1001 Albums Summary

I know this album very well. Dead Flowers brought me to it. For the longest time, I was a stalwart of it is the only one worth listening to. The remaster of Exiles changed that opinion for me and opened up the rest of their catalog outside of the greatest hits.

This is an album I don't know. I have spent some time with Parklife and Self Titled. I've also really enjoyed Gorillaz and some of Albarn's production over the years (looking at you Bobby Womack). Looking forward to spending some time with this. Starts off with a heavy nod to Bowie. That's a great way to start. In fact, the album does have a sort of lineage of the British Pop history feel to it - which is apropos given the title of the album. This is a fun album, you can see why they became a big deal.

This was my introduction to Fela and it's a great place to start. Never has political activism been so booty shaking. An important album for the man, his country, and music in general.

I'm not entirely sure I have spent much time with this album. I remember it being quite well thought of on release. I remember liking the singles, but not sure I ever gave it a full listen... It's definitely a 90s album. It's pretty cool, but I'm probably gonna reach for Portishead when I want the moody atmospheric pop lushness. I'm sure it would benefit greatly from a headphone listen.

One would think that the sound of the Carpenters would be from meticulous plodding in the studio for perfection. However, this was thrown together to capitilize on the strength of the title tracks release and success as a single. It also happens to be their best album. Sometimes inspiration is more important than perfection and can lead to the second without all the planning.

Yacht rock's highest moment when a prog rock band decided to make a jazz rock masterpiece.

I know it is fun to hate on these guys, but their first two albums - this being the second are really good. This one was ubiquitous to the point that I knew all the songs before I ever listened to it through the first time. It catapulted them to a level that may have sucked some of life from them until they made vida.

Hey, it's a record I own that I haven't spent enough time with. Guess I'll get on that! There are a lot of great songs here. Many made famous by others, notable Three Dog Night and The 5th Dimension. She deserves kudos as a songwriter, as a singer, she is not the greatest either as an interpreter or a powerhouse vocal. She's nice which is probably why I haven't spent more time with this album which is just nice. Nothing wrong with that but I'm probably gonna reach for other things instead. As a digger though, it is an important historical document of both her songs and her style as well as an early entrant in the singer-songwriter craze that would become a force just a few years after this album hit transforming the whole greenwich folk thing into a money maker for the powers that be.

The best album by one of the most important groups of all time.

Welp, never have dug into her, no time like the present. A raw and emotional pop album. The album is a clear through line from Patti Smith and Chrissi Hynde to St Vincent and Miya Folick

Another group and album that I never dove into. Wow. An auditory fractal that pays homage to the best of synthesizer based dance music through out the ages. While getting your booty shaking, the lyrics pack an emotional whollop.

An album I'm not familiar with from a band that I have a basic knowledge of. The middle third of the album feels like nothing but filler. The first and final third are worthy of your time. In fact the final third is outstanding. There is protothrash here and moody sludge and radio friendly hair metal, pretty much the next ten years of hard rock radio laid out as a template for everyone to use. I think I would have included Screaming for Vengeance instead.

I'm not gonna spend a whole lot of time waxing about this one. It's worth your time. He is a great emotional singer and interpreter. His songs absolutely exude the depths of heartbreak.

A landmark album for sure. R.E.M. remarkably arrived fully formed with everything they would do and innovate already in place. There head nodding rockers, danceable boos, and beauty strewn through this album.

This happens to be one of my favorite albums of all time! Bringing Dusty to the heartland of soul music was a stroke of genius and produced the best "blue-eyed" soul album ever produced.

The album that made Metallica a household name for better and worse. It's overlong and front loaded as much as any album ever has been, it's highlights Enter Sandman, Sad But True, The Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters are great. Some of the tracks like Don't Tread on Me aren't very good. Most of the rest of it is just kind of there.

Had not listened to this album in full. Very good, the sequencing in the beginning isn’t great and it takes a moment to get going, but it’s fun and you can see why they matter.

An interesting album. He sounds unsure of his vocals creating a unique vulnerability in his body of work.

Brilliant drug fueled bummer music. It documents a scene and inspired a million bands.

Beautiful. Smart. Complex. Emotional. Incredible.

A collaboration like none other (at the time)... Bragg and Wilco were tasked with completing music to accompany completed lyrics Woody Guthrie had left behind. The result is an album that doesn't sound like any of the three components. Fun and diverting.

This album was my first exposure to African music and was a touchstone to a life long love of international music.

A great blues album from the british scene. The proto-Zeppelin take on What'd I Say is a highlight.

So… evidently this guy is very influential and people love him. It feels like Tom Waits on a bender in France. Not for me.

Not what I was expecting at all. This is some fun sounding Glam Rock with a dark edge. Unfortunately, much of the subject matter is not for me.

A masterpiece. Pink Floyd synthesized everything they had done at this point and created a magnificent piece of progressive rock.

I think my feelings on this album can pretty much be summed up by the one two punch of Prom followed by The Weekend. Prom is just crushing lyrically. It’s an inventive sounding song, good, that is performed by a very capable singer. The Weekend is everything about some pop music that I don’t like. It is overwrought in its current sound landscape and the lyrics are a worldview that is not only foreign to me but also somewhat repugnant. It’s also sung by a singer wanting to sound current and full of runs that don’t elevate the music. I fully like half the album and fully hate the other half.

On any given day, this (with about eight others) might be my favorite Bowie album.

Charles infused RnB with Gospel and then went and infused Country with his RnB. Great stuff.

You put three legends in a room together and they just happen to make an excellent album.

Solid samba music.

Yaaas. Not my favorite by Common, probably some of Kanye's best work though.

A diverting album with great production. Sort of like The Zombies meets Tom Jones.

Not the best trip hop ever. When it is funky, it is pretty good. When it approaches acid jazz, it's okay. Too much of it is plodding dark repetitive and uninspiring. It feels disjointed.

One of the first, and one of the best punk albums!

Noise for noise sake. I know that Nick Cave is a great songwriter and a hell of an interpreter of song. Maybe those talents are on display here, but it is all hidden by what appears to just be a cacophony of poorly played instruments. This is punk at its most unleashed and decidedly, not for me.

It’s competent indie rock with a capable singer. Unfortunately, the songs don’t seem to go anywhere.

This is their masterpiece. A last hurrah after the debacle of Let It Be - whatever revisionism is present in the Jackson film, that album and its sessions were a band clearly devolving and that had grown apart. You even see the artifice of an assignment to stimulate some of the old magic with an unrealistic timeline that would have been a breeze for the fab four in their most prolific younger days. It's clear that Martin pulled them up by the ears and said try again lads. The result is a perfect record. I don't even hate Maxwell's Silver Hammer as is the in thing to do. While its subject matter is bizarre, it is not alone in their catalog in either weird lyrical themes or as evil drugged out circus music. Harrison is given some shining moments and Ringo even gets to be a bit creative here. The side B suite is one of the most amazing things ever done in popular music. It is simply a bar that has seldom been even reached at much less accomplished. It is the best album by the most influential group of all time. It is a joy to listen to each and every time.

Yes please!

I kind of expected this to have not aged well. It always had a bit of aww shucks southern corniness to it and is ultimately a little too positive in its outlook. But it sounds good. Speech is still a decent rapper and I do like the content. It’s earnestness and naivety are it’s only real faults.

I love Talking Heads, not overly familiar with this one. Thought I didn't know any of the songs, but Phish had covered Cities. Byrne seems to put the wit in the back seat here. Good stuff.

Protopunk that plays more like the Stones through a glam filter.

Meh... not remarkable brit pop, except for the downerness of it all.

THE SAMPLES HEARD AROUND THE WORLD!!! lol. The Beastie Boys and Dust Brothers made a masterpiece (the Beasties would go on to make two more with their next two albums). The perfect mix of the inventiveness that was a hallmark of the band and the silliness of their first album.

nice enough.

A landmark debut that revitalized the New York Hip Hop scene. Noise combined with funk and those piano loops. An impeccable line up of top notch emcees all with kung fu movie samples!

A little all over the place. When it hits, it's very good. Too much of it is Beatles lite and I don't care for the r&B covers at all.

This was my first ever listen to this album (and an album by the band). I'm quite smitten. It is quirky and beautiful. Psychedelic pop brilliance.

Solid jazz influenced psych rock. A band I need to spend more time with.

This album could be so much more but is squandered under a late 80s production sheen that does it no favors.

His masterpiece. A man haunted by the death of close friends and his culpability in those deaths. Meanwhile, he struggles with his fame and stardom and desire to be left alone. Imperfect and emotionally raw.

A landmark album in hip hop, a political statement that focuses on people instead of politics. It's rough edges are a bit in poor taste today but also a critical historical document.

Pleasant enough.

Not as impressive as Back to Black. However the unique voice with a unique point of view is there. Solid stuff.

Pop glam metal perfection. Every song a banger. This was their return after almost certain doom after a bus wreck. The stakes were high and it surpassed all expectations a juggernaut of 80's everything.

A landmark album for dream pop. A seductive album that sounds like a pleasant night out. Lush melodies and strong performances all around.

Yes. I need to spend more time with this band. My wife will not be happy. Fun stuff!

Awesome

Meh... typical doors. Only the hits are needed here.

An album not worth the hate it gets. U2/Radiohead/Coldplay inspired rock with an EDM edge.

A rich cacophony of styles and sounds, new to me, look forward to revisiting.

A little all over the place, a little too much Velvet Underground worship, a little too much too serious.

The birth of hardcore. Not my favorite, but important.

One of my favorite soundtracks. My entry point for the band, I had heard of Moon Safari, but in the pre-streaming days, not heard it yet (when I did, I also fell in love with it). The album works as a perfect soundtrack to Euginedes book. I've actually never seen the movie, but have to believe it works. It is simpler than Moon Safari, but no less outstanding.

Metallica became a a juggernaut with this album. The opening to Sanitarium is about as good of a front half of an album ever.

Well that was sad

What's not to love. Great harmonies, great songwriting. So much fun.

More groovy than her debut, more heartfelt, more adventurous.

Self Esteem is a legitimately good song. Come Out and Play is annoyingly catchy. The rest of this album is glam punk nonsense. It is remarkable that this is the best selling independent album of all time.

late eighties/early nineties r&b/hip hop, not quite new jack, but close. A lot of originality here. A lot of ground covered musically and thematically. Not an album I was overly familiar with, but one I very much enjoyed and want to spend time with in the future.

I got this CD on sale about 8 years ago just before I got back into vinyl. I ended up with a copy of Mr. Tambourine Man as well. The Byrds were sort of an unknown to me. My younger brother was a fan. He also dug other bands that took me a while to get, like Radiohead and The Beach Boys. He also like bands I never got into like Toad the Wet Sprocket. To me, the Byrds weren't the band that had David Crosby and Roger Mcguinn and gave us the gift of Chris Hillman and Graham Parsons or Gene Clark. I didn't know all of this until later. To me, they were a pop outfit that mostly did safe covers of Dylan. An electric version of Peter, Paul and Mary. Mr. Tambourine Man didn't really do anything to dispel that feeling. But this album with its lush baroque psychedelia changed my feeling about them and led me to explore the rest of their catalog discovering that Crosby and those guys mentioned above were in the band and eventually arriving at Sweethearts and Notorious Byrd Brothers and really becoming smitten with the band. If only my brother didn't make weird choices with music like falling in love with stuff like Me Phi Me so that he was a more consistent source of quality listens for me.

Shiny 80's synths, danceable rhythms and ear worms aplenty.

Meh. It’s fine. Don’t understand all the fuss.

I mean, I guess you could say the fell to the sophomore slump. This one isn't as packed with hits and seems a little laid back for the band, but its still the FUCKING Police and it still rules. It's still better than like 85% of all music ever made.

My introduction to Cuban music. A great set by great musicians.

I don't think I had ever listened to any Napalm Death before this. Hard to believe this came out in 1987. So much music today owes to this album. I will be revisiting for sure.

Solid live classic rock, not as hard as you would expect given all the talk of setting the stage for Heavy Metal...

The title song is amazing, the rest not as much.

nice chill and funky downbeat electronic music. Will be listening to again.

Fun funky housey big beat. will for sure be listening again.

Surprisingly didn't hate it. I'm not gonna buy it, but it wasn't offensive. I could go the rest of my life without hearing Get on Top and Californication ever again though. Clearly, they had stepped firmly into their elder classic rock statesman role at this point.

Noodly progressive rock. Pretty much what I expected. Quite enjoyable.

The last interesting album that Kanye made bridging the gap before what he had done and a futuristic sound we haven't quite caught up with. The signs of his mental issues are starting to show.

early britpop, sounds like a down tempo Stone Roses.

brit pop with more glam and grit.

Groovy melodic heavy music.

baroque pop was not on my Byrds bingo card. Probably a mood thing, but was not feeling this.

Nifty glitchy electronic music often with a housey flare.

This is pretty awesome and I can’t wait to spend more time with it.

Enjoyed this, first ever listen, will be returning to it.

Hollywood Elvis is different from the debut album Elvis. This is more in line with a Sinatra album, he’s still a compelling performer.

I’m fairly certain I gave this a few listens back in The day. It seemed to me that it hit the same time as Coldplay, but this predates a bit. Seems like Martin and Co. may have found their formula in Driftwood as it seems to inform the beast that became their machine. This is interesting though, more playful. A band not afraid to explore. It sounds an awful lot like the child of Radiohead (which makes sense given Godrich’s involvement) and Oasis.

A nice sounding "oldies" album. Many covers of recognizable hits. There isn't anything mind blowing here. It's all just nice.

Bowie at his most free. Eno helped him bring an artistic statement to fruition.

Imagine if Pete Seeger had taken acid and decided to emulate Renaissance music with sitars instead of being an activist.

Well his politics are starting to show and he was clearly always insufferable. Like Tomorrow's repeated plea "TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME." Nah, bro, it's cool you love yourself more than enough for the rest of the world. here's the thing though, it is a great voice that finds odd ways around the instrumentation behind him and Ronson and the Smith's like band produce a very appealing Glam sound. The problem is Morrissey. I could listen to this all day long if it all didn't start to become distasteful around the end of "We'll Let You Know" peaking at a feverish rate with "We Hate It..." Such talent wasted. ugh. At least other seemingly insufferable front men like Sting and Bono aren't showcasing the worst of humanity. And while Father John Misty may (I italicize because I am incredulous) be doing it all as a show, it is clear now that there was no facade or affectation here, Morrissey was telling us all about himself. He's clever. He's talented. He's also the worst of us.

One of the all time best with a great live set

Great 80s synth pop. Will be listening to again.

Perfect Psychedelic Blues Rock

Nice blues pop tinged soul.

Great album by a great singer. One of the all time best.

A great singer songwriter at the apex of his craft.

This album was part of the neo-soul soul revival. This album, more than any other album brought my attention to modern soul/r&b as not just the stuff I heard on the radio that was all about getting in someone's pants. I mean there is some of that here, it is Maxwell and he is smooth, but this is more of chill at night with someone you care about and want to be close to. It's an album for mature love with smooth rolling bass lines and one of the all time great singers - who is just effortless

Great protopunk.

Fun 80’s pop ZZ Top

I was not familiar with the Knife or Fever Ray until their recent album came out. It's odd electronica that will probably grow on me if I return to it

I haven't listened to this in a while. My daughter was a Swift fan. I had heard Fearless and Speak Now, but didn't think much of her. It wasn't really country that spoke to me and I, still to this day, find her songwriting to be trite and ego-centric. However, this album, specifically Ryan Adam's version of it, got me to rethink Swift. Like I said, her lyrics still don't really speak to me, but I've come to enjoy her pop confectionery and even embrace her ability to make self-centeredness seem okay. I really came on board with those albums that folks from The National helped with, but this was the point where it becomes unsuprising that I have four of her records on vinyl now. This is the other one I really want and will buy her version when it shows up.

I think this is sexy music for your grandparents which makes it super creepy.

Rush had some growing pains. Peart wasn’t around for the first album. The second is very much like the first. Caress of Steel is a mess in just about every way, but then this…. A loose concept album about a dystopian future Steeped in the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Rush merged noodly progressive sensibilities with the hard rock of those first two albums and never looked back leaving a legacy of great albums. It all really starts here though.

Great spiritual music and primer for the sitar.

fun power pop

Great early psychedelic rock. White Rabbit and Somebody of Love solidify this as essential.

Stone cold classic.

Very much enjoyed this one of the few punk/post punk things I've heard that feels influenced by Joy Division, will spend more time with this in the future.

Noise rock. Will need more time with it.

wasn't the most memorable thing I've ever heard.