 2: I'e heard The Who better live Point 3: It's still a really good album, a tight and amazing live band So... a 3,5 star?

It's 29 years ago that my brother, who curated the hip-hop part of our teenage years, walked into my room with his new discovery I had to listen to. Re-listening this now, all these years later, I notice that none of the raw, unvarnished grit has worn away from this album. It has fully stood the test of time with its minimalistic samples, spooky piano riffs and most of all the incredible quality of all 9 MC's. A stone cold classic in its genre. And my first 5* for a hiphop album on this list

It's a very disappointing Side A leading into the hippy/stoner/jam anthem Side B

It's a real decent thrash metal album. According to a lot of people their best, but I have a bit of a different opinion. In contrast to the great, hard and atmospheric Beneath the Remains that preceded Arise, I find quite a few songs on Arise unimaginative and log. Chaos AD after this one went in a different direction and for me, that's where they re-found a sense of experimentation, sounds and songwriting. This one falls in-between. Still good. Not great.

25 years old already and still fresh as anything. A classic of the big beat era. And where the big hit at the start of the album has never really done it for me, with third song Elektrobank this album really takes off. And ends in the two masterpieces Where Do I Begin and The Private Psychedelic Reel.

Bossa Nova is a mixture of Brazilian Samba folk music with American smooth jazz influences. And this might just be *THE* Bossa Nova classic. Smooth, ear-pleasing and very accessible music made for total relaxation on a summer evening, preferably in a hammock on a beach, with a coconut in hand and the sound of gently lapping waves in the background. Sometimes this album - and that's mostly due to the sax of Getz - drifts a bit too much into American Lounge music and you feel it might be played in a movie scene where they have to take one of those long 118 storey elevator rides. But it's a very enjoyable warm summer night album nontheless

This album opens with an amazing funky banger with a bass so insanely good you just can't sit still. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a false promise for the album. Its Nasty is also still a decent song, but then comes Scorpio, one of the low points of this album. And it doesn't really get better after that. Side B starts dramatically awful with 2 ballads where the enamel jumps off your teeth. Everything hip-hop on this album is suddenly gone. Luckily we still have "The Message" as the last song. The famed HipHop hit on the record and most likely THE song Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five have ever released. That makes up for a very weak middle half of the album and a reason not to discard this album straight away.

There's just no weak spot to be found on the album. It might not get into the heights of some songs on the predecessor or on the next album, but it's unique, compelling, danceable, maniacal, creative, neurotic, funky and timeless throughout.

I kept coming back to this album and listened it 5 times over the last 24 hours. What a crucial and amazing post punk record. I find it hard to word how this album has been impacting me, but songs like Jigsaw Feeling, Suburban Relapse and Switch make me listen close, to all sounds, cracks and noises. Amazing. I was washing up the dishes / minding my own business / when my string snapped. I had a relapse / a suburban relapse.

Masters of the 3-minute-popsong.

If people still have an opportunity, I can really recommend listening to the 'Original Jamaican Mix' instead of the standard version.

I like Billy Bragg. I like Wilco. I love Woody Guthries lyrics. And yet, this album does not feel like it's the sum of its parts. It's a good album, don't get me wrong, but I do think the album start dragging a bit after the first couple of songs.

An album that when it was released was unfortunately overshadowed by the suicide of Courtney Love's famous husband. On this successful rock album you hear a woman who clearly struggles with life, with all the sad undertones of a tortured junkie. Live Through This is listening to anger and incomprehension. The music Hole produces reminds of the harder work of Nirvana and The Gun Club. A grunge classic

The songs on "American Gothic" are a bit like little theater plays. They are richly orchestrated by Elton John's songwriter partner Bernie Taupin, and sometimes contain cabaretesque melodies, but are nevertheless based on the narrative folk style such as that of Woody Guthrie. At times his voice resembles that of Neil Diamond. And I hear a bit of Kurt Weill influences. And that is really not a negative point in this one. Many great contemporary artists I adore such as Tom Waits and Frank Zappa declare to be indebted to the work of this singer/songwriter so I was really quite keen to give this a few good listens. Still, this album leaves me with quite a double feeling. There are a few songs I really quite rate, like "Waiting For The Moving Van" and I can really appreciate the dark undertones of most of the songs, but the combination with the theatrical and at times bombastic musical compositions and orchestrations makes this an album I don't find a pleasure to put on. I hear and understand the quality, but it might not be for me.

It really is telling when your debut album sounds like your 'best-of' album. Even though side B might not pack the punch of Side A, there really is not a bad song on this record, and when the mood changes I can actually appreciate Things Going On or Poison Whiskey over Free Bird. Simple Man is such a Rock Classic is needs a star on its own.

This is one of those albums that formed me, musically and politically. I was already quite used to the style when this came out, due to the music of the Urban Dance Squad, but this album blew me away. And re-listening to it now, not much has changed.

There are a few of those albums on this planet that get picked apart by documentaries. Every song, every lyric, every sound, every riff on the album tells a story. Sgt. Peppers has that status, as well as Pet Sounds or Ziggy Stardust to name a few. This REM album should be in that illustrious list. An album to listen to again and again, sometimes with headphones, sometimes in your living room and sometimes load at a party. This will give you a new look on the album every time. As most albums in REM's repertoire this one stands on its own again, before REM went into a different direction. Absolute masterful

It will never become my favourite album, but I don't have these feelings of hatred this seems to flame in some others in the reviews here. In the afterwaves of Punk, several new forms of music emerged. In Britain it was mostly the post-punk and in the US it was the art-rock that came about. But from around the years between 77 and 82 the whole music scene around the world found new ways to express itself. Restless, experimental, searching for new boundaries. And Throbbing Gristle is no exception. It really feels these are visual artists that try and put their ideas to music. Disturbing, bleak ideas. With imagery to match. And inadvertently lay the foundation that would later become a million selling music-style dubbed Industrial, named after Throbbing Gristle's own record label. A highly influential album, and something that's not supposed to be pretty, but made to disturb you. And that's probably why this is never going to be anything other than divisive. My wife on the other hand was physically relieved when I turned the album off though.

I just didn't find this interesting or engaging at all. They can sing and certainly are good with their instruments, but the songs are all 13 in a dozen, rock by numbers. It feels like this band isn't even subtop in the 70's rock ranks, even though it's apparently a 'supergroup'

Another album of John Martyn in this list and I thought I knew what I was going to get based on the other one, but nothing could be further from the truth. With a lot more experiment, range, more funk and more introverted songs on just one album, this is an incredible range of songs. I enjoyed this from start to finish.

This is Jane's Addictions Magnum Opus. First half of the album is where this cult band rocks with the best, and especially Dave Navarro showcases his talent. The Second half is the part of this album that has to grow on you. There really is no bad song on this album. 4,5*

The title song is the best the Simple Minda have ever made. Such a great song.

Master Of Puppets was released in 1986 and improved on the sound of Ride The Lightning. Production and songwriting have been perfected and missteps like Escape have not made the cut like on its predecessor. Even the structure of the album is almost identical. The first track Battery hits right in after a quiet intro. Metallica at its loudest. The title track, as well as Disposable Heroes, with their eight+ minutes, are epic songs in which everything comes together. Hard, fast riffs, a quiet passage with beautiful melodies and a lightning fast solo by Kirk Hammett. The quiet Welcome Home (Sanitarium) is then a ballad with a somewhat harder chorus and beautiful guitar solos that eventually builds to a great climax. The instrumental Orion is another highlight. Atmospheric, chock full of riffs and solos and a real bass solo from Cliff Burton. Burton also opens the album's closer, Damage, Inc. With this sledgehammer blow, the album is closed even more furiously than it opened. Metallica would never reach the level of this album again. Master Of Puppets is still regarded as one of the best and most influential metal albums. The metal album everyone should know.

In my memory this album had a lot more synthesizers than I hear when now re-listening this for the 1001. I realized the synths in my memory were actually heavy processed guitars, underlined with an almost drumcomputer-like beat. In comparison to La Grange, which I previously had on this list, this feels like a huge step back musically, but I'm glad they got the money and fame they were due.

3 days apart from each other (thank you randomizer), I've given both "Master Of Puppets" and "...And Justice For All" a good few (re-)listens and have to admit that this one really falls short in comparison. Both albums, like 'Ride The Lightning' before that are built along the same premise: 1) Start the album with a fast and heavy song 2) Bring a few of the epics (8 to 9 minute songs) interspersed with some slower songs 3) Bring out one instrumental 4) Finish with a fast and heavy banger But while Metallica went from the Thrash to more Black Sabbath-like rhythms, the songwriting remains great, it's the tinny and empty production sound that really stops this album from being a masterpiece. Without Bass, without soul, without input besides Lars and James.

"Out with the truckers, the kickers and the cowboys" ... *skip* Nope. It picks up a little bit after that first atrocious song, but I haven't found too many redeeming factors on this album. A lot of it is stockstandard country, with a little interesting step-outs to bluegrass and Rock&Roll. Gram Parsons life was a lot more interesting than his music.

She really is country royalty and this was an album I didn't dislike at all.

A really decent hiphop album with a lot of influence from Clintons P-Funk

Being the first certainly doesn't mean it's also the best

Genuinely gave it 4 good listens over the last day and today, and can now - again - say that Linkin Park is not for me. I was 20 when this came out, and back then this music didn't resonate with me either. In my early 20's this album, and Linkin Park in general, felt so fake and plastic. The methodical songwriting with which all songs end up with the same song structure combined with the wall of sound production and the overly processed guitars irked me and felt soulless. Not to mention the lyrics filled with platitudes and generalities. I understand how people can feel attracted to it, but it wasn't my kind of teenage angst. It's not music I turn off when it's on the radio, but certainly not something I enjoy putting on myself.

This was an absolute joy. Powerful jazz mixed with afrobeat and with a message to boot.

I really enjoyed the second half of this album more than the first, but it's been a very pleasant listen all round

On Bone Machine Tom Waits lets go of everything and is no longer limited by anything. This results in an intense album with primary music. Rhythms that sound like they're making use of anything that can be hit on. Strange vocals between screeching, growling and just singing. But it's also a beautiful album, although you have to put in a little bit of effort for it. This, to me, is one of the best records of all time. A sample card. Moving (Whistle down the Wind), Romantic Dark (Black Wings) Existential (Dirt in the Ground), even poppy sometimes (I don't wanna grow up). And all on bordering between genius and madness. Dark but not depressing. A masterpiece.

It can't be overstated how important this album has been for music history.

Fuck Yeah

There were a few songs on this album that were absolutely blowing my socks off, with Xplosion as the number 1. Also songs like Gasoline Dreams, B.O.B. and Ms Jackson will be in personal playlists going forward. But a few really outstanding songs don't make a good album I'm afraid. I know the skits are part of the whole hiphop thing, but my god, they're annoying and not funny. They add nothing to the album. And some songs just don't reach even half the heights that the top songs do. I enjoyed listening to it though, and this has certainly peaked my interest to listen to more of their work. I'll start at the start of their discography tomorrow.

I can understand why this is being seen as such a pivotal album in HipHop history and Kanye's career. This is his Magnum Opus and it has all gone downhill from here, music and sanity wise. I think the balance was found here.

How has this just gone straight past me all these years? I would've loved this in the 90's, and enjoy it even more today. I can hear where a lot of my current favourite (post-rock) bands like Mogwai learned the trade. And if there ever was an album that deserved the 'rough diamond' moniker, it's this one. The music is not easy to get through on first listen, but after a few listens, more and more is revealed between the grimy layers of guitar, dark lyrics and almost illogical drumplay. One of the most tensive and captivating albums I've heard. What a discovery.

It has been an interesting listen. In my early twenty's I had a lot of friends listening to GOA trance and Drum 'n' Bass. So I was aware how influential this album was. It doesn't mean it's a really good album though.

One good song and one decent song doesn't take away that the rest is just not good enough.

13-in-a-dozen, rock by numbers

"Somebody to Love," "Today"and "White Rabbit" are rightly the prize-winners, with the latter being maybe the best song under 3 minutes ever made. The intro bass of Jack Cassady later combined with Grace Slick's vocal line is absolutely incredible . This also immediately names the strongest asset of the band. The other songs besides those three on the album are nice, but nowhere do they reach the level of the band's two most famous titles. That's not a bad thing, but what you're left with is changeable song material with some psychedelic elements without being blown off your feet. But that song about Alice. And The White Rabbit. Oh my.

A showcase of a lot of electronic music in the 90's, given a William Orbit spin. Made for home and for the dancefloor in one go, and that deserves some praise.

I'm not normally one for superlatives but this was a masterpiece

What a great album and a joy to listen to. Clever music, very rocky and with lyrics that actually made me laugh.

The best of the three Nirvana albums. But where the anger was replaced with more cynical self loathing, the music made a step forward.

Some really interesting ideas and executions on this album. But it's still the fact we're listening to a few film-score tracks for different non-existent movies. Lots of sound that might be better if they were, indeed, used in movies instead as music on an album

Unexpectedly pleasant. Back when I heard this in the 90's I thought this was the music that put me to sleep, but found much more in it than decades before. Must be me getting older. Or better at listening to music.

After the first listen I was impressed with the album, but did think it was a little like a jazz-singer album full of covers. Then I started looking into the album and found out all songs are actually written by Carole King herself. And that the reason I thought it was an album full of covers was because she is just an insanely talented songwriter.

It might not be their best, and a bit more poppy than their previous work, and the production is shite, but I'm still enjoying the hell out of this punkier version of REM

I was ready to bitch about this album, but for the genre it's in, it really is not bad at all. The reason she wasn't taken seriously definitely had to do with the transformation from Micky Mouse Club Girl to her slutty image around this time. Which fully felt forced and fake. Even the title of 'stripped' did her no favours. And that's too bad, because she's an amazing vocalist with a voice that can do R&B as easy as soul, pop and even rocky. The album itself, with its 77 minutes, has some great songs on it, and some terrible filler. It could've done with some major cutting and demoting about 5 to 6 songs to B-sides. And like her voice, this album is all over the place, from jazzy funk ballads, to poppy piano ballads, to soulful powersongs, to rocky bangers. It feels very disjointed. All in all, I didn't mind it, but also won't listen to it again.

It has taken me a bit more than 30 years to realise what a great album this is. Not as experimental as Wowee and not as brilliant as Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, but definitely following shortly after those two.

Grand, compelling and at the same time intimate, this album took me a few listens to get into. But the evening listen on the couch with a glass of wine caught the right mood.

I understand all this has meant for pop music. I appreciate the influence this has had on the later up and coming music diva's, from Christina Aguilera to Ariane Grande. I understand we have a young Andre 3000 and Busta Rhymes on here. I understand how people have good feelings about this from their youth. I appreciate that people like nodding their heads on these easy going flowing beats. I get that people got laid on this with the sexy and smooth R&B. But for me, this is absolutely nothing. I disliked it when it first came out, and I dislike it even more now. Background dribble.

A very impressive 45 minutes of music with a voice that carries power as well as gentleness.

I'll be honest to say that I really wasn't looking forward to listening a whole 2 hours to something classed as a 'country' album. There are few things that appeal less to me in this life. Luckily when the bluegrassy Nashville Blues started I was relieved there would be more to this album. 2 hours is still too long, so I listened to the album in steps. In the end, I feel like I've been listening to a great collection of vintage country and bluegrass, where the old school seniors of the genre like Roy Acuff and Doc Watson play together with the bearded hippies of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. And I didn't mind it at all.

Jeff Beck, Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart are in form on this album, and this lays the basis of the British Blues-Rock that was to come. Some great interpretations of songs. But the few songs written by Beck and Stewart are not up to the level of the songs written by others. An absolute essential album, but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece.

The second Bjork I listened to on this list and another one that's blowing me away. But where Vespertine is about the beautiful sides of love, this Vulnicura is about heartache. So dark and melancholic instead of romantic and tender, but just as mystical, intimate and strong. And it's the lyrics on this album that make it complete. We follow and listen to the story of a relationship that's failing. Björk is taking us from the months before the break-up to the times after. And some of the lyrics felt like a gutpunch, where the music is amazingly orchestrated around the parts of the decaying love in every song, whether we go from melancholy to pain to anger to relief. If I regret us I'm denying my soul to grow Don't remove my pain It is my chance to heal We carry the same wounds But have different cures The album grows and shows more with every listen. What a discovery.

When you ask a pixies fan which album they like best, about 1/3 says Surfer Rosa, about 1/3 says Doolittle and about 1/3 seems to enjoy Bossanova over the four others. And, once again, Bossanova is a superb album from the Pixies. But I fall in the group that doesn't have this one as their favourite. And I've now re-listened to this album a few times over the last two days and to me it falls short in comparison because after the legendary first half of this album I have the feeling of a little bit of boredom come over me during the second half. This album listens more like a straight forward rock album and a bit more poppy than other Pixies alums do. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, because if there's one thing Bossanova achieves is that it sounds like a whole, like an album that belongs together. A bit more than the sometimes disjointed other albums. But it lacks some of the magic and peaks that was happening on the two albums before this one. But it also lacks the sometimes terrible songs those two had and thus is the most consistent of the lot. And I kinda miss the background vocals of Kim Deal. I listened to this with a crazy amount of enjoyment, but it's just a small step below the first two.

A double album that doesn't bore for one second. It's one amazing song after the other, across several styles and with a lot of spot-on social commentary and humour in the lyrics. I finally fully agree that this album always ranks among the best albums ever written.

A decent version of the French electro style, but really nothing more

A really interesting Miles Davis compilation album; quite different from the albums that came later, like Kind Of Blue. Much shorter compositions on this album with a lot less solos than on Miles Davis' later work. And it makes it a really interesting timepiece, but it can't hold my attention as long as as the jazz that came later. Looking into it, the compositions are so short because the music was recorded in 1949 when everything was released on 78 rpm records with little space on it. Almost all jazz from that time consists of shorter songs and you only got real albums from 1950, so that's why. You have to see this jazz in its time, of course, a lot would change in jazz in the next 15 years. So it remains a bit of background music for me. Nevertheless: beautiful arrangements, good compositions, excellent players, good album. And the key role of these recordings in the development of post-war jazz can hardly be denied, of course.

It's hard to describe the insanity in overdrive that this album is. I never made the click with The Mars Volta due their annoying fans back in the early 2000's. But by Zeus, this is awesome!

With the first notes of this album I thought that this was a curious opener to an album. Slow processed guitar and a typical 80's ballad with some cheesy lyrics. Then the synth like violins started swelling up in the background and it all turned to kitsch. Unfortunately the album went downhill after that. What an atrocity.

I had to listen to this album a few more times after being highly intrigued at first listen. The surrealist but dark jazzy atmosphere of this 70's prog album really kept drawing me back in. Some of the soundscapes reminded me of Gabriel-era Genesis. I can understand this isn't for everyone, but I've really grown very fond of this album.

This was already the 3rd album on this list with a rendition of "The Girl From Ipanema." I can hear Sinatra had a blast with this album, but the croon interpretation of the Bossa Nova on this album combined with the quite stereotypical orchestrations of Ogerman makes it a musical dud in my book.

This album might've just jumped from zero into my top 10 favourite albums of all time. What a surprise. Why has it taken me so many decades to realise how awesome Fugazi are. They have always just flown under or besides my radar it seems. There is not a bad song on this album, only highlights. Songs with a dramatic tension, a great rhythm section, immense riffs, basslines and furious vocals.

Even though this album sounds a lot more dated than many of its contemporaries, there are some great pointy pop songs to be found on this album. You can hear, especially in the lyrics, that Mr. Cope used a fair amount of acid in these days, but wrote some catchy new wave. But where with a lot of bands in this era and style I really get caught by either the emotion (The Sound, The Cure) or the reflection (XTC, Smiths) this album brings more danceable songs and poppy hooks. An uptempo and short "Bouncing Babies" as prime example. Too bad of the horn section though. 3,5*

If this was made into 1 album instead of a double album it would've been Genesis' best. But to me, it just falls short to albums like Selling England By The Pound where some of the filler has disappeared. Still, this is absolutely brilliant music.

How can someone so talented be so boring?

Brian Hinton once wrote, and I paraphrase: "Perhaps 'Time Out Of Mind' is Dylan's equivalent of the great modernist poem The Waste Land [by T.S. Eliot from 1922]: contemporary despair evoked through a cauldron of images and echoes" Now, maybe not all songs are among the best, there are certainly a few mediocre ones to be found on this album, and even though Highlands has these amazing lyrics, 16 minutes feels a bit too long. But when you have songs like 'Love Sick,' 'Standing In The Doorway,' 'Iron Bounds,' and the absolute magnificently beautiful 'Not Dark Yet' on an album you can afford a few barely decent ones. A great album.

It's quality, it's proggy, but it's just too showtuney for me

This might indeed be the darker side of Echo & the Bunnymen and what really stuck out to me is how this psychedelic post-punk album really is shoegaze avant la lettre. The album is filled with oriental influences by the collaboration with Shankar (not Ravi, a different one) and quite uptempo and aggressive rhythmic material throughout the album. Songs like The Cutter, Back Of Love and Heads Will Roll are prime examples. But besides these there are also the steps sideways, like in My White Devil and Higher Hell, where the experiments with sounds and buildup work incredible. The more experimental Porcupine and Gods Will Be Gods might take an extra listen but when you do it's fully worth it and they turned out my favourites of this album. 4,5*

I'm thoroughly enjoying the bouncy energy that album just breathes. I'm a big fan of their lyrical flirtation with the mystical and sci-fi. Musically it reminds me of a lot of bands I really like, from TV On The Radio to Arctic Monkeys and from Infidels to Franz Ferdinand. So why is this album not clicking with me? It's got all the ingredients to be an evergreen on my playlists. But 4 listens over the last 24 hours, in my living room to dance, on my headphones to listen, and again while driving, it never got further than a little headnodding and appreciating the lyrics. Can't explain it, can't put my finger on it. This album just doesn't do it for me.

I love when someone does something refreshing with country music, even if it was already over 50 years ago. Wondering why so many have returned to the basic old style if this is where it could've headed

This album does very little by someone so clearly talented

Once I got past the interesting voice and strange saxophone, it became a quite pleasant punk album

First (and 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th) listen. And what a discovery this has been. What a classic, and an album that has stood the test of time. It already starts with the jumpy "Love Song" after being completely overwhelmed by the title track. And then one after another a rare amount of quality tracks come past. Sometimes incredibly catchy, sometimes with the feel to pogo your heart out and even when they take some speed back the songs are superb. This is my introduction to the Damned and are now going to dive into their discography.

A really good hiphop album.

A pretty good psychedelic record with the beautiful evergreen"Eight Miles High". Besides that, "5D" as well as "I See You" are standout tracks. Everything else is of a pretty decent level. The covers on this album have in my humble opinion, been performed and outclassed by other artists. The Byrds did have their own sound. They mixed the style of The Beatles with that of Bob Dylan, with the typical sound of the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and the harmony in David Crosby's voice. I really don't mind The Byrds or this album, but it's not something to listen to for very long. That's why this album of barely half an hour is perfect.

The Dust Brothers really gave Beck the platform to properly express some of the ideas he had in his head. I've had this album in my collection since it came out and have always enjoyed it. Now relistening to it, I find the fun that this album exhumes very catchy. It makes me happy. Not all songs are amazing, and it might not be a masterpiece in music history, but it sure as hell is a great album for any collection.

I'm listening to the album and reading a lot of the reviews that this album among others heavily influenced the sound of 90s (and beyond) soul/R 'n B, dance and hip hop, especially in the UK. That this album still stands like a house. That it's very dance-able and excellently produced. That this was very innovative music for its time. That this brought a very useful broadening to dance music. But all I'm genuinely hearing a simplistic electro beat, and music that has neither soul nor funk and falls flat in every song. I'm probably really missing something.

Amazing voice with very decent songs

It feels like an album of three parts. The first part feel a bit like the continuation of their classic from the 90's. After that the sounds changes a bit and moves from shoegaze into the ambient postrock territory. The album stays interesting but not as much as before. I picks up again at the end when they focus a bit more on the drumworks. The drum n' bass rhythms in 'wonder 2' are amazing. And even though I really like a bunch of noise, 'nothing is' just don't do it for me. This kind of experiment has been done before and better. If this album was released two years after Loveless instead of twenty-one, it might have had a bigger impact but it still is an interesting piece. 3,5*

My opinion on this album is really two-fold. On the one hand this is one of the best live albums ever recorded. You can really hear this is an amazing band that really need a live venue to bring the magic that their regular albums kind of lack. They're bringing their own compositions and covers to impressive song lengths with passion and intensity. Duane Allman is the best slide guitarist I've ever heard. The intermezzo on "You Don't Love Me" is the prime example of this. On the other hand, if you really don't like listening to glorified jam sessions on record while not in the crowd this is a bitter pill to swallow. And you lose interest after the 2nd 8 minute solo.

A huge improvement on his first album where the emotion on his songs mostly struck me as affectation. I simply didn't believe him. It's much better on this album, especially when he ups the tempo a bit. Undoubtedly a great songwriter.

That was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.,

I thought I would like this more than I did. With the exception of a few songs (Androgynous , Unsatisfied) , I never really got into the entire album, it passed me by more than it captured me.

Sometimes a bit outdated but most of the time just incredibly fun.

This album might be a grower. Might be that this, after repeated listens gives away its depths and amazingness. But after 4 listens, one during work, one in the car, one while walking and one with good headphones, I kinda doubt it and am left with the feeling I'm either missing something, or this is just a real unremarkable album.

It's been a long time since I've listened to a contemporary R&B album that I didn't dislike, to be honest. This album feels a lot more intimate and it is helped by the remarkably languid beats and floaty synths throughout the album. With electronica influences from the decades beforehand and here and there a little Prince throwback this is a listen best done while lazying on the couch with your headphones.

Ray Charles is obviously incredibly talented, in songwriting as well as by voice. And it's in a style, soul combined with big band and jazz, that I really normally enjoy. Then why can't I get in this album? It's been baffling me a bit. I find the horn section in the first part of the album annoyingly loud for some reason and I find the second part of the album a bit dreary, even though this normally is also within my style. Maybe Ray Charles himself just doesn't do it for me, but I can't put my finger on it.

'A band imitating other bands' makes this is one of the most eclectic albums I know. It meanders through styles like jazz, funk, hiphop, new wave and pop but the whole album, even though of high quality, lacks a kind of soul, lacks some tension to keep it interesting. What turns me off this album is that every song is being done better by other artists instead of this replicated version. I don't think I'll ever listen to this album again and won't miss it.

Glad to be introduced to an album I didn't hate of a style I normally do.

All songs I already knew and liked, but I had no idea this was all from one album. All on one album! All this quality. Wow.

1 Tablet. 70 Minutes. And not one of them was boring. What an incredible listen. I normally don't really have a soft spot for this kind of neo-psychedelica sound, but this album was different. 4,5*

I hate to say it, but it's actually just nothing special. It's layered, yes, but that doesn't mean that all the layers are good. It certainly wasn't the benchmark in Techno or 'the first time people made techno into art' as some people used to claim. That was much earlier, this was the first time it became a bit more known to a wider audience.

I'm glad I heard this album, I really appreciate the art of this. Music is meant to make you feel things and that's exactly what songs like Frankie Teardrop do. I can fully understand how this is influential and years ahead of its time. I just didn't like it much.

Listening to this album made me realise how good this is. And strangely how much it sometimes sounds like Alice In Chains. But you'll always recognise a Pantera song. Vinnie's drums are unique, Dimebags riffs are masterful and Anselmo's vocals give it just that needed edge. Was about to give it a 4* but re-listening to it again made me aware about how good this album was in its time. And that deserved that extra star, even if it drops off a bit near the end.

This is an album and band that's MEANT to make you feel uncomfortable. Not sure why this is marked as metal/hardrock though. Have you ever wondered how much Queen's "One Vision" seemingly shares a lot of similarities to certain 1930 speeches when translated into German? (Ein Mensch, Ein Ziel, Eine Erde und ein Volk!) Have you ever thought what would happen if you REALLY listen to the lyrics of Opus' 'Life is Life' and put it into a Nietzschean / Wagner type style, complete with a campy totalitarian aesthetic? Laibach is disturbing, thought-provoking and unsettling. And it's supposed to be. And a band that's worth listening more of. Albums like Spectre, Kapital or Wir Sind Das Volk are fully worth it.

For me this is an album with two sides, both figuratively and literally. Side A is 'Walk On By' and 'Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic.' This is the absolute top of soulful and grooving music ever made. Isaac's baritone voice is the extra layer on top of it. 'Walk On By' is the best version of this Burt Bacharach song I've ever heard and even though 12 minutes, it doesn't bore for a second. 'Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic' brings the funk to the album, and together with the pressing piano is a musical masterpiece that can't continue long enough for me. That bass combined with the the impelling drums that bring the song to orgasmic heights. Side B, even though really good on its own, really can't stand in the shadow of Side A. 'One Woman' is Isaac Hayes on the romantic tour. It's a good song, but not outstanding. 'By the Time I get to Phoenix' suffers from a much too long uninteresting intro of Hayes talking over the music. But he's no Gil Scott-Heron and it takes a full 8 minutes for the song to finally go. When it does it's marvellous though. Those heavenly horns and strings. So, a full 5* for Side A and a 3,5* for Side B will make this a 4*

When they came out the country loving people in my surroundings said this was the bees knees and still call it the best alt-country album of the last 2 decades. It must've delivered something in that time that was realy needed. Because when listening to it now, I still don't see the appeal as to why this is such a standout album. Some songs remind me indeed a bit of the alternative 90's scene, others really go back into country territory; and you know when that happens, it's when her accent gets dialed up to 10 southern, where that seems to be lacking on some other songs. It's not a bad album, but I really seem to be missing the greatness of it all. It's distinctly flat, in songwriting and production.

After the first three songs (Rock Rock, Stagefright, Photograph) I was about to start several paragraphs on here about why in the world this generic 13-in-a-dozen rock by numbers pop-rock was on the 1001 Album list. Luckily I persisted with the album and from 'Too Late For Love' onwards it really does get a little better. Not great, but not terrible. They play a bit more with the standard chorus-refrain-bridge and even the riffs seem a bit more thought out. I guess I just really like a different kind of rock. This isn't it.

There really are not a lot of songs on here that would be classified as hit potential. Good and thoughtful songs? Yes, there are enough of those, like 'Haunted,' 'Partition' and 'XO.' Not just musically, but lyrically does Beyonce tell us a few thing from her mind and heart. It's not all the prettiest, but it seems at least honest. BEYONCE is a pop album with substance and never becomes superficial and Mrs. Knowles knows how to use her vocal acrobatics this time not unnervingly with those long stretches, but rather with a lot of emotion and control. The minimalist productions work very well with the vocals. And the album made a lot bigger impact on me when I listened to it though headphones. There's a lot of sonic experiences happening in the background. It's too bad that the guest appearances are of a very different quality. Where Jay-Z and Beyonce together make "Drunk In Love" maybe the best song on the album, Drake does the opposite on "Mine." It's such a lacklustre performance and song it even makes the songs around it less fun, that's how bad it is. Also 'Blue' (with Blue Ivy) and Rocket are just up to the standard that a lot of the rest of the album brings. All in all just a really good pop album with a few deep depths that bring the album down. Remove them and you would have an almost perfect diamond.

When I listened to this album a second time, on my headphones instead of over my speakers, this album kept my full and undivided attention and I recommend anyone that found the sound collages a bit dull to do exactly that. It opened up the album.

Nowhere does it get bad, but it's such a bland 90's pop-rock album, done so much better by legions of others in this genre, that I really don't know why this was an album I needed to listen to before I die. I can't think of any part of this that sets it apart, on equal footing or even above the rest.

Almost unbelievable that this is already over 30 years old and still sounds fresh. Relaxed and Jazzy HipHop, where the flow of the songs into each other is only rivaled by the flow of Q-Tip himself.

I didn't think all the songs are as outstanding as others, but with Dirge, Flying and Aisha, there's much greatness to behold

On first listen, I heard two outstanding tracks ('Darkness, Darkness' & 'Quicksand') but decidedly average 60's psychedelica for the rest. On second listen, more of the mediocre songs actually started to annoy me. Sir Francis Drake has an interesting start but mounts into a blues shuffle that really no-one needs. Many other songs feel like they're experimenting with sounds they don't fully understand. I heard someone say on this album: "They just sound like the best band from a tiny town," and that's indeed basically it. Nothing special except for the two songs mentioned at the start

I really enjoyed the bass on 'Mannenberg,' but songs like 'The Mountain' just make me feel like I'm listening to background music in a high-end restaurant.

Classic. Maybe not all songs are of the highest quality, but it's chockfull of energy. Short and ast times messy songs. Here's the blueprint for Punk. Right here.

It was a solid 3* pop album, with good uptempo songs and some lesser ballads. That's until the Gospel Medley and the outtro. That's when it crumbled down.

In incredibly fun mixture of rock, punk, ska, funk and metal.

It feels like there's a party in my ears, and everyone's invited

I'm quite the fan of the Mali music scene and have listened to quite a few albums over the last decades. And even though I like this album and listen to it with much pleasure, I don't think this one rises high above that of its peers. It's really quite good, but never reaches greatness

The Flaming Lips are definitely at their best when they balance on the tight line between art and kitsch.

I think I already knew all these songs in one format or another by many different artists. It's swinging, and I can see how this would've been popular in its time.

This was really good. Great songs, great voice. And an album I'll put back on when the weather gets colder and the fire goes up.

How has this album almost been lost in musical history, but so many of its peers are still revered. This is absolutely amazing and should be a standard of the style of the time. Before listening to this album I honestly only knew the single, and that's by far the worst song on the album.

A real interesting album where the (sometimes a little simple) satire takes a front seat over the music, but where you certainly hear some amazing pieces of brilliance shine through.

It's funk. It's soul. It swings. It's good.

It hold a strange middle between schtick, hardcore and nu-metal. When 'Wait And Bleed' came out in 1999, it positively surprised me and made me listen to this album. I remember how unimpressed I was with the rest of the album, which I found decidedly mediocre (Medio-Core ? Hah!) I can't say that re-listening to it now, 20 years after the fact, has really put this album in a different perspective. The only thing I'm hearing better is how excellent the drumming was and how good Corey Taylors voice fits the music. But the songs, with a few exceptions, are not any better -and oftentimes a lot less, than that of their peers on either the hardcore or the nu-metal side. It must've been the schtick then that pulled them over the line.

Every song on this album is decidedly different from all others, the lyrics are great and the music has a soothing feel over it.

This is really not for me. It bored me, it didn't bring anything new.

This really is just a weaker version of the Moody Blues. Some songs stick out and are above mediocrity, like the title track.

What a superb album. This might be the best British Ska has to offer. And it's got something to say to boot!

A band I never picked up on in the 90's so these were my first time listening to them. At my first listen, I really thought after the first two songs (and especially "Bailed Out") I found a new favourite band, but after that the album dropped off. Listening to this album a few more times and also the songs further up in the album started to shine, like "Idiot Brother" and "How Could I Be Wrong." Now after my 5th listen I can see how this would be classed as a 'forgotten masterpiece.' All songs are incredibly well written, superbly melodic - there's not a sound out of place - but there's a lot of rough edges. Or 'spiky' as a friend of mine would call it. Reading up on it, this debut is apparently not even their best album. I'll be looking into the rest! 4,5*

I thought I knew enough about music but the classification of this album as 'country' absolutely baffles me. What I think I'm listening to is a great mix of acoustic and electric music, which draws from the 70's rock, roots and Americana, with an absolute amazing lead singer, with a sound that's influenced by the grunge. Some incredible songs like "Jupiter and Teardrop" and "Fuzzy" mixed unfortunately with some lesser gods further down the tracklist. All on all a really pleasant listen. But Country? Really? Am I so out of touch?

I have listened to this album three times and I have the feeling I'm missing things. I'm not getting it. It probably deserves more listens to fully get it, but life's too short

I don't really know what to do with this album. On the one hand there are a few really great songs on here and you're definitely listening to the blueprint of what would become Tommy. On the other hand do the jingles and commercials become really tedious at a third and fourth listen and you start to listen that not all songs are of the level that The Who has reached on albums before and after this one. It lacks a bit of the intensity of others. But in the end it stays a real interesting time-piece of 1967 and by spoofing and satirizing the Pirate Radio Stations of the era, it gives us listeners in the 2020's a good idea about the era.

This really is the most generic 80's music I've ever heard. All the tricks, all the filler sounds, all the exact drum loops. This has not stood the test of time

In a time where songs have become more important than albums, I'm happy to have listened to an album again. I was aware of the singles Static Resistance and Negative Space that have been played on my alternative radio stations, but for some reason never got to listen to the entire album. And it really didn't disappoint, the album is listening to a heavy trip.

Not an album I actually listened to when it came out. Even with how big Blur became it was basically only the singles that I heard. I really disliked "Girls & Boys," thought "Parklife" was great fun, and really adored "To The End." Still, never picked it up, for no discernable reason I can think of. And now, listening to this 30-year old album with fresh ears I realise what I missed. Yes, the album has a few misses ("Jubilee", "Bank Holiday", "The Debt Collector") that after a few listens I grit-teethed through more than enjoyed them, but the majority of the 16 songs are fun ("Tracy Jacks"), clever ("Trouble In The Message Centre"), beautiful ("This Is A Low") and with some amazing lyrics ("London Loves") I can hear musical influences from XTC and David Bowie, but also some more 60's influences than I thought Blur usually had. Some Kinks and even some Beach Boys. It's not a 5* album for me due to some of the lesser songs on here and that I still think Girls & Boys is annoying as hell. For the rest, great marks!

I'm not a big fan of live albums. And especially on a '1001' albums list do live albums feel like glorified 'best of's' But I'll make one exception for this loud, energetic, unrelenting beast of an album. What a power.

This record is particularly famous for being one of the first albums to use the then state-of-the-art synthesizer/computer Fairlight. I really see the album as a kind of musical laboratory with Kate Bush as a writing and producing 'mad professor'. The fruits of the experimental drive are then reaped on the successor to this album: Hounds Of Love

It just doesn't feel like Kraftwerks best work, but I'm probably wrong. Still great though

There is a huge discrepancy between how much I want to like this album listening at home and my actual enjoyment. I remember sitting in the chill-out rooms at raves and gabber parties and fully digging the beats and old style detroit sounds, I remember dancing on festivals until the early morning on the french electro of this duo, but it really has never transferred that magic to a home environment. Actually totally the opposite, it is just irking me and I want to skip most songs halfway through. So what to rate an album like that? I know how awesome this is in a live setting, how great, energetic and hypnotic this can be on the dancefloor, but as an album at home on speakers or headphones it just totally falls flat.

It was ok. Not a standout in the period, not a standout in its time. But, for what it's worth, it's a very grown-up album for a debut by a young band, I'll give them that. They sound like they've been playing this for 15 years.

I don't really know what to say about this album. Musically it's... fine. The lyrics besides being a bit moralistic are ... fine. In comparison to their first album this album is just fine.

What a phenomenal album. It deviates from earlier XTC not only because of the other instruments used and the use of The London Sessions Orchestra, but also the song structures. Don't expect the cynical wave rock from the 80's but great atmospheric arrangements, often in an orchestral guise, but never over the top or bombastic. Apparently the creation of this album and the songs on it took years. Years of exploration, of contention, of separation. And that is audible. And palpable. It's not a full 5* album though, because the 2 songs that Mouldin contributed to the album (Frivolous Tonight and Fruit Nut) are not up to the level of Andy Partridge's songs. It might not be an innovative album, but how much beauty do you want on an album? Standout tracks are Easter Theatre, Greenman, Your Dictionary and the absolute incredible ending of The Last Balloon. 4,5*.

Yup, that's blues alright.

This record is a landmark. After years of listening it's actually the slower, darker songs that still stand among the best songs I know. The Day I Tried To Live might just be my favourite songs of all time. Those amazing drums of Matt Cameron that keep pushing the song forward combined with the low sounds of the bass. The sliding guitar sounds of Kim Thayil and the out of this world voice and lyrics by Cornell. It's a league of its own. But also some of the 4th of July, Head Down and painful last song Like Suicide.

I'm really on several different thoughts with this album and I'll try to put them in line. The Good: - It's a great collection of Metallica material. Some old, some newer, but all good songs. - The band and orchestra are in superb form! James' voice is clear, Kirk never loses control anywhere, we can actually hear the bass and even Lars keeps rhythm. The Bad - It sometimes feels if the Band and Orchestra are more in each others way than playing together and other times the orchestra steamrolls over the band - Not all songs benefit from this supersizing. A lot of these songs really didn't need an orchestra fill and become bombastic due to it. - If you make an album with an entire symphony orchestra, why not write new material instead of rehashing everything? Or do it half/half? Apparently this is a good introduction into metal for a lot of people. But for me it was too full with filler.

Music that hugely influenced my musical taste, part x of n. When we get to 1993 and I'm soaking up all the music around me. My taste was quite eclectic and I listened to Rock, Dance, Rap, Electronic, it didn't matter. Grunge was big, but I never really got into Nirvana back then. The album that made me dive deep into the guitar sound of the early 90's was from the one band NOT from Seattle: Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dreams. This album, and especially the fantastic multi-layered bombastic track "Geek USA" drew me in. It was teenage angst, emotionally draining, music that ebbed and flowed and every note was amazing. Why this album, besides being one of the defining albums of the decade, was so influential to me, was because it made me listen more to the grunge of the era. Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden (who would release their best album a year later) and a whole, whole lot more. An album worth revisiting time and time again. A Masterpiece.

I was pleasantly surprised with this album, balancing between Pet Sounds and Sgt Peppers, with an amazing singer, but a few mediocre songs unfortunately, in amongst the brilliants.

I did not dislike this album as much as so many others here seem to do. It's hypnotising and at times terrifying industrial avant-garde. Pretty? No, not at all, but that doesn't seem to be the goal of the album.

I've never liked the major singles that came of this album, which I now have noticed are all front-loaded on here. "Beautiful Day" and "Elevation" are supposed to be the bangers, but they only annoyed me on release. It sounded like an old rock band phoning it in. "Stuck In A Moment" never did anything to me, not even the hopeful lyrics. The only decent single that came of this album was "Walk On." "Kite," "In A Little While" and "Wild Honey" are all very decent but also incredibly safe songs. A little trumpet here and a couple of strings there in the background to fill the sound out. After that, I think this album is like chewing gum where the nice taste disappears too quickly.

That was an incredibly pleasant album. The combination of Senegalese drums with the jazzy rock influences makes this a great listen. And happy.

I genuinely have the feeling I'm missing something. It's good, but not great. Some songs are better than others. Would love for someone to explain some day why this album is so revered amongst its peers.

I wonder if people who didn't grow up with MTV Unplugged remember how massive and important MTV once was and the calibre of artists that did one of these Unplugged sessions. I will always commend Nirvana for this concert. Even though they were not my favourite grunge band at the time, this concert highly surprised and delighted me. A year earlier Pearl Jam had set the tone for Grunge bands playing the Unplugged concerts, but Nirvana went in a complete different direction. Instead of playing their hits, almost half of their chosen songs were covers or a bit lesser known Nirvana songs that suited the evening a lot better than the louder songs of their repertoire. I also remember being incredibly confused when they said: "We've invited some friends to play with us." And everyone was thinking other huge artists at that time coming on, Mark Lanegan, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or someone. And then the Meat Puppets came out. With especially Lake Of Fire becoming one of the highlights of this album. This was Nirvana at their high point doing something different than their peers and themselves. Great album.

This is excellent stadium rock.

Third album of Neil Young that has come past on this list and the first that finally made me understand why Neil Young is so revered. This realy was a great album.

It's a fun album, and the first song is absolute killer. After that amazing opener, the album faults a little bit in songs that are eerily similar, but it's a party in my headphones regardless, and you're all invited.

What a delightful album. Glad I discovered this so far in my life. The new wave, rock & post-punk started here it feels. Some songs come straight from the punk (Shot By Both Sides, Recoil) and others are proto new wave. Getting better with every listen. Update after full listen 3: Also great lyrics

This is such an amazing album. The songs showcasting every member to perfection. The incredibly warm and intimate production that captures the essence of the songs. The musicianship and blended harmonies. There's just nothing wrong on this album.

The first 3 songs will already give you the full overview what this double album is going to bring for the next 2 hours: Slow intermissions, Songs that perfectly balance the line between kitsch and art (a line they will unfortunately cross many times later in their career) mixed with full on guitar and drums driven 'Siamese Dreams'-style rockers. Not all songs are of the same quality unfortunately and the album suffers a bit from the 'more is less' syndrome. It could have done with culling about 30 minutes of material, make it 2x 45 minute sides and have a perfect album. 4.5*

Guilty pleasure or serious pop-rock artist? Or a little bit of both? And does it really matter? Life Thru A Lens is a good first album by Williams and Chambers. The seemingly Oasis and Britpop inspired music by Chambers goes well with the clever lyrics from Robbie. And it makes for a fun listen, with some very underappreciated songs ("South Of The Border", "Old Before I Die") and a single that in the time never made it further than the tip parades ("Let Me Entertain You") but which I still appreciate and has been the opener of many of my DJ sets. The album after this one ("I've Been Expecting You") was a step up from this one with the writing skills of both Chambers and Williams taking a massive step forward, and the songs "Karma Killer" and "No Regrets" made Robbie Williams fully in the spotlight for me. It's a 3* album. But I'll mark it as 4* for the non-inclusion of his (better) sophomore album.

Listen 1: What in all that is holy have I just listened to? Listen 2: Hey, those are some pretty neat melodies behind that overdubbed voice Listen 3: Why am I liking this? What is wrong with me? Let's see if that preserved and extended version has some bonus material that might be interesting Listen 4: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I might be the only person, but I really like 1980's Leonard Cohen so much more than 1960's Leonard Cohen. If this album were to be judged purely on the 80s production alone, it would get an insufficient score for me, but the songs hold up more than well in a different arrangement (live in London), so my final assessment is more about the songwriting and lyrics so is more than good. Only the subpar Jazz Police is out of place here, but otherwise all 7 are wonderful songs, which Cohen throws into the world with a great sense of irony and even cynicism. That lyrical venom in songs like Everybody Knows and First We Take Manhattan always works an extra degree for me to make the man even be more appreciated. The minimal accompaniment to the songs eventually forces you to absorb the lyrics and there is some brilliant ingenuity woven into it. I like it.

When I was growing up The Cure were always in my periferie, but never front and center. That had to do with a lot of people that revered this band. They tried to get me to listen, because it apparently was music that was fully up my alley, aka 'beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.' And I don't know what happened but it never clicked. And the people who loved this band turned musically into very closed-off people. With only 1 genre and nothing else. So The Cure has been synonymous to these people, that genre. The 1001 album challenge has now served me 3 Cure albums and I can truly say how wrong I've been. All three have brought richly layered beautiful melodies, incredible lyrics and a brooding dark atmosphere. I now, in my 40's, can acknowledge that The Cure has made some of the best albums I've ever listened to.

It's an album that keeps balancing on the spaces between genius, madness, beauty and pretentious wank. I find it hard to pin down, even after 4 listens

It might not be the best album, best singer or even music for that matter, but dear me, does this album make me happy. Best effort from Madchesters most drugged up band.

This album does really nothing for me. And I'm really curious why this has been exonerated later in life.

"Rock and Roll is just Rock and Roll' Johnson sings in the last song. What more do you have to say about this album. No nonsense, straight forward with crude lyrics, without weak songs, AC/DC at their best. There are a few songs that stick out. And for the good listener, there is still quite a bit of variation to be found. The ominous beginning of Hells Bells is such a powerful opener to the album, the touch of blues in Rock and Roll is Noise Pollution is a great extra. And She Shook Me All Night Long ... certainly also has its own atmosphere. And 40 minutes is enough. But after those 40 minutes my neck is starting to feel a bit sore from banging it for 40 minutes.

I really really really dislike Simon & Garfunkel, but I don't mind Paul Simon solo at all. Strange.

It's a fantastic guitar driven 90's album, where beautiful melodies meet heavy guitars.

An album with a PHENOMENAL opener. What a great song. I was fully ready to be introduced to an album that would be making its way into my favourites. But after that first songs, the album slowly ebbs away into mediocrity. It's not bad, but also not really good nor holding interest. Until the last song. But as an album it really falls short. But that first song though.

A monument in Rock music

That second song 'Letting Go' sounds like it was written to be played in The Bronze on Buffy the Vampire Slayer

This album deserves 4* for The Rip alone. And then it gets an extra star for all the rest. I remember when this came out that I was unjustifiably unhappy that it didn't breathe the same atmosphere as 'Dummy.' Dummy was triphop and this felt more like an electronic rock-album. But after so many years, this album has slowly taken its place next to Dummy and I think both albums are about on par with one another. For different reasons. Where Dummy had that ominous and bleak sound; this album is intense, confusing and intriguing and might in 20/20 glasses be seen as one of the better comeback albums I know. A fascinating and compelling 5* album.

An absolute classic with some great songs like Escape From The Killing Fields, The Tower, Mind Over Matter and the title track. The albums balances the Gangsta with socially critical and pure hiphop tracks and that what keeps this album interesting enough over the (long) running time. If Ice-T would've culled a few of the lesser songs and had taken it easy on the skits, it would've been a perfect one.

A little bit less than their debut, but still a great record. I'm definitely more fond of the bluesier Zeppelin than their later work.

I enjoyed some of the songs, and it did remind me of Bowie, voice and music wise. But unlike Bowie, when the album was over, I didn't remember any song I just listened to. And that happened all three times of listening to this.

This really did very little to me. I'm hearing and reading this is a huge improvement on their first two albums and they showed they really could make music. Well, I'm not hearing it.

The suave combination of rock, hiphop, soul, jazz, funk and humour makes for a cool and smooth listen. Colourful stories with lots of samples (that have been replayed by themselves it seems as to not have to pay too many royalties) make that this album doesn't sound dated. Just 3 friends making music and having a lot of fun.

New York Dolls is the ultimate proto-punk album. A glorious mix of Stooges, glam rock, Rolling Stones, 50s rock 'n' roll and catchy pop tunes. I can fully see how this was a groundbreaking album in 1973. So unpretentious, so 'down & dirty', this is rightly called a classic. And you can hear the huge influence they've had on music to come. Fun fact: Morrissey used to be chairman of the fanclub of this gang of transvestites. New York Dolls is a great blueprint of the decadent, less exemplary part of New York city life in the early 70s and a great source of inspiration for the entire punk movement that would come later. But besides that, it's just incredibly entertaining, sleazy rock 'n' roll! Big 4/5.

There really is nothing wrong with this album and I don't dislike it al all, but if you put it among the giants on the rest of this 1001 list, this really feels like a pretty tame and barely decent indie rock album. Musically it is quite well put together, even though rhythmically nor musically it can hardly be called adventurous. And after these 3 listens in the last day, this album goes back in its case, likely never to be listened to again. 2*

I have known this album for a long time, and many friends have pushed me to give this album a listen time and time again. I've actually listened to this from the CD of this album I own. And still. It has never done it for me. It never hit a mark. Never left an impression. It's good, and Dando is clearly talented, but even now, after all these years, this album just passes me by.

I never thought I'd see the day I would actually like a Neil Young album. And I've sat through quite a few over the years and again during these generated albums. But this one grabbed me, dragged me with it, made me listen.

Great music, next to one of my favourite voices in the grunge genre

The problem with always having your finger on the pulse with what is hot and trendy is that it might start sounding a little outdated when it's not hot and trendy anymore

Listening to 'Exile In Guyville' I understand why the critics at the time were and still are lyrical about Liz Phair's debut album, but I also understand why this album did not sell by the millions. Liz is a great songwriter and the album is quite lo-fi, which adds to the rawness of the songs. At the same time, Exile In Guyville is a blueprint for the indie rock that would later be mass-produced in the 1990s. Liz Phair's debut album could not commercially match Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, released two years later, but has been much more influential musically.

Ofcourse there were much better bands out there in this time. But none were as loud and energetic as MC5

It's all a bit silly, really

When KD Lang slows down on songs like I Wish I Didn't Love You So and Black Coffee - ripped straight from the 50's - the album becomes bearable. But the terrible country twang was already outdated when this came out. Looking past her amazing voice, I now know for certain I'm not a KD Lang fan.

This album appeared on my list on the EXACT day I picked up a copy of The Illuminatus Trilogy at my local op shop. I think the Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu are trying to let me know they're still alive. It is so hard rating this album on just the music. There's the book that came out before this album (The Manual) explaining how to write a top selling album, there's the whole Discordian/Illuminatus Trilogy myths, there's the burning of a million dollars as statement, there's the invention of stadium house, there's the whole act. Music wise, the hits were absolute bangers, and I like most of the 12'' better than the album versions, but the low-beat versions soothe the soul as well. It's 3,5* fr the album, but 5* for the KLF. I'll stick to 4.

This was a delight to listen to this and much better than I guessed it would be. Not all songs are as good as others, but the album has quite a few hidden jewels.

I never knew.

I feel bad giving this album such a low rating, because I'm actually quite fond of Khaled. But we're rating albums, and not artists. This album is where the music of Khaled really started to lose me a bit . Too smooth and polished, a far cry from his raw and energetic Rai from the 80's. The Algerian 80's period, when he was still called Cheb Khaled, was filled with amazing Rai and many classics were written in that period. His French 90's period, when he moved to Paris, brought many Western influences to his music, and made his music even more interesting. But here, together with the The Brooklyn Funk Essentials, he rehashes or reinterprets many of his older songs which really could've and maybe should've been left alone. Later he'll make better albums again. It's just not this one, I'm afraid.

Without the psychedelia wank, the Doors are much more palatable. And this blues-rock album does it well.

A great album from Björk, but not her best to be honest. Still, this was incredibly refreshing when it came out and still hasn't really lost much of that feeling. She definitely built on the sounds and only got better over time.

What an amazing album, another one that has been lost in time for me.

It really grooves but it lacks the broodiness of Kyuss. But I think that might have been the idea of Homme on this album. A bit more straightforward repetition in the riffs. And it works incredibly well.

A great blast of Glam, it's the simplicity that makes this album groove. And combining the upbeat songs with some very reflective lyrics. Life's A Gas was a highlight for me on this album, about not dwelling on missed opportunities but embracing life’s joys and celebrating the beauty that it has to offer.

It's interesting, I was born in the 70's, so the first Queen I heard was the Queen of the 80's. A sound I didn't enjoy at all, never did anything for me. Until 1991, when I heard Innuendo. That album blew me away and I told my parents who then proceeded to take out and play of their record collection the LP's of Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera and a Day At The Races. And all of a sudden I understood why Queen were so highly regarded. This is another great album by Queen from their somewhat earlier years. But the highlights are definitely found in the first 8 minutes of the album. The rest of the album is of a high level, but won't reach those few minutes again.

Conjuring, stirring, powerful and at the same time completely resigned to despair. This is so damn deep that I have trouble putting it into words.

Nice voice, nice music, nice lyrics. Just really nice.

Sometimes blues-oriented hardrock with crude lyrics works (ACDC's Back In Black) and sometimes it doesn't

1997 was in my prime music listening years, and this album is right up my alley. And I genuinely wonder how this album has passed me by, not just in that year, but in all the years to come right up until today. It seems outside of the US this has stayed an obscure band for some reason. And I've been missing out, because it is simply a rock solid album. Fresh, sharp songs, melody, great guitar hooks (One More Hour, Dance Song '97). It's not groundbreaking, but it doesn't sound like they pretend to be. This album will be going on rotation for a little while longer.

2* because of Streetlife. For the rest it's 13-in-a-dozen jazzfunk-by-the-numbers lounge. The music you'll hear in the park when there's a band playing that doesn't want to upset anyone.

The swan song of The Smiths. A bit more poppy and better produced than their previous albums, but with the same quality. Johnny Marr is in form, and adepts many new styles on this album without it ever becoming anything other than The Smiths, Morrissey has kept his working-class intellectual lyrics that are as sharp, funny and biting as ever. Tragic stories in one sentence ( “Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me / no hope, no harm, just another false alarm") typical Smiths cynicism ("“And if you think peace is a common goal / That goes to show how little you know”) Or funny while describing the pain every man can feel when he sings it (" I crashed down on the crossbar / And the pain was enough to make a shy, bald, Buddhist reflect / And plan a mass murder") And please don't forget bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce. They are both in perfect form on this album and complete one of the few perfect albums. Yes, we all know what a douche Morrissey became (or already was?) but even assholes can be very talented. An album I gladly keep singing along to.

A very interesting album of a band who called it quits too soon due to lack of success. They feel like the in-between stage from Blur to Alt-J

Received by the press at the time as a dance act of Underworld/Orbital/Chemical Brothers class. But listening back now, this was slightly exaggerated. It has a few noteworthy tracks, ('Red Alert', 'Rendez Vu') but too much filler to call it a great album

When I saw it was a live blues album I couldn't be less enthused. Live albums, especially on Top 500 or 1001-album lists, are mostly just a cheap way to put a 'Best Off' in a list. And while I always appreciate the influence blues has had on modern music, it never really was my thing, Until I heard this album. The ambiance is perfect: the interaction with the audience and a still young and technically very strong BB King who sounds like he's preaching to his Blues congregation. He is accompanied by a fantastic band that smoothly improvise all the songs into one. And yeah, in the lyrics you feel the blues. How Blue Can You Get?

With the influence of Van Dyke Parks, this album sounds as a mix beween the artistic pop of the Kinks, combined with a bit of American folk and country. So might this have been the first country-rock album?

You hear the same craziness Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention displayed, with the same sometimes crude lyrics, but musically a little more punk-avant-la-lettre, combined with hard- and bluesrock in the mix. An artist that influenced quite a few of my musical heroes, so I'm glad to have finally listened to this album, and it was surprisingly awesome.

This is of course not the most profound or groundbreaking band, they bring unpretentious poppy hard rock with a high sing-along content and they are quite good at that. I understand people not liking this, but there's a time and a place for this, whether on a road-trip or an 80's night. I have heard much worse rock being made after this album came out (also from Bon Jovi).

North America had Pet Sounds, Europe had Sgt Peppers and South America had Os Mutantes. Decidedly an album of its era and area, it all sounds a bit rambly musically and production wise at times, but you hear so much quality here. I really enjoyed this one and will pick this one up in the future to give this a few spins.

You know those support acts for the bigger bands that you always think about: "Yeah, this sounds like a real decent opening of the night, I might look them up when I get home," but then never do?

I just can't

Masterfully talented and I'm really glad I listened to this. It really belongs on a list like this and is a great introduction to traditional Indian music. But on the other hand, it's really just that. An introduction to the Raga.

It's marvelous how someone, after making 14(!) mostly decent albums and lots of sales, all of a sudden goes: and now I'll make 5 albums of brilliance, before succumbing to mediocrity again. This is one of those five.

An album that lies completely in my musical tastes. Great basslines, dark atmosphere, uptempo enough to make it danceable, lyrics to make you think, interesting rhythms. Everything is here for me. And still, it does me very little and I can't put my finger on it.

It's on the crossroads of 80's and 90's rap and kinda misses the boat on both. I like my rap, but LL Cool J just never sparked any interest

Between the detached icy-cold cynicism of 'Perfect Day,' to the Rock and Roll animal in 'Vicious', from the ability to tell life stories in just a few sentences in 'Walk On The Wild Side' to the depressing lyrics but beautiful sounds of closer 'Goodnight Ladies,' this is an album that never bores. And when you prick through the thin veneer of glam, you feel the songs underneath. 5*

The best thing I heard about this album was in an interview with Iggy Pop where he explained that they wanted '1969' and songs like 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' to be played faster than you hear them on the album, but that the entire band was too stoned to be able to pull it off.

But mom! I want to see the Talking Heads! No, we have Talking Heads back home in Scotland. You can listen there.

This was a delightful album, and even though a double album, it doidn't feel like it, and it never became anywhere near boring. Not all songs might be of the same high quality, but with songs as U Got the Look (which to me will always be a loveletter to that excellent cowbell) and The Cross (Prince at his best?) it reaches incredible heights as well. I enjoyed Prince knows how to leave things out instead of putting them in, which makes him different from many of his 80's counterparts.

This is unrecognizable one of the great albums of music history. I can give dozens of reasons why this is amazing, from songwriting, production, lyrics, clever buildup of songs, use of 7/4 time signature in Money changing to a 4/4, the centralising of themes. And more. And still. This album has never grabbed me as much as Wish You Were Here or Animals did. And for years I've tried to figure that out. Objectively amazing, personally not one of my favourites.

Holy Post Punk Junkman. Nick Cave as a manic trashman with hypnotic drums, feedback, percussive macho bass lines... Dirty, steamy, swamp fever. This album is one psychotic madness, but a genius one. It sound like Bauhaus who had a mental breakdown. People who have read The Ass Saw The Angel will also recognize elements of Cave's Faulknerian novel characters in this album. This came off the back of yesterdays Dark Side Of The Moon and the contrast almost couldn't be higher. The album version ends with the hallucinatory Junkyard, in which Cave really gives *everything*, his voice almost to pieces, and just about to At the end you hear him coughing his lungs out during the fade-out after that effort. Sublime.

Highly enjoyable early rock-opera. A child of its time.

This really wasn't a bad album, but it also really never blew me away.

After the break-up of Fugees, Lauryn Hill started a solo career. When we look back on the past twenty-five years we unfortunately have to conclude that Lauryn Hill's career has not become what was expected at the time. Despite the fact that Ms Hill ultimately only released two albums, she did have a great influence on a whole generation of young musicians. Which makes sense because The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill is a really great album. With sixteen tracks and more than 45 minutes of music and a few skits that unlike on many other rap and R&B albums do not have to be suffered through, it is quite an ambitious album. This is not only because of the playing time, but also because of the colorful mix of styles, the high-quality songs and the versatile singing and rap of the American musician. Lauryn Hill takes on soul, R&B, hip-hop, rap, folk, gospel, reggae, funk and pop and cleverly blends all these styles together. This album, produced by Lauryn Hill herself, still sounds fantastic 25 years later, partly because Lauryn Hill was way ahead of her time in 1998 and partly because the music on The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill is surprisingly timeless.

"Got enough guilt to start my own religion." Tori Amos put the bar for any follow-up album incredibly high with a 1-2-3 of 'Silent All These Years - Precious Things - Winter.' I don't have much more to add than others with 5* have already said.

Ingenious pop music

I found this unexpectedly good. The easy flow of the music, with the sometimes minimalistic sounds work incredibly well with the message.

There are a few of those bands that make albums where 3 or 4 songs reach amazing heights and the rest feels ok, but not great. But when you take 4 or 5 of their albums together you can cherry pick and combine the ultimate classic. A band like Elbow has that. And so has Badly Drawn Boy. Some of these songs are amongst the best I've heard, but as an album, it doesn't reach that height.

54 Years Old and a classic in the symphonic and prog (hard)rock. Of course Moonchild is always a small stain on this otherwise magnificent album, but lets just be happy that it allows us to rejoice when the first notes of In The Court Of The Crimson King fade in. 4,5*

Elbow is a band that on every album has 3 or 4 songs that reach such incredible heights that they are amongst my all-time favourites. Unfortunately these songs are then surrounded by the rest of the album that's pretty ok, but not outstanding. If you combine 4 or 5 Elbow albums and combine those songs, you can create an all-time classic. But even this Elbow, counted among their best, just doesn't hold the quality throughout. But when it does - 'One Day Like This,' 'The Bones Of You' - it's breathtakingly good.

This album, and Public Enemy's Fear Of A Black Planet, are the reason why certain sampling laws were introduced and why records like this can't be made in the current day and age without being bankrupt before release unfortunately. And it's a shame. https://kottke.org/19/12/every-sample-from-pauls-boutique-by-the-beastie-boys

Where Plastic Ono Band hit me hard, this album has never really done it for me.

Even though Laura Nyro has a good voice, I don't think her way of singing suits me well, especially when she bellows and goes up. It sounds too theatrical to me, and that's a shame, because the songs are quite good. I think the instrumentation is quite worthwhile, but it remains a challenge for me to listen to it in a relaxed manner. So, to be fair, I could do without this album (actually, most of hers) A matter of taste probably. Today, I tried again for the 1001 Album Challenge, but I was glad when I finished listening.

This album was a lot better than I thought it would be.

Well-known recipe of 'Odelay-Beck' with lots of variation and hints of hip-hop, country, folk and electronica. Again cleverly woven together, but not very surprising.

I don't dislike Willie Nelson, but I've never understood how this is rated as a number #1 rated country album of all time. It's got a few really decent songs like 'Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.' But as a full album this falls so incredibly short.

Jamiroquai's "Emergency on Planet Earth" is an infectiously groovy mix of funk, jazz, soul and disco. From start to finish there's catchy and infectious Stevie Wonder inspired rhythms. The bass in particular is fantastic. The instrumentation is rich with with added horns and percussions and of course Jay Kay's voice. A wonderful record to relax or dance to. And really, don't get me started on people complaining about cultural appropriation and 'white guy trying to sound black.' Culture is a mosaic, not a monolith, and it is improved, not damaged, when people incorporate pieces from other sounds or cultures that inspired them. How is honoring your favourite artists, in Jamiroquai's case Stevie Wonder, all of a sudden not done? It's an enjoyable funky record, clearly inspired by some of worlds greats.

Back to the start after some poppier electronica suits Goldfrapp well

A really enjoyable album and I'm glad I've finally heard it. About 4 years after the release of this album I became a fan of The Levellers, and their influences can definitely be said to be the Pogues, Waterboys and the Clash. That's why this list works, I've now been much easier been able to pinpoint where my favourite bands got their sounds from.

This was an incredible album and I enjoyed this immensely. It reminded me a bit of Alan Wilder's Recoil but newer. I've listened to it thrice over the last day and I'm currently and for this list putting it at 4 stars. But this album will make its way back into my playlists and I wouldn't be surprised if this became more over time

An album where you just hear the Voodoo creeping out of the New Orleans swamps. Slowly.

Psychedelia mixed with Celtic folk melodies Medieval and Middle Eastern arrangements plus quite some Asian instruments. It's a landmark in psychedelic folk music and influential for years to come. It might not be the best album of all time, but it's intriguing and I'm glad to have listened to it.

In amongst the (deserved) adoration for Innervisions and Songs In The Key Of Life, this album sometimes seems a bit overlooked. This one is a bit more melancholic, more subdued in character than the other two albums, but in regards to songwriting is not much less than the other two. This is Stevie Wonder at his (1970's) prime

It's my least favourite band in one of my favourite genre's of music

Not a single bad song on this album that grabs back to his Berlin trilogy time. Marvelous.

Some really interesting ideas on this album. But like the other Barry Adamson album on this list (Did we really need two?) it's still the fact we're listening to a few film-score tracks for different non-existent movies. Lots of sound that might be better if they were, indeed, used in movies instead as music on an album

Don't know if it was my expectations of a such famous band, this album was decidedly mediocre. Maybe even a bit less than mediocre. It's a whiff of folk, mixed with white people blues, with a sprinkle of country and some psychedelics. And it excels in none. This is so incredibly bland that I now have to read up on how this became such a household name in counter-culture. Because it can't have been the music.

I never realised just how good 10cc actually was. This album was just spot on. A great balance of silliness, pretentiousness, satire and good old rock.

After so many good hiphop albums on this list, this was bound to happen. An entire music style built for saying a lot in a short time. But after having finished this album I don't think anything of substance has been said in an entire hour. I feel dumber having listened to it. I'll be back in the other corner of hip-hop.

I enjoyed this album much more than I thought I would judged on the last album I heard. This one though is a feast to listen to, even if it's a bit front-loaded and trails off a little at the end.

This is of course a good album, but I think it is a shame that many songs are simply turned away or faded out, sometimes in the middle of a solo. And compared to his other albums, there there are four songs from the top level of those records. These are Little Wing, Spanish Castle Magic, Castles Made Of Sand & Bold As Love. Wait Until Tomorrow is not bad either. But the rest is still below the usual level of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Especially some of the songs where they slow down are good. And I'm hearing the first real steps of blue-eyed soul.

Again, my least favourite band in one of my favourite genre's of music

Between the harmonies, songwriting, production and revolutionary chord progressions that are still used all over the world today, this is such a phenomenal album that its minor flaws can be easily forgiven.

Man, it's too bad that the crazy eventually completely won the battle with talent in this dude.

This album exceeded all my expectations. What a concept album! An album with a theme that could almost no longer be made these days; social media would explode. Now it was also quite provocative in 1971, but 2 years earlier the big hit "je 't aime, .....moi non plus" was released by this Serge Gainsbourg and his muse and partner Jane Birkin, which already caused quite a stir. Now Serge liked provocations and the more reactions that generated, the better. Much later he managed to shock half of France with 'Lemon Incest' sung by him and his very young daughter Charlotte, accompanied by a clip that again caused quite a stir. In any case, the story of 'Histoire de Melody Nelson' is not complicated. A 40-year-old man drives a Rolls Royce in a somewhat seedy neighborhood and muses about his life. Not paying attention, he runs over a young, doll-like girl on her bicycle. He seduces her and after a short passionate relationship (a cooing Jane Birkin in L'Hotel Particulaire) Melody leaves back for England, but her plane crashes. The record is first and foremost an ode to Serge's muse and long term partner Jane Birkin: Melody is a conjugation of Jane Birkin's middle name and Nelson was a national war hero and also a hero of Jane's father. You will of course also recognize 'Lolita' by Nabakov, a book that immediately appealed to Serge Gainsbourg. The music, especially the first song of 7.5 minutes, is particularly sultry with the languid, lazy bass, the organ and the unruly guitar. It's easy to imagine why this record was such a source of inspiration for the trip hop movement from the 90s (Tricky, Portishead et al). Serge talks sometimes, then sings, and musically it is almost impossible to imagine what comes next. It's a complete musical spectrum of funk, soul, jazz rock, but also strings and a whole choir. The music was not written by Serge, but by his friend Jean Claude Vannier who might've made his best work of a lifetime. Superb

What a superb collage of sounds, from ambient to upbeat, from languid to dramatic.

You expect absurd entertainment and you get entertaining absurdism

This is it. This is the most enjoyable album of the 2000's The clever and funny lyrics, the incredible speed and hooks, youthful rock&roll and not a song to be skipped. Songs about being denied entry to the club, underage drinking, tarted up girls, boredom and fake tales. These are the incredibly relatable and lived stories of your late teens and twenties. 41 minutes of unpretentious clever fun.

Fire Of Love is an album clearly made on bad drinks and questionable medicines, and suitable for fans of the raw, hyped-up, uncontrolled feel of the first Pixies albums or the late punk. And this is not even their best work

The quality of this album far exceeds my enjoyment unfortunately

A spoken word / hiphop album that tells a story of lost money, relationships, cheating, drug use, clubbing and gives a very 'common-UK-man' of the early 2000's vibe. Back when this came out, Fit But You Know It and Dry Your Eyes were everywhere, but I was more enamored with the better storytelling of the one-pill-too-many-night of Blinded By The Lights. This album was a refreshingly original new direction for UK hiphop, but the execution was somewhat lacking. The production of the songs is all over the place and while the talking/rapping gets annoying at times, you do really want to keep on listening what he has to tell. I haven't heard this album in a while and it doesn't fully hold up with how strong I thought it was. 3,5*

Some guys jamming, but it got a bit out of hand, and now it's on a record

Yeah, it's ambient, but ambient on a artistic level

Modern Cosmology is a very versatile album worth exploring. From the first to the last note. I only knew The Architect and really liked that song when it came out, but never explored the rest of Jane Weaver's discography for some reason. I'm glad I did. There's so many influences on this album, from 80's disco, to Velvet Underground, Gary Numan or OMD. And Jane weaves (heh-heh) it all as one whole.

At first I didn't really know what to do with this album. It showcases a wide range of emotions, musicality and styles and I didn't feel it was an album as a whole. But slowly with listening a second and third time (only the album, not the lesser 4 bonus tracks) it is really growing on me. The Midlake flute and subtle orchestrations in Marz, the anger in JC Hates Faggots - writing away the hypocrisy of religion and homosexuality in his youth -, the humour in Chicken Bones, it all fits. I'm also glad that the album balances the heavier songs with the fluffier. An album that will go a few more times into rotation after this last 24 hours. I'm intrigued.

A great combination of Subsaharan, Blues and Folk. Something unique and some songs have a hypnotising beauty.

A very enjoyable funky listen, but the songs really differ in quality too much to call.this a good album

Besides a few standout tracks, this was an entirely forgettable experience, and I was expecting so much more from this.

A technically outstanding jazz record, and recorded in a day, while also recording a second album. Especially the bass solos are a joy to behold. But the album never grabbed me, never made me really listen. I liked it, but didn't love it.

Yes, the riffs are good and they're all great musicians , but the songs and Dave's voice are just not there yet. That would come later, this just wasn't it yet.

This was a great debut of a young rock band looking for their sound. A definite 90's alternative UK rock album, where you hear influences from 90's punkrock (Lose Control) to britpop (Goldfinger), songs that were found in the attic of Iggy & The Stooges (I'd Give You Anything) or could have been covers of Fountains Of Wayne (Girl From Mars). All in all a very enjoyable experiences. But not one of the greats, despite what the British Music Press tried to make us believe in 1996

I understand why you would want to preserve an album like this. All these traditional songs to be saved for posterity. But my enjoyment of this album is another matter

When I heard this album all those years back, I couldn't do too much with it (that voice!) and it started to feel a bit boring after the 4th song. So where I followed bands like The Melvins, this band never stayed really with me. But I'm glad I now gave it a second listen. And then a third. And at the time of writing this, now my fifth. And I'm completely converted. The lo-fi wall of rock noise jumps straight into your living room, the unpolished but virtuoso solos are making you sit up and an immense creativity in the songwriting just adds to it. Even the voice adds to the sound. What a landmark in rock history!

Back in the late 90's, early 2000's you had two bands that got shared under that weird header 'Nu-Metal' that you would find on almost every summer music festival in Europe: Deftones and KoЯn. One band I absolutely adored the music and albums of. Around the Fur and especially White Pony were landmarks for this new sound. Heavy with a deep underground layer of angst, superb songwriting, the Deftones were fantastic. Korn on the other hand were lyrically childish, musically only had one trick and were by all measures uninteresting. Live though, it was a different story. Deftones just plain sucked. Every time. I don't think I've ever seen them perform well. The sounds and atmosphere they created on their albums never made it to a live experience. And Korn went the other way. They were able to make even the biggest hater of their music dance and jump and get a little smile on their face when all their fans did the back on forth on Reclaim My Place. Now back listening to this album... It really has not stood the test of time and wasn't really good to begin with. I think "Got The Life" is the only redeeming feature on an otherwise dull experience. I will never have to revisit this. I'd see them live though if they were at a festival again.

Great music, superb flow, infantile lyrics

This was the album that woke everyone up to the fact we had finally abandoned the 80's. And because of this a huge wave of alternative music hit the markets and made artists look for new and better ways. But being that influential and important does not always mean it's a great album. Now don't get me wrong, I like this album a lot. But it doesn't mean it was the best album of that time period or of the Grunge genre. Hell, this isn't even the best album of Nirvana.

There's only one reason for this album, and it does that reason well

This album might be a bit less dynamic as their two previous ones, but the album still stands as a great product of the heavy rock in the 90's. Good funky hardrock with especially space for the bassguitar to excel, lyrics with a message, highly political, and a superb voice of lead-singer Skin. This band was massive in Europe in the 90's and I think I certainly didn't give them the credit back then they deserved. They fit my musical and societal tastes like a glove.

It's a lot of fun, with lyrics that keep surprising.

As with most live albums on this list, this would've needed to be experienced, not really listened to afterwards

According to my brother this is the best of the WuTang solo records, but I've never really understood that statement

A personal, honest and raw album, almost to a fault. We hear pain and frustration dripping out of the speakers. It was a brave release, very minimal in its production, which is a relief after the bombastic later records of the Beatles. Because this is really a therapeutic album for Lennon it seems, he sometimes forgot to also make some of the songs more memorable.

Green Day never sold out. They didn't change their sound to reach a bigger audience. Almost none of the bigger pop punk names of the era did. It's just that their music became popular all of a sudden on the wave of more rockier alternative music in the early to mid 90's. And while this might not be greatest of all albums, it's full of youthful enthusiasm and lyrics that are ripe to sing along with. Which I have done, very loudly, this last day.

Amy Winehouse is clearly influenced by 60s soul and reggae, but still has her own style, singing and lyrics, immensely complemented by the production of Mark Ronson, who was able to put the 60's sound in a modern jacket. Amy Winehouse is perfectly capable of singing over the wonderfully full sound that Ronson is able to produce and with her - here still relatively unintoxicated - enthusiasm and great voice, she knows how to lift songs to a higher level. I think that's incredible, especially when you realize that she has put this old style back on the map with her music. It has taken me a couple of years to realise what a classic this album has become. But almost 20 years old now and a song like Back To Black, the highlight of the album, still brings shivers down my spine.

It's good, but not great. Lyrics miss the mark, even though the subjects are interesting. Musically the album starts off very strong with the first couple of songs, but then fizzles a bit to the end. It's about 20 minutes too long.

I'm now 746 albums into this list, and something that I've noticed is that albums that have pioneered genres are in most cases not the best ones. Ideas and guts aplenty, but not the ability to really put it into cohesive songwriting (yet) And then there's this one. Not from the sunny beaches of California, but from the grey streets of Birmingham, a polluted city that was being rebuilt after WWII bombings with brutalist monstrosities. And such a city makes way for the first two albums of Black Sabbath, albums that still reverberate throughout the ages. If you have War Pigs, Paranoid, Planet Caravan and Iron Man on side A, showcasing Iommi and Butlers quality with the downtuned sounds. Osbourne's lyrics have also taken a major step forward here, with War Pigs' anti-war rhetoric still very much on point 55 years later. Only minor attach on this album is that on side B they're giving Bill Ward his spotlight as well. And while a really good drummer, the drum-solos break the album up and feel unnecessary. So maybe not perfect, but nigh on. And one of the most influential albums on hardrock, stoner rock and heavy metal there ever was.

I really don't remember this album being this bad. What was I thinking at the time?

I believe that in retrospect this album and its genre were a bit less important than many people in the British and Dutch press made me believe at the time. Brown Paper Bag is still an absolute diamond though, what an incredible song.

I don't rightly know what it is, but CSN&Y just aren't for me. I've now listened to most of their albums and their solo work, but none has really stuck out.

I have such a soft spot for Joni Mitchell I've noticed. Musically and lyrically. This album as well, with its wide range of styles, from folk to pop to jazzy and we're even rocking on some songs. This might not be as perfect as Blue or Hejira but it's close.

Clever, punk, political, one of the most exciting albums I've heard

It's ok. A bit bland, a bit boring.

Fantastic album from Drive Like Jehu. It's a great post-hardcore record full of passion, energy, intensity, and incredible noise. It brings together a perfect balance of hardcore, punk, no-wave, and post-rock where the quieter parts are a bit Slint-like and the hard energetic parts are very reminiscent of Fugazi from the same era. No wonder this is slowly starting to gain a justified reputation as an overlooked masterpiece of its time.

It cannot be overstated how much I love this album. The songwriting of Cantrell in a dark minor, the guitar solo in Junkhead, the vocal harmonies and how the voices of Cantrell and Staley go so well together, the music that's holding that edge between grunge and metal, the tuning of all instruments in e flat to give it that dark texture, the pained and tortured lyrical poetry of Staley and that there is just not a single bad moment on this album.

Jean-Michel Jarre shows here, for me, that being a pioneer doesn't automatically means that the music will be really good. I was a fan of this type of music in the 80's - my earliest memories are from Kraftwerk, Der Plan, Tubular Bells and Jarre - which made its way into more synthesizer music during my life. Jean-Michel Jarre certainly uses warm analog synth sounds here and even organs, but the music keeps falling between ambient and emptiness, where he plays with new sounds on this new found musical instruments. But I'll be honest: the first 3 parts I found almost grating, where after Oxygène 4, but especially 5, the album picks itself up a bit. I remembered this more fondly than this re-discovery was able to give me, I'm afraid

This really was something when it was released, but in retrospect I have to admit their second album is a lot better and is the one I still put on my record player every now and then. The first four songs on here have luckily really stood the test of time, but after 'Three Little Birdies Down Beats' the album drops off in the middle with uninteresting and at times - dare I say it - even boring beats, but luckily picks itself up again with Life is Sweet. Still, it's nice to hear this again after all these years. No matter how many synthesizers, drum loops and samples are used on this album, almost everything sounds warm and organic and lively. It's a 3,5* album

So let me pre-empt this small review by stating that Brian Warner is human filth. I hope the reckoning will come. This album however is the peak of Marilyn Manson (the band's) discography. This album is raw and energetic and brings the whole thing, where the album is more than the sum of its parts. The lyrics with their scathing attacks on corruption, societal hypocrisy and religion. Graphic designer P.R. Brown's artwork with its impressive packaging and dual covers. The bleak, aggressive and claustrophobic song material by a very talented band is backed a lot by Trent Reznors incredible unsettling production which creates an almost nihilistic atmosphere: it's all there. It all culminates in "The Reflecting God," already an hour into the 70 minutes. This song where the protagonist (antagonist) of this concept album gets to the end point. Full of riffs, style changes, warped sounds, aggressive crowd sounds and clever lyrics. This album was an assault and stands as a classic in the industrial metal.

Pure, raw, emotional energy, with a good portion of noise. Completely helped by the famous minimalist touch of Albini's production, which makes the album sound claustrophobic at times and straight in your face at others. When PJ Harvey turns to storytelling, it's always injected with a lot of dark humour, but when the songs turn autobiographical the music and lyrics are seething with anger and lust. This album is incredible

This was the darling band of a lot of my friends growing up. And while I agree that this is Wilco's best, the album really could've done with some culling of the lesser gods on this release.

When the Talking Heads lost themselves on a tropical dancefloor

Until further notice, this is unequivocally the best hip-hop album of all time. The length plays a major factor in this: 9 great songs without unnecessary fat or unfunny skits. 40 minutes of gold. Many other hip-hop acts could take a cue from this. Then there's the beats & rhymes. The dark energy coming from the creative beats and samples create a coherent, lively soundscape on this album that would appeal to the imagination even without lyrics, while all influenced by gritty jazz sounds of years gone by. And of course also the content of the lyrics, which guide you through the rough streets of New York and his personal psyche, which is based on the cover are symbolically inseparably intertwined. In short: This is the closest I've ever heard hip-hop come to perfection.

It's a classic of the Outlaw Country genre, but I'll be honest that for me the big redeeming factor of this album is its runtime of 27 minutes. It's really not overstaying its welcome. The first track was a bit country rock and I was looking forward to a bit more Honky Tonk, but the rest of the album was a lot more pure country. I fully understand why this is considered a classic in its genre. But its genre is just not for me.

It's just not his best work I'm afraid. It's never bad, but it might be the production that makes it sound a bit emptier to me

A (semi-)classic of the early hardcore punk. 15,5 minutes, 14 songs. It's one of the albums I had looked up earlier because of NOFX's song "Two Jealous Agains" which speaks about merging record collections with a new partner and now has so many 80's punk albums double, with the mention "We now have 31 minutes of group sex"

Big Sur was such a great summer hit in 2003, a superb song for cruising, and most of the singles of this album still hold up. The whole of it is certainly ok. Uncomplicated, with a nice retro sound and a great background sound album

I can hear there's talent here, but the album devolves quickly into a 13-in-a-dozen pop-by-numbers exercise

Delightful album by a bunch of teenagers who take you on a grand tour of music and style history. As many ideas in music as the cover shows it will be.

The music of this roguish trio distinguishes itself positively from most other synthpop bands of this era, because they sound a lot less dark, cynical and generally arty-farty. That's not to say that their lyrics have the same positive vibes. Great album and a superb debut

Uncomplicated rock 'n' roll with some southern swamp influences: Nonchalant and the perfect music for a rock cafe.

After the second and third listen I started to really enjoy this album more and more. A good cross between psychedelica and the start of prog/symphonic rock with some soul influences.

This is my introduction to the Beta Band and the first listen made me straight want to go to a second. And third. So this album has been on at any opportunity I could find. With headphones, in the car, or just my home stereo. And with every listen another layer in a different song makes itself known, which was even more surprising since it seemed like a bit toned down indie electro at the start with some trip-hop influences. But there's so much more to it than I thought. I will be playing this a lot on the coming months and it might slowly make its way into my favourite albums. What a discovery! 4,5*

I don't know what it is with Steely Dan. I objectively should really like this music. It's clever, well written and they're great musicians. But I always feel like something's missing. And I can't put my finger on it. I don't dislike Pretzel Logic, but it also doesn't make me sit up and really want to listen to it.

When I'm in the mood for this, it's 5*, when I'm not, it's a 3*

This was quite a fun debut album from this Welsh band, but it took until their second album till they dared to step outside of this standard rock comfort zone. Only the first (and shortest) song on this album is really memorable.

First listen didn't really do much for me, but the album got increasingly more pleasant with every listen. This is a timeless album, while also being a child of its time, romantic and subdued with a psychedelic touch here and there. Certainly "No Man Can Find the War", "Pleasant Street" and "Phantasmagoria in Two" are beautiful songs.

Tusk doesn't do it for me. I can indeed hear that it is all a bit more experimental, but it's Fleetwood Mac Experimental. It creates a few songs that I can hardly sit through. Amazingly, almost all of them are Buckingham songs. The title track jumps out a little for me. For the rest, there is a lot of mediocre stuff that goes in one ear and out the other. Tusk doesn't feel like an album made on autopilot, but neither does it feel like an album that has a clear vision. Three captains on a ship, so to speak. I understand that a second 'Rumors' was not desirable from Buckingham's perspective, for me it just doesn't make for an album that I really enjoyed. Not something that annoyed me, but I really don't understand the high scores.

With its warm production, tasteful orchestrations and of course beautiful voice, this album grabbed me from start to finish. 'The Seventh Seal' and especially 'The Old Man's Back Again' are incredible

In order: Excellent Voice Good Musicianship Decent Production Below-par Songwriting Terrible personal enjoyment

Reading up on the production of this album, the 8 months of recording that were spent on getting the perfect drum sounds by using the high-hat sounds of one drummer, the kick-drum and tom sound from another on the same track, how a whole bunch of session musicians of the highest caliber are credited on this album, to create the sound that was needed for this album to be perfect. Reading on the switch between analog and digital recordings. On the songs that are stitched together from multiple takes. To make this production sound that has been revered by audiophiles across the globe. What makes me so upset about that is that the end result is an overproduced, uninspired smooth-pop-jazz album, that could've been given a bit of leeway if it also didn't include a song like Ruby Baby, which really is an atrocity to make it to an album after 8 months or recording.

Another Morrissey album in this list and one that could likely be considered his best work to date, with closing track Speedway possibly the best solo song he has released. "All of the rumours keeping me grounded I never said that they were completely unfounded And all those lies, written lies, twisted lies Well, they weren't lies, they weren't lies, they weren't lies"

The album is completely being carried, and feels like whole, due to the amazing guitarwork from Jeff Beck. Besides that there's some great songs on here, as well as some decidedly mediocre tunes.

An incredible fun album with an eclectic range of music from surf to electro to rock

This really is quite the statement on a debut album. Political lyrics and the ultimate mesh of styles make this an interesting listen, but definitely not a relaxed one. From Brazilian Funk to Sri Lanka Jungle, with guerilla style rapping, it's uptempo, it's refreshing but also an attack on your senses.

There was a time when this singles-band was the biggest thing on the planet, but personally, I don't find it a big loss they've mostly been forgotten.

I find it strange that every time I see Brian Eno, I have a negative reaction, yet every time I listen to one of his albums, I thoroughly enjoy it. There seems to be a disconnect in my head between my automatic dislike of Eno and my actual enjoyment of his music based on my memory. Now listening to the Warm Jets. On Side A of this album, you can really hear his roots in Roxy Music and the glammy arty poprock with a touch of avant-garde. On Side B, there are hints of where Eno would be heading in his career, with more ambient parts and increased strangeness and nonsensical lyrics. At the time of its release, the album broke musical boundaries. Although it's not revolutionary now, it still retains its freshness and charm.

An album produced by some of the greats in the Hip Hop Industry in the late 80's, from De La Soul to KRS-One to The 45 King (who, after listening to A King and Queen Creation could indeed better stick to producing and not pick up a mic). Queen Latifah shows she can MC with the best on this album, has a good flow and can adjust to laid-back beats like on 'The Pros' and even hold up marvelously on the much harder Boogie Down Productions-style beats on 'Evil That Men Do.' The host of different producers also makes this an album with several styles that were popular in the time, a little bit of soul, a little bit of jazz, some reggae, a hint of house Remembering she was 19 when this album was released, you can certainly see how much influence she has had on the genre and what came after. And still... Many of the songs are lazy, the lyrics are only bragging songs, there's not a song with an interesting train of thought or with anything more to say about how flavourful she is. Not all songs are strong, and some are just plain weak. Interesting debut.

What is there to say about an album that's been on repeat on rock radio stations ever since it got released in 87? Released at the right moment in time when Rock 'n' Roll was in need of a good kick up the ass because it had become stale and goody-goody. and Guns 'n' Roses did just that. No, it's not the best album in history, but Hardrock like this is about the attitude, and this band brought it.

I had Pulp's Different Class on this list now almost 3 years ago. And where that album was upbeat, clever, but sneering, this album is a completely different beast. In opener 'The Fear' Jarvis Cocker warns: "This is the sound of someone losing the plot Making out that they’re okay when they’re not You’re gonna like it but not a lot" This album has been one of the slowest growth albums in my collection. I disliked it when it came out. It was too slow, too dark. I didn't know where to go with this. It sounded completely different than the last three Pulp albums. Over the years this album has become much more than that. It's a musical version of a Film Noir, it's heartbreaking. Musically it's not always tight, it sometimes even feels a bit chaotic, and that might have to do with the departure of guitarist Russell Senior. The lyrics are incredible and painful, and the music helps to enhance that feeling. Looking back, we're listening to the swan song of Brit-pop. "The sound of loneliness turned up to ten"

We all now know that there really was a Tuesday Night Music Club, which led to the album that launched Sheryl Suzanne Crow's music career. The details of how it all came together have been debated ever since. In short, Sheryl began attending informal jam and songwriting sessions at the LA studio of producer Bill Bottrell with her then-boyfriend Kevin Gilbert. Also in attendance were the incredibly talented David Baerwald and three others. Since Crow had a recording contract, their creations ended up under her name. She credited everyone involved, but there were conflicts along the way and especially afterwards when the album started hitting the stratosphere. The breakout hit that propelled the album was "All I Wanna Do," which was played on the radio daily in 1994. The lyrics, depicting getting a good beer buzz in a bar facing a car wash, were adapted from a poem by Wyn Cooper. The royalty checks from the song allowed the poet to leave his day job. The success of follow-up singles like “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Strong Enough,” and “Can’t Cry Anymore” kept the Tuesday Night Music Club in the spotlight. The album has sold approximately 10 million copies and received several well-deserved Grammy awards. As a significant debut record and a piece of pop culture, TNMC still holds up well today. It's relaxed, rootsy, and filled with melody, emotion, and insightful lyrics, making it a joy to listen to.

It's poetic, it's well written, but it leaves me cold for some reason.

Funky, psychedelic, socially critical and very strong. Excellent album!

Sometimes you don't need to listen too deep to music. Sometimes you just need something to rock out to. Something in the car to tell with. For those moments you go punk or you go Rock 'n' fucking Roll. For the latter: There's Ace Of Spades

It's not bad, but it's also nothing spectacular

The good thing about having this double album on LP is that you can just ignore Side 4, deny it exists, and think of this as a perfect debut of Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention.

As with more albums on this list, this is again a case of Side A vs Side B. If the whole album had the quality of the first 5 songs, this would be an absolute masterpiece

Sister is delicious raw creativity packed in an album. It's not the easiest entryway to the bands' back catalog, but both EVOL and Sister show Sonic Youth at their best.

A delightful 70's UK Punk album, that captures the period so well, I would have people listen to this as their introduction to the style.

I found the album to be quite intriguing. After listening to it a couple of times, I noticed that it bears some resemblance to Spandau Ballet. There were three things that particularly caught my interest. Firstly, I believe Paddy McAloon can easily be considered one of the best songwriters of the 80s. Secondly, the lyrics are a joy to behold. Lastly, in typical 80s fashion, the songs seem to avoid moments of silence. Every spot in the songs is filled with additional sound elements such as organs, guitar riffs, panflutes, wind sounds, synth loops, and more. This tends to detract from the great pop songs. However, when I listened to the acoustic versions of these songs, everything fell into place. It was incredible! The power of the songs and songwriting really bloomed. Due to the wall of sound, I would rate the official album 3.5 out of 5 stars. However, I would give the acoustic versions a 5. So, overall, 4 stars.

It's great dirty indie rock, and enough groove to make it interesting. It's one of those shoutalong albums

When Elton John got a bit of American testosterone and even more theatrical bombast.

Whenever I seem to be talking to Doors fans, they seem to adore Morrison's psychedelia wank. But this blues-rock album I find much more palatable

Great debut where you can already hear the sound they'll polish and improve further down track

One brilliant song, lots of filler

Good debut, where the biggest power lies in the story -telling and a little less in the music.

Where I rate Vulnicura and Vespertine as two of the best albums ever made, this Medúlla has never done it for me. I find the sounds lacking any interesting quality to it. I appreciate where Bjork was going here, but it needed time to be fleshed out, which she did on later albums

After a couple of really good albums, it was time for Harry Nilsson to cash out. That's what you're listening to here.

Loud and a bit psychedelic blues / hard-rock

What a phenomenal record! Whether it's the groovy rock parts of the first four songs or the experimental sounds of 'Aumgn' and 'Peking O,' it's all equally interesting. It's a progressive rock epic that keeps me engaged from start to finish. I understand that some people have issues with the Second Vinyl of this record, especially with 'Aumgn,' but I'd like to take a moment to defend that song. In 'Aumgn,' I hear the layers of sound that I would later hear on the first Laibach albums. It gives off a feeling of transgression. This song, with its incredible soundscapes, moves from tense anxiety at the start to a rhythmic drumming at the end that feels like an anti-authority poem set to music. Absolutely incredible.

This is completely the genre I'm into, but it's not the best album in the grenre or even the timeframe

I knew the singles of this album of course: "Relax," "Welcome To The Pleasuredome," (of which I enjoy the 7" single a bit more than this 13,5-minute album version) "Two Tribes" (of which I enjoy the 9-minute 12" a lot more than this shorter version on the album) and "The Power Of Love." What I didn't know is that these singles were part of the whole album which leans completely on the sounds of these four songs, with a few covers in the mix. Producer Trevor Horn enjoys creating bombastic sounds and incorporating them into a cohesive whole, but this approach only partly succeeds on this album. The rest of the material is just not strong enough. He would achieve greater success with Propaganda and Art Of Noise. This album is an amazing time-piece of the 80s, but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece.

It's dark, it's raw, it's brooding, it's sexy, it's rock 'n' roll.

Based on the averages on this site, it seems like most people hear something in this album that I don't. While it has a few great songs, overall I feel like Bowie is still searching for a style and direction with this album, and it doesn't quite come together as a cohesive whole. A different calibre of album than the ones he would make after this.

I really vibed with a much later album by XTC on this list (Apple Venus Volume 1) but this kinda cynical 80's wave rock does it much less for me.

This may be the best neo-soul record of the last 50 years, but it's not my style. The 90's smooth and chill mix of soul and hip-hop is too close to the R&B of that era for me. "Cruisin'" is a standout track.

She has an excellent voice for elevator music

When this album first came out, I was a big fan of it. The singles that came off it were a pleasant surprise on the radio and the full album had some great songs while some of the lesser songs on the album didn't bother me that much. And this was a deserved return for Morrissey in the spotlight. Over time this view has changed a bit. Where older albums like "Vauxhall and I" and newer ones like "I Am Not a Dog on a Chain" are still feeling fresh, I never reach for this album anymore. And re-listening to it over the last day I think it was indeed one of the last times this album would've played on my stereo, with the exception of one or two songs.

In 1999/2000, Moby's album was everywhere and extremely popular, appealing to a wide range of music lovers, from a wide range of backgrounds. That's because the album featured a mix of pop, uptempo dance, ambient, and a unique blend of old blues vocals with electronic beats by Richard Melville Hall. The second half of the album, with tracks like "Everloving" and "My Weakness", added depth to the more dance-oriented singles from the album. A classic.