1001 Albums Summary

Brilliant. Purchased immediately after listening.

I never cared for these guys. I don't like the vocals or the sensibility. Very depressing stuff.

Not there best by far but had a few great songs on it (Take me to the river). Kind of uneven.

Very early stuff. Sounds like a lot of other people of the era.

I always wanted to like him more than I did. Just never quite worked for me.

Hasn't really stood the test of time. They needed the addition of Neil Young to work. Just like Buffalo Springfield where the songs that Neil Young wrote were brilliant and ones that Stephen Stills wrote were hot garbage.

One of the seminal albums of the period and my favorite of theirs. They are one of the few groups that can legitimately claim to have changed the course of popular music. So many classic songs and an almost perfect album.

Not his best but even his lesser stuff is better than most people's peaks.

Gotta love Jon Spencer - totally off the wall chaotic rock and roll. I hadn't heard this one but really liked it.

Totally different from anything else he did. Frank does jazz.

Meh

Didn't age all that well.

Pretty good but not quite enough to make me go buy it.

Pretty good stuff. I always wanted to like him more than I do.

Made it through 1 1/2 songs and then gave up. Horrible.

OK but nothing too special.

Not bad but nothing too special.

Great live album from a brilliant band.

Not their very best but still has some classic songs on it.

After what I consider one of the all time great debut albums - Funeral, they came out with the truly awful (flat, boring, insipid) second effort Neon Bible. Apparently the band agreed with me as in the four times I've seen them they've never played a song from Neon Bible. The Suburbs was a return to form. Although not as strong as Funeral (which they've never equaled in my opinion), it is a strong album throughout.

They don't sound nearly as radical now as they did when they first recorded. I guess the rest of the world caught up with them.

My favorite of theirs. Beautiful album with the typical Flaming Lips whimsy.

Meh - trying to be all things to all audiences.

Even though it was the forerunner of reggae which I love, I've never really cared for ska. Too poppy and almost like novelty music.

Some classic songs and some fluff.

Early latin crossover success story.

I owned this on vinyl back in the day. They were supposed to be part of the new English folk movement. But where Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Pentangle and others were doing great memorable music, these guys were doing hippy wanking. Embarrassing - I could only stand to listen to the first 6 or 7 tracks.

Soooooo boring.

My favorite of her albums and that's saying something. Brilliant songwriter and wonderful singer.

Okay but kind of a wanna be for me. Not a lot of substance to go with the style.

Embarrassing. Self indulgent pap proving bad music can be made in every period.

Always had a soft spot for Willie.

Undoubtedly talented but not my genre.

Pretty good stuff. Some songs I liked quite a bit and some kind of grated.

Didn't do much for me.

Pretty good

Really shows their roots. Pretty good early bluesy rock and roll.

This is about the point where they lost me. I loved The Bends and OK Computer but after that they just got a little too downbeat and drony.

Pretty good but not quite enough to convince me to buy the album.

Classic bop with some timeless tunes.

Much greater than the sum of its parts. Really strong part of the era that has held up over time. Janis sure could wail.

I preferred this band before Rod Stewart joined them. That being said this album was made before Stewart became as objectionable (to me at least) as he did later when he got to be a star.

A classic for sure.

I liked her first one but this one not so much.

Not for me.

I can admire the artistry but not a genre I enjoy.

I always found these guys kind of lightweight new wave. Didn't really appeal to me.

Brilliant talent, great album.

Not my thing

My favorite Who album (up there with Live at Leeds). Roger Daltrey in prime form and Townsend wailing.

Kind of a novelty album

Pretty good stuff

Interesting - some good songs but a bit dated.

The second of his - sadly - scant recordings. He either committed suicide or accidentally overdosed on anti-depressants at 26 years old. He left behind three nearly perfect haunting, fragile albums of surpassing beauty. This was one of the all time greatest periods for British folk and he was very much in the heart of it.

After a brilliant debut album, this sophomore effort was a complete letdown. I've seen Arcade Fire 4 times and not once have they played a single song fro this album. Pretty much says all you need to know about it.

Not my favorite of theirs though it has a couple of absolute classic tracks (I can see for miles).

Musically pretty great, but my god what an asshole.

Kind of interesting.

Definitely of their era - think David Bowey, Roxy Music or a closer comparison might be Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. They're ok, just not really anything special.

One of his best for sure.

Their best album

Interesting enough that I'm going it another listen.

Brilliant stuff.

Brilliant - still my favorite Stones album. Stands up as well today as the day it was released.

meh

Not quite as great as I remember it from back in the day but still a very good album.

Meh. I've never been overly impressed by these guys.

He did one great album - his first. It was downhill from there as his massive ego slowly consumed him.

Kind of rooted in its era but totally unique as well.

My favorite of hers. Musically great and I love her politics.

If I had to pick a single artist to listen to it would be Mr. Waits. This, his third album, was recorded live in a club where he invited all his friends to come. He had a stripper open for him. Some absolutely classic songs on here.

Meh. Stuck in the soggy middle ground between pop and new wave.

Never cared for him - just one of those singers whose voice bothers me.

They did some great music but this one doesn't really stand the test of time.

Pretty good.

Interesting. I hadn't heard this one before. It's much poppier than her others that I've listened to.

Kind of sounds like lounge music though when it was recorded it was probably pretty new.

Irritating yet boring, repetitive and mindless.

Close to being really good but something isn't quite there.

Absolutely brilliant. A landmark album.

My favorite of their albums.

Landmark album.

Good stuff though I have to say I much prefer his White Stripes stuff to any of his later output.

Not their best work but not bad.

My favorite of their albums. So many great songs.

Pretty good stuff.

Impossible to mistake for anyone else. I prefer Modern Dance but this one's pretty good.

Though I understand his attempts to subvert the music industry and appreciate the idea, it just doesn't work that well for me musically.

Some pretty interesting stuff on here. Some tunes don't work but others I liked quite a bit.

Still sounds good. Too bad they stole so much from other bands.

Some good songs but not the best of his early career.

Pretty good but I much prefer Mezzanine.

Meh. Too soggy for me.

meh.

Not their best work from that era.

All style no substance. It doesn't really go anywhere.

Absolute drivel. It's like Herman's Hermits tried to make a Clash album.

Never a fan.

A classic. So many have imitated his style over the years that it doesn't sound as ground breaking as when he recorded it.

Classic new wave from the height of the CBGB era.

A true masterpiece by the definitive punk band. Joe Strummer can do no wrong and his politics rock.

I loved this album when it first came out. So jarring. It still holds up.

Pretty good stuff.

Pretty good stuff. I liked them more with Eric Burdon.

Good stuff but not really in my wheelhouse.

Classic case of an album/band that doesn't stand up over time. I loved Cream at the time but listening to it now just makes me cringe. Juvenile, melodramatic music and Clapton has to be the most over-rated guitarist ever.

Ok but doesn't really move the meter for me.

Interesting stuff - sound like a poor man's Radiohead.

some interesting stuff on here

Pretty interesting.

Not a notable band from the era.

A brilliant debut album. I saw her tour this album opening for Bob Dylan. She was great, he was awful.

Endlessly creative. Went on from Pixies to have a great solo career.

A eerie and poignant album.

Not sure what all the fuss is about

tepid and flacid. Not sure why anyone would make this album.

I've never been able to get into these guys.

Pretty pretty good

OK but not my style.

A little too poppy for me.

A brilliant second album after an eminently forgettable debut.

This is where they started to lose me.

Ok in places, irritating in others.

Pretty good example of early punk. Surprised I never heard of these guys back in the day.

OK but not special.

A brilliant debut to a stellar career. I was actually in Montreal when he died and they played Hallelujah before the Canadiens game that night.

I guess I just never understood the hype. A pretty good garage rocker, but nothing overly impressive.

Interesting

Pretty good stuff though some of it didn't age as well as other bits.

This was never my favorite Who album. Got far more acclaim than it deserved.

One or two songs might be interesting. I could never listen to a whole album of this.

These guys always sounded to me like they had listened to other bands and kind of tried to recreate the sound. All style no substance.

Pretty meh. Nothing on here really stands out.

Hadn't listened to this in years. It really stands up. Even early in their career these guys could write great songs and rock.

intereting

Interesting stuff.

Although this is generally their most highly acclaimed album I much prefer The Dirty South and Decoration Day.

pretty good new agey punkish stuff

When he had decent material, Elvis could sing the hell out of a song. Far too often he had this kind of horrible saccharine drivel to deal with. Absolutely brutally bad production with soggy orchestration and no life whatsoever.

too much twang for me.

Good old school blues.

Found this really irritating.

Classic stuff.

Standard early Elvis. I always thought he should have quit after his first album. His debut was brilliant and it's been downhill ever since. Largely driven by his massive ego.

Bowie always does something interesting. More musical lives than a cat.

Classic Cash.

Great album

Pretty good stuff

Meh.

This one doesn't stand the test of time. Time of the Season is the only decent song, though it is a classic.

Pretty good stuff.

Not my favorite of theirs but ok.

He never really worked for me back in the day and that hasn't changed.

One of the all time great debut albums. Some classic songs.

Not my favorite of his but pretty good.

All style, very little substance.

Pretty good stuff. Nice production.

Could only listen to about 4 tracks before stopping. Not a metal fan.

Classic stuff - my favorite album of theirs. Chaotic, murky and compelling.

very uneven

Pretty standard punk.

I like their politics but I wasn't impressed with them musically back in the day and that hasn't changed.

Not my style but even considering that I find her voice quite annoying - shrill. I wonder how much money she saved by using a drum machine instead of a musician.

He just never moved the dial for me.

Mixing reggae with techno sounds like it might work. This doesn't.

A bit over the top for me.

He's always interesting but not quite enough to make it into my rotation.

The absolute epitome of style without substance. I got sick of hearing these guys back in the day and that hasn't changed.

Stands up pretty well.

When musical histories are written 50 years from now, Tom Waits will be recognized as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Brilliant as his early albums were, this album marks the transition into the second phase of his career where he combined multiple disparate genres into something completely new and completely his own. It doesn't sound quite as revolutionary now as when it was released since so many others have imitated what he pioneered.

I loved the Jam's first album but haven't cared for anything they did since. Kind of the epitome of a one hit wonder.

Apparently not a great person but he did make some wonderful music.

My favorite album of his. Totally different in style from his previous stuff it shows the range of his vocals and flat out rocks.

Really lame.

I find his vocals really irritating.

Pretty good but not quite to the point where I'll buy the album.

Beck refuses to be pinned down to any style or genre. He changes like a chameleon and does most stuff incredibly well. This is one of my favorites of his. It seems like he channeled the spirit of Nick Drake for this one.

Not great but pretty good.

meh

I know this was hugely popular at the time but it just never really jumped out at me.

I'm not overly fond of his later stuff but this one is right in the heart of his greatest period. All classic songs.

Always interesting.

I like Dolly - got a heart of gold and it is reflected in her music.

When I'm in the right mood I enjoy Bjork. This isn't one of my favorite of hers.

I loved this album when it first came out. I hadn't heard it in over 40 years but I still like it.

She just never moved the dial for me. There are far better artists who did/are doing this type of music.

OK but not really deserving of all the hyoe.

This is a style of music I've always hated. Over-produced, over-orchestrated, saccharine and sentimental.

One of my favorite of their albums.

Quirky as always.

The very best Beatles album, pretty much every song a classic.

Mileage always varies with David Bowie. When I'm in the right mood I really enjoy much of his stuff. When I'm not, he grates on my nerves. This one I find strangely muted and low key. Neither particularly good or bad.

Interesting but not the work of genius some claim.

I've just never been able to understand the hype for him. Not quite alt not quite country, just kind of there.

Vocals sound a bit like My Morning Jacket.

Not my style at all. Boring and repetitive.

Kind of interesting light jazz.

Somebody listened to a lot of David Bowie.

My favorite album of theirs. I love their sound.

These guys wrote one song, changed the lyrics and title and recorded in again and again. And someone needs to explain to them that screaming isn't the same thing as singing.

Arguably the last truly great album by a great band. Their later stuff had interesting stuff but never quite raised the ante the way the early stuff did. There is no way anyone should have been able to write Ball and Biscuit in this era - a brilliant song that had to be written 60 or 70 years earlier.

Songs a little too much the same.

Interesting enough that I'll listen to it again.

I love parts of their catalog but they are quite uneven. This is not one of their better efforts.

PJ in fine form - kicking ass and taking names.

I'm a fan of Sonic Youth but I have to be in the right mood and I wasn't when I listened to this one.

Well named. Pretty generic band copying a bunch of other acts.

Not a sterling example of the genre. A little too subdued.

A little too monotone.

It's rare that I give a 5 star rating but this is close to a perfect album by an artist who died far too young.

I'm a huge fan of both Eno and David Byrne. But somehow the whole is less than the sum of the parts. They just don't work together.

Somebody had their David Bowie collection on repeat. Having influences is one thing but this is a straight up copy.

Not my favorite of hers but pretty much any PJ is good.

Just doesn't quite work for me. By turns boring and irritating.

Not bad but I wouldn't rush out and buy it.

A sound that I really don't care for.

One of the best Stones albums - a step down from Beggars Banquet and Let it Bleed but still pretty great.

New to me - probably not my favorite by her. But I like her sound and her politics.

Strange muted sound but I like it.

Not bad but I much prefer Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.

Fun. Interesting enough that I'll give it another couple of listens.

No really my style

I'm a huge fan of Nick in all his permutations. This is him close to his hard core best. Not quite up to his previous album Let Love In (with the iconic Peaky Blinders theme song Red Right Hand) but still pretty great.

Incredibly soggy sound. One of those things that I can't understand how I listened to back in the day.

Some interesting, some a bit gimmicky.

Goes on way too long. Some interesting ideas but ultimately becomes tedioius.

A classic debut album with some brilliant songs. They got better as they went along but this was a pretty great intro. Nobody does rhythms like David Byrne.

Kind of reminds me of Tommy by the Who - there was a bunch of prog type stuff done at this time that just left me cold.

My favorite of his albums.

Some pretty good songs on here.

Almost saccharine.

Sounds at first like it might turn into something but never quite makes it.

Awful. All show and no go. Why do all country singers feel like they need to sing with that horrible twang.

I really like Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. After that you can keep the rest of their stuff. This album is brutally bad. That first track - someone should tell these guys they're not jazz musicians. And they absolutely destroy Death Don't Have No Mercy. If this is an accurate example of their live shows, I honestly do not understand what the hell all the Dead head stuff is about.

I was never a Rod Stewart fan. He's got a good voice but he always just kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

The unquestioned #1 punk band all time. Though their later albums grew in so many ways, their debut is still great. A garage band indeed. Joe Strummer will always be one of my absolute favorites.

Starts out nowhere and then quickly does more of the same. Someone should tell them that having a drum machine, synthesizer and a computer doesn't mean you're a musician. Brian Eno proved years ago that you can make brilliant music this way. But obviously it isn't a given.

Yuck. Soggy, saccharine, soporific.

Not his best but still some great songs on here.

OK but nothing special.

Not bad but nowhere near as good as Loveless.

Pretty good.

Like all Buffalo Springfield stuff, there is some brilliant stuff (Mr. Soul, Expecting to Fly and Broken Arrow) and a lot of crap. Oh look, all the good stuff was written by Neil Young and the rest is from Stephen Stills and Richie Furay who wrote nothing but banal garbage.

Arguably the best Stones album (either that or Beggars Banquet). Classic songs.

interesting stuff

I understand what they're going for but it's just a little too muted and single threaded.

Pretty good

I was huge punk fan back in the 70s (still am), but somehow Ramones just never moved the dial for me. OK, but nothing special.

I was a huge punk fan back in the day (still am) but somehow these guys fell through the cracks as I never heard of them. No great loss - pretty boring generic stuff.

A lot of artists I love name check these guys but I just can't get into them. Some parts catchy, some boring and some irritating.

Although it's hard to pick one this may be my favorite Bob Marley album. The definitive reggae artist in fine form.

This album defined the British folk rock movement. With guitar from Richard Thompson - one of the finest guitarists anywhere - and vocals by the incomparable Sandy Denny, this album is the shit.

The best of their small output.

A brilliant artist whose best work stands the test of time. A phenomenal and experimental guitarist, gifted songwriter, and excellent vocalist he moved between a huge range of styles effortlessly - jazz, blues, folk, reggae, he played them all and did it well. Sadly his demons destroyed him as he fought with drug and alcohol abuse. Although not his very best work, this album is still in the first rank of his oeuvre.

I've got another of his albums (Oedipus Schmoedipus) that I quite enjoy but this one I find kind of monotone.

Great live stuff from the period before he gotten eaten by his own massive ego.

OK but nothing special

Try as I might (and I did try) I just never got behind him. A lot of friends were gaga but he was always a bit soft for my taste.

Not wild about the guitar work or the vocals.

Seminal album, hugely innovative in its day.

Some gems and some filler.

Kind of all over the map.

Early days Nick. Some absolute gems in here that he still plays in his shows. If you ever get a chance to see him, he is one of the most electrifying shows you'll ever see and hear.

Pretty typical Calexico. I like most of their stuff, though I don't think this is their best album.

Not really that interesting.

Always had a soft spot for Ian Dury. he never seemed to fit into the punk scene very well - too much humor.

Wonderful album. Great lyrics, brilliant music.

My feeling about Elvis was that he should have packed it in after the first album. His first was brilliant and it was downhill from there.

Classic stuff from a legend.

First great album by these guys. Love Knopflers solo work as well.

He really mailed this one in. There was a time when he made really great music. Sadly, it's passed.

Not his best but still good.

OK

Not their best but some decent tunes.

Not a huge fan of her vocals - too shrill.

Way too saccharine for my tastes.

Brilliant album. My favorite of theirs. I love Frank Black's solo stuff as well but this one is in a class of its own.

Interesting in a low key way.

OK but not really my genre.

Horrible. Banal grating music and someone should tell the vocalist that singing isn't the same thing as screaming.

Didn't age well.

Some classic songs for sure.

Started out promising (sort of a poor man's version of Talking Heads) but faded quickly. Not bad instrumentally but I can't get past those 80s Brit vocals.

Interesting but not really my thing.

OK

One of the extremely rare 5 stars I give out and an all time great debut album. I've wanted to see her ever since this album was released and I finally get to in November. And to make it even better, it's the 50th anniversary of the album and she is performing the whole album with the original band.

First time I heard these guys. I like it enough that I'm going to buy the album.

I have to be in the right mood for Bowie. Some days I love him, others he just sounds irritating. That being said, this is one of my favorite albums of his.

It's hard to say now that things have changed so much what a radical album this was when it was released. With his usual all star lineup of collaborators, Tom created a masterpiece. Featuring found sounds and lo-fi production there isn't a bad song on the album. The atonal jarring sounds were so different from anything anyone else was doing. This is one of my favorite of his albums (though it's tough to choose from such a varied and fantastic catalog). When the music history is written in 30 or 40 years (assuming we're all still around) Tom Waits will be recognized as one of the giants of popular music from the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Not bad.

Very influential band. Some great stuff on here.

Great album by a band I really like. They've got a unique sound and attitude.

My second favorite Dead album.

I tried repeatedly to get into Prince since some people I really respect rave about him but he just doesn't move the needle for me. Not bad, just not much.

Probably not my favorite of his, but still pretty excellent. He plays so many different styles and all of them interesting.

Their best album for me.

Some decent parts but too much electronic filler.

While not one of his best albums, like almost all his catalog there is some great tunes on this one. I think a lot of people see Neil as a singer/songwriter and forget he has serious chops as a guitarist. Crazy Horse is an incredibly tight unit and when he plays with them you will always get some incredible rock and roll.

Not my usual fare but I like these guys. They don't take themselves too seriously and seem to be having fun with it.

Wonderful concept album. As you can imagine, with 69 songs some work and some don't. But by and large a really fun album.

Ha - didn't realize I have this album. It's actually pretty good.

Love me a little Beefheart. It's hard to express how out there this album was when it was recorded in 1967. Brilliant debut.

Gotta love PJ. She keeps changing and rarely disappoints.

meh

This one and Trailer Park are my favorite of her albums.

Before he turned into a complete egotist so still pretty good.

I've never been able to stand these guys - every song sounds the same and someone needs to tell them that screaming isn't the same thing as singing.

Definitely my favorite Keith Jarrett album and quite possibly my favorite jazz album. Fascinating story of this concert, how the grand piano promised never showed up and how he had to play this out of tune damaged piano instead. He hates this album, the rest of us love it.

Too bad he went off the rails so badly that they had to throw him out of Pink Floyd. Really interesting album.

Not my favorite of theirs but not bad.

Without doubt his greatest album. From the early to mid 70s period of his best albums this is number one.

Not my style at all.

Great intro to some of the funkiest music anywhere - Cuban. If I didn't love Ry Cooder for anything else (and I do) then this album would ensure his place.

pretty interesting

No my favorite of hers but still pretty good.

Didn't age very well.

One of my absolute favorite Beatles albums. Here Comes The Sun makes me tear up every time.

I prefer Kill City but still pretty good.

I love his early solo work. This one has some great stuff on it.

One of my favorite of his albums, not a weak song on it. It's hard to pick and choose but Lime Tree Arbor and Into My arms stand out.