1001 Albums Summary

Vocals are bad but still work for the most part, beats are fun and high energy

Garageiest of garage rock, very raw and unpolished but high energy fun

Can really see the inspiration for purple mountains at parts, other parts sound like the voice at the end of thriller made an album

Not a fan of this one

Julia Holter sounds similar, distinct voice and very avant garde

Christmas classics, nice vocals, and full instrumentation. Solid holiday music

Really not my style, thought the whole thing sounded the same

Overall liked this more than when it came out. Champagne Problems -> Gold Rush is a great run of 4 songs. Not the hugest on any others but that run is 4* worthy alone

Blue ridge mountains is the highlight for me, never been huge on robin Pecknolds voice

Liked this more than I thought

Some cool stuff I guess but most of the back half is painful. Props for them for doing something like this in 1971 but not for me

Liked this much more than previous Bowie albums on the list

Sympathy for the devil is the standout, the rest aren’t really that noteworthy for me but the overall sound is enjoyable enough

Not much variety, just sounds like your average 80s rock album

Did not know this was their debut, kinda crazy to have welcome to the jungle paradise city and sweet child o’ mine on your first album. Rest of it was forgettable

Heavy sampling with early hip hop sounds. Like the full band backing the rapping. Sounds like it would fit well on an nba street soundtrack

Don’t like, found it to be very grating on the ears

Really like her two more recent albums, this one had a lot of similarities but wasn’t quite there

Really enjoyed this one

Not sure if it’s familiarity or not but all of Adele’s albums seem so top heavy. The big songs are huge and the rest is just a slog. The hits hit hard though: hello, when we were going, and water under the bridge are great

Great voice, read up on her and very a very sad story. Like the little things in the production and am always a sucker for more orchestral instruments, maybe pushes things a little bit too lush at times though

Nothing really stood out to me even after listening twice. Was doing other things but really didn’t even notice it was playing

Nothing stands out and not my favorite genre

I can respect it but really not my sound at all

I liked this one quite a bit. Lyrics are not the best, very over sexualized and kinda cringey. Looking past those though it has good beats and flow

Pretty enough but never get like it was going anywhere. The older style country singing is also not my favorite. Standout was probably the duet with Dave matthews

Soundtracks are not really my thing, too much atmosphere and not enough content. Overall did like the atmosphere though

Money for nothing, Walk of life, man’s too strong were my standouts. Some of the instrumental songs and outros stretched a little long but overall really enjoyed this one

Whole album is packed with hits, there’s a reason so many people consider this a masterpiece and I agree with them. When Kanye is on as a producer he is ON

Really liked the individual songs but they didn’t fit together well in an album format. Especially with different vocalists seemed like a collection of singles

RADIO HEAD IS BAD AND I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE LIKES THEM An hour of thom yorke moaning into a microphone. I do think I enjoyed this listen more than I have in the past, there is definitely some cool production throughout but I still unapologetically hate radiohead and am sad there is going to be 5+ more of their albums on this list

Little bit too long and I don’t know how anyone could like Dylan’s voice, but like the song writing and atmosphere. Little bit too uniform but I think that is partly because of length Standing in the Doorway was my favorite

Really enjoyed this one. Beautiful soundscapes with unique instruments blended together perfectly. Reminds me of a video game soundtrack

Interesting voice and a few nice tracks, but mostly found the album incredibly 80s and not in the good ways. Corny and melodramatic

No standouts for me. Pleasant enough but forgettable

I hate Queen. I think it’s largely because queen is EVERY “OuR gENErTiOns MuSIc sUX” quirky person’s favorite band. Hard for me to separate that from the actual music, especially with Bohemian Rhapsody on the album, which might actually be my least favorite song of all time for the reasons above. Album is cohesive, varied, Freddie mercury has a great voice but I still hate Queen

Raps never been my genre. I don’t really pay attention to lyrics in songs usually, and with rap that is pretty much the selling point. Tried to pay closer attention to this one and found them to be very unrelatable and pretty repetitive. Can hear the influence it’s had in todays music though

This album is just so weird to me structurally. Starts and ends with sprawling 10+ minute jam session tracks and in the middle with three singles in the middle. Enjoyable enough but not something I see myself coming back to often

Reminded me of animal collective when I first listened, saw another review that said anco and The Beach Boys and I think that is pretty spot on. Fun high energy album

Not a fan of this one. Wayyy too long, just an hour and a half of rambling dad rock

Nice short album, liked it. Only song I knew was sunshine of your love from gh, that was probably my least favorite song on the album

Born in the USA, I’m on fire, and dancing in the dark at nicely spread throughout, always like the hits to be balanced. One negative, really don’t like the synths on this album. Just has not held up over the years and sounds dated and cheesy

Did not hit for me, too soft of an album

Ban double albums If both were released individually would probably be 3 for speakerboxxx and 4.5 for the love below. I think putting them together as a double is a weird decision

A few songs I liked we enough, but I listened to this album 3+ times and it just never made an impact on me

So anyway here’s wonderwall Really like this album. Flows along nicely without getting repetitive, hits sprinkled throughout. Overall sound has aged well too

Hard not to compare this to funeral and I prefer funeral in almost every way. Not a bad album but doesn’t have the same charm, and my most common complaint nowadays applies: too long. Albums should have a hard cap at 45 minutes

Pretty forgettable. Do love the eastern influences though

Not a big white stripes guy. Liked the beginning but thought it dropped off significantly towards the end

Sounds both very old and new at the same time. If I had to guess I’d say it was a very progressive old album, was surprised it was as recent as 1998. Reminds me of daft punk

I still hate radio head but I didn’t hate this. Idk why kid a and old computer are more popular than the bends, much prefer this one

Kinda crazy that he recorded the whole thing on his own. Not a big foo fighters fan, definitely an “every song sounds the same” band for me.

Really enjoyed, nice blend of country/rock/pop throughout

I’ve always been a little confused how Madonna became the icon that she is today. This album did not clear up any confusion, but I’m looking forward to hearing her earlier work

Fun high energy garage rock, not special but enjoyable

Odd that this band doesn’t have the US following that bands like Oasis have since they sound very similar but have a brighter sound.

Lyric focused albums never really hit for me, not a fan of the vocals. Whole album blurred together to me, was fun to listen to but don’t think I’ll come back to it

First few tracks sounded very distinct to me, others blended in as it went. Fun and high energy

Background music

Never heard of Joan armatrading before. Tracy Chapman sounds a lot like this vocally

Backing band and mix are awesome, love how up front the bass is on most of these. Good mix gospel and southern rock. Love how front and center the bass is throughout. Never really liked Elvis’s voice but it really shown through at parts. Production is impeccable. Overall a real treat to listen to

Solid British punk, earlier year than I thought it’d be. Didn’t stand out really

Not really a big Elton John fan and not at all a fan of double albums.

Sounds like every other program rock album

Doo wop

Respect the musical ability on display, always blows my mind that people can just whip out this kind of stuff live (and probably improvised) but just don’t really get jazz

Album cover caught me off guard, music largely didn’t though I liked the last two tracks a lot

Moans and groans throughout made me laugh. After enough time solo piano music becomes just background music no matter how talented the pianist is. Enjoyable background music though

Math rock does not rock if you ask me. Too moody for me

A few songs I liked we enough, but I listened to this album 3+ times and it just never made an impact on me

Not big on the lyrical style, some fun ones but not for me

First Beatles album we’ve gotten on this list, surprised it took so long. Very short album which is a plus for me, but time variation and some classics. For No One was my standout

Two classics, no other stand outs

Nice background music, not a fan of the saxophone, sounds shrill and silly

Just wild this was her debut album. Sprawling but cohesive, very ambitious, great voice, solid variety. Not a daily listen to type of album but definitely belongs on this list

Pretty uniform album, nothing to write home about

Weird muted sound throughout, doesn’t sound like recording was very high quality, which isn’t shocking for the time but is for such a big time album. Music itself is solid

Mostly instrumental, very jammy

Not a big fan of the vocals, otherwise some cool sounds

Solid and smooth rap album. Kanye producing at his best

Fine, faded into the background for me. As we’ve gone through this list I’ve definitely lowered my opinion on guitar solos, to the point that it is crazy to me that they have been the backbone of music for so long. They are all the same

Really like this album. Dreamy and mysterious, synths and traditional instrumentation blended together well. Definitely highs and lows on the album but overall cohesive

Solid country and western with a bit of rock edge here and there

I thought Pearl Jam was a 70s British rock band for some reason, definitely has a classic rock feel undercurrent beneath the 90s grunge. High energy album with a unique vocal style

Three MONSTER hits that are still relevant 15+ years later. The rest of the album is pretty forgettable

Very bland. Everything’s got a a very washed out sound and blends together into an amorphous blob of an album. Saw it in a different comment: ecstasy is not a drug that makes good music

Beats are catchy and funky, but I think this album is really hurt by the mixing. Vocals are distant and muddy and it hurts the sound as a whole. If things were crisper would probably be a 4

Album checked all my boxes but felt like it was still missing something. I think if the lead singer had a bolder/more charismatic voice this would be a high 4

Really liked this one. I’ve never really been impressed by the Beatles and didn’t understand why they are so highly regarded, starting to get it now

Fine enough album. Something about the vocals didn’t do it for me

Really liked this one. Good variety of songs, just the right amount of experimentation, maybe a smidge too long No self control was my favorite, very catchy and atmospheric

High energy rock with punk edge, not much stands out besides the energy

Was really into the first few tracks. Jazzy rock with almost a big band feel to it with all the horns. Second half starting with Free Form Guitar got a little too jammy for me

Short and sweet album. Album is kinda uniform throughout, makes me wonder if that last why all the hits are loaded in the front

Very pretty but too understated, paired with the whispery vocals it just fades into background music

Wish there were more non-English/non-western albums on this list, always enjoy them when they pop up. The Spotify album the site links to is actually a double album which was probably a bit too much but enjoyed this one for being so different

Really liked this one. Had the full, lush orchestration that I always like, was the perfect length in terms of time and wouldn’t count

The proggiest prog rock that was ever rocked

Nothing stood out too much but still enjoyed it

A few tracks I really liked but overall too long

My favorite Taylor album. Style, Out of the Woods, Wildest Dreams, I Know Places, and Clean are all top tier for me and I still love them Blank Space, Shake It Off, and Bad Blood I am not as into anymore but I think that’s more due to how saturated the music world got with them on release.

Saw a review that I think nailed it: there is probably a 5 star album in here but it is just buried within the 2 hour length.

Really enjoyable listen. Bluesy with some rock, great voice

Going by personal preference alone, very unenjoyable.

Sounded like a ps1 game soundtrack and serves a similar focus, atmospheric background music. Not offensive but not something you really pay attention to

One complaint is the vocals just sound very distant, especially for a lyric driven rap album. Sounds like they were recording across the room from the mic at times Simple and sparse beats work well with the overlapping lyrics, big time hits spread throughout

Another elite because it’s the original. Shocked by the year it came out

Well produced but almost too easy to listen to there wasn’t a lot for me to be interested in.

This album is pure dad rock to me, I think something about the vocals just puts it over the top. An appropriate amount of jammy parts and some big hits spread through

Interesting sort of jazzy fusion type album. I’m probably around a 3.5 for it. Not my usual listen but you can basically hear all of the Lo fi genre

Another OG that basically isn’t too interesting if it wasn’t the basis for all rock and roll

Songs can be kind of bland as a whole, pretty much playing the same guitar chords and reading poetry over it. But can appreciate the lyrics and the impact he had on songwriting

I liked this one quite a bit but it faded into the background after a few tracks, even with multiple listenings

Highs were high but the lows were uninteresting. Extremely well produced and the best songs had interesting playback. I get the popularity but much too long

Been putting off this album because I don’t like live albums. That has definitely changed for me. Well recorded such that the crowd is in the background, and you almost feel like you’re sitting on the stage. Cool to capture the band interacting with the crowd and you can almost hear the chemistry on stage. No apparent loss in quality and if anything better quality than a mono studio album. Overall really enjoyed the experience along with the music

Album was solid enough, but all I can remember from it is Thom Yorke’s whiny droning even though it is only on two songs

Bug voice and very lush instrumentation

Actually pretty fun album. Interesting choice to have a live debut and it pays off, I don’t think this would be anywhere close to what it is if it was recorded in studio

I don’t like it but I get why it’s here. Very much bridges the gap from psychedelic rock to 90s grunge/shoegaze type stuff but doesn’t fit well into any of the categories.

My original thought is 4, but I’m not sure what keeps it from a 5. Narratively excellent and well produced. Pacing and beat go when they need to and compliment the narrative. If anything the knock is that you pretty much need to listen to the whole thing to appreciate fully

Crass funny g west coast shit. Sort of the companion album to Dre’s The Chronic, and you could make the argument one or the other is on the list but they probably aught to both be. Interesting to listen right after Kendrick who is pretty much the 2010 embodiment

Didn’t know this was his first non Jackson 5 album. Really strong start and solid production throughout.

I’ve listened to surprisingly little Beyoncé and I’m not sure why, though this one was pretty great. Fun, varied, incredible production, great vocals. Giving four but borderline 5 star album

Yea I mean easy 5 for me. Great production and one of the last and best sampling albums of all time.

D.A.N.C.E. Carries this album further than it should.

First listen left me feeling this album was pretty overrated, second listen I liked it much more. They don’t really do anything new, but i think they did kind of repopularize the heavy bluesy rock type sound. Not the biggest Jack white or bluesy rock fan but still liked this one, feel like they mix the guitar and vocals well: the guitar is loud and up front but it doesn’t cover up the softer vocals

Solid easy listening to rock. Felt like I should be crushing a sixer of bud heavy on a porch somewhere

This one just didn’t click for me. Might have been groundbreaking when it came out but to me was just repetitive and rambling. I think I just don’t like Brian Eno

Loved the opening track, but as the album went on it lost me a bit. Wide variety of sounds but every track still seemed pretty similar in terms of structure. felt like this could have benefited from some <5 minute tracks. If almost any of these was a regular albums closer track it’d be a bright spot on the album, but having every song be a big sprawling album closer type tracks hurts it. Too much of a good thing, so overwhelming that it is underwhelming type thing

Okay, little bit over the top at points and I wish the vocals were more prominent

REM is a band it always seems like I should like more than I do. Something about Michael stripes voice just doesn’t do it for me, makes all their songs sound so dad-rocky to me

Tough to rate this one since it is basically a life cover album. Performance seemed crazy and fun, but I am very anti-cover and fairly anti-live album so got to give it a lower score. Not factoring in the dudes personal life in the rating, but definitely seems like a POS

I like the inclusion of non western music, but I don’t like movie soundtracks. I’m guessing this is a full Bollywood movie that borders on being a musical which closes the gap a little. Different, not not particularly enjoyable or special. Guessing they just picked a big budget fairly popular film to check off “Bollywood soundtrack”

Fun, raw, high energy album. For me it is a little repetitive but I think that is a common critique for me on a lot of punk type albums, when songs are noisy and fast like this there’s just not much you can do to change things up

Reminded me of some of the other albums we have had, was less gross than the pharcyde album but still had the playfulness and fun beats. Also had a pretty up front and clear vocals which I’ve found a lot of the other older rap albums lack. Touch too long but otherwise solid

A lot of artists I really like were hugely influenced by Elliot smith but he just doesn’t really do it for me. The whisper singing works for sufjan and Phoebe Bridgers, but when he does it just doesn’t do much for me

I had never heard of this guy before but really enjoyed the album. I feel like it hits the sweet spot between experimental and listenable which is hard to do. Very modern sound for being released in 1971

Pretty fun one once it got rolling. Was wary at the beginning. Little but too long and a few too many tracks but solid bluesy garage rock

Crazy that this is their 17th album! Enough of the classic beach boys sound (bah bah haha bahhhh) to feel like a beach boys album, not too much that it feels stale. Likes the more serious songs, overall a great balance of songs. I liked the musical idea behind student demonstration with the bluesy rock but the lyrics were dumb and the title was too long

Hard time rating this album critically because it is one of my favorites. I think it nails its spot on the cohesiveness/variety spectrum, a lot of similar sounds throughout but every song is still distinct. I think the moody layered production and lordes unique vocals blend together perfectly

I thought this was fine to slightly below fine, overall not for me

I always wonder how albums like this get made. Do they record just record it and send it out? Do they edit tracks?? and spend hours and eventually are like “hell yeah that’s it, this track is perfect”??? At least the band is appropriately named

Just a weird mix of stuff on this one. I think if it was all filtered into individual genres it would land better, as it is it was too whiplashy. I did like pretty much all the individual songs though which earns a decent rating.

Was really into the funk at the beginning, headlined by Papa Was a Rolling Stone. Less into the back half of the album when it went to the slower more doo-wop pop ballad stuff. Not bad by any means, loved all the string arrangements and stuff, but liked the funk better

Some cool beats, especially towards the beginning, but ultimately just background music for me

Okay. Good to have another non English album come up, pretty enough, but not overly captivating for me. Good relaxing background type music

Funny this came up so soon after dj shadow, similar feelings for me. Some cool stuff but largely background music, a step or two away from being ambient music

I thought she was like 40 when this came out and even though I have since put it together that she was ‘21’ I still have trouble connecting the voice to basically a kid. I have historically never been much of an Adele fan. I think she’s got a singular voice, but her music has always seemed a little boring to me. Lounge music that lacks that sparkle that makes things special to me, idk why. Still packed with hits though so hard to give it below a 4

REM is the DROAT (dad rockiest of all time). Quite a few big time tracks on this one, outside of those everything blends into same-ness for me. I think if lyrics were higher in my criteria it would be higher, 3.5/5

One of those albums that is an experience in and of itself. Manages to have a unique sound across its entirety, every track is distinct but flows into the next effortlessly, production is impeccable. My favorite of his albums, one of the greats

First couple tracks were painful, title track onward were okay. Even some of them were unpleasant though. I think one of those ones that was more influential than it was enjoyable

Often say I wish there was more non-Anglo music on the list, I kinda get why there isn’t as much with this song. It is clearly a lyric driven song and I have no idea what he’s saying. The vocals are fine to below average and the backing music is uninteresting. Really just not much to appreciate as a non-French speaker. Also still anti-live album

Liked this one more than I thought I would. I know a few of their songs and was expecting whiny angsty singing. And while there was that, the instrumentals were way more lush and interesting than I was expecting. Liked that it was grungy while still being clear and didn’t just make everything noisy and distorted

Liked this one about the same amount as the previous temptations album. Saw a comment in the global reviews that said usually genre spanning groups mix genres within individual songs, but the temptations don’t do that. They have Motown songs and they have funk songs on albums, but no blends. Thought that was accurate. Liked the funk better than the Motown but overall solid

Right off the bat way too long, as always no album should be more than 40 minutes. More varied than I was expecting. She’d got a nice voice but it’s just not my favorite kind of voice. To me just an average bloated album Also always fun to see a fellow tiger: “During her youth in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, Aguilera attended North Allegheny Intermediate High School before leaving there to be homeschooled to avoid bullying she experienced at school”

Of course our first week back after two years off is FUCKING RADIO HEAD. I HATE TOM YORK AND HIS WHINY BITCH ASS MOANING MORE TODAY THAN EVER BEFORE I do think rainbows is the most tolerable of all the radio head albums, a few of these almost sound like songs even. That said, I saw another review that said “if you told me this was the same song 15 times in a row I’d believe you” and that really captures my stance on Radiohead. Also note that there are only 10 tracks, it just feels like 15

Influential but not enjoyable. Just not for me, vocals are quite unpleasant.

This one was pretty fun. Too long for sure, no one should make a double ep period let alone live one, but still enjoyed. Guitar singing gimmick was fun and show me the way/baby I love your way are great

This was a fun album. It seemed simultaneously really retro and dated and really modern. The beats in particular feel super 80s rap, the lyrics I think could fit in a modern song without seeming super out of place

Solid rock album. Feels really uninventive now but I think that is just because LZ really defined the sound of rock at the time And as always DASNE

Solid enough but didn’t stand out

Rap is not my genre but this was really well done and heart felt

Alright is one of those songs I’ve heard dozens of times but had no idea who it was by. Fun album, tail end dragged a bit Also have listened to Gaz Coombs music before but didn’t know anything about him, neat!