1001 Albums Summary

Great album but I could have died without hearing it.

Always a classic, even if the Beatles are sometimes regarded as the pumpkin spice lattes of these “best album” lists. Honestly the transition from Polythene Pam to She Came in Through the Bathroom Window is one of the best of all time.

Not really sure which of my thoughts to go with so here they all are: This album evokes so many firsts for me: Playing with a sound mixer and the immediate overuse of reverb; The first feeling of revulsion upon finding 93.9 Smooth Jazzzz Beats FM on the radio; The thrill of changing the sound from piano to a dog barking on my first Casio keyboard; The first time I tried blending all the flavors I loved together, like citrus and milk. This era of electronic music has never resonated with me. It simply tries too hard to justify its existence. I wanted to give this album a chance but the sledgehammer subtlety of "The world is sound" repeated over and over again in the first track didn't help. By the time "OK" rolled around, I was trying so hard to like it again. Optimistic thoughts "OK sounds like it inspired Prodigy's Firestarter! Maybe that's something good I can take from this." quickly disappointed once I realized that "OK" was released _after_ Firestarter — the song's inspiration was actually just a cliche derivative. This is what a braided goatee sounds like. It’s like putting Kenny G, the soundtrack from Moulin Rouge, and Seal into a blender and then adding a generous splash of pan flute. Nope.

Hadn’t heard this album of band before. Definitely need to check them out now!

You had me at surrealistic.

It’s definitely interesting but it’s not an album I’d likely listen to again. I wouldn’t, however, flee a cafe where it was being played.

I don’t have a good feeling about this; never start an album with a bold proclamation, especially if it ends up being the title of the song. I listened to most of it — that was enough.

I had to go back and check but apparently there were multiple songs on this album. They fit all the notes in though — all of them.

Mixing could be better on the Introduction — I always hate when an album makes me worry that my headphones have shorted out. Nick Drake's voice comes through as clear as ever — perhaps everything else was secondary. I'm pretty okay with this album because we're thankfully past peak troubadour, otherwise I would have definitely harbored resentment.

In twenty years, will we still remember Hipster Americana? This feels like a mix/evolution of Dylan, Springsteen, and pop, with 80's reference making for a catchy band name. I like listening to a random album each day but I also hate that I can't see what else is on the list. There are some good songs on here but what I really want to know is whether or not this was chosen over St. Vincent or FKA Twigs — both of whom also released albums in 2014.

This album probably got an extra star because I was listening to it while riding a motorcycle.

Hadn’t heard of this band before but really liked their music. I wonder what became of them…

“… a masterstroke of middle-aged emo.” — an excerpt from Apple Music’s write-up for this album.

This album would surely win SNL’s old game show skit, “who’s more grizzled.” It certainly aged me while listening to it and, dammit, I want to still be young. I know someone is going to call me shallow or say I’m being unfair — maybe I am — but I don’t have time nor desire to do a deeper study of “death of an heir of sorrows”. It’s not for me, not now at least.

One very late night in Malibu, I savagely berated a man who sopped up what little bandwidth we had to stream Coldplay. Fucking Coldplay….

The late 90s album U2 wished they had made. Two stars — forgettable save for the one song everyone knows.

I have so much nostalgia for Tears for Fears. They’re great but I’m saving my five stars for Peter Gabriel.

Too proggy for me. 70s prog rock can sound a little bit like the high school a cappella group joins a rock band and Yes unfortunately falls into this camp for me.

You know, I think I like my bjork better when served with some Sugarcubes.

Leonard is playing us, right? Jazz Police is completely over the top but catchy if you can look past or even embrace the campy lyrics and choir. Fun album — I might listen to it again sometime — but I’m mainly happy to have experienced it.

My freshman year college roommate introduced me to this album and was one of our dorm room staples. Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley were a common bond between me and my roommate, and let us overcome very different backgrounds, personal, political, and religious beliefs. Maybe it hasn't aged as well as I had hoped but I can't give it less than 4 stars.

2.5 stars. I have a sneaking suspicion that English bands are over represented on this list. This album could be evidence of that. The songs are operatic—I frequently wondered if still listening to the same song since they seemed to contain multiple acts. Operatic is cool but they didn’t take me on an emotional journey—I connect more with the whining angst of the Decembrists.