1001 Albums Summary

Nostalgia for me having grown up listening to Glenn Miller. What a trip to remember how influential Charles was!

Still songs to get high to. Or sit by a fire to. Or gaze wistfully from widow’s walk for our loved one to return to. Or to get murdered to on a dark street in a 1980s slasher.

I don’t know what to think of this album. It’s not made for me, but some of the tracks are so good and take risks. Heavy Balloon was my favorite.

Maybe I’ve never been a 70s hard rock fan. Or a live album fan. I’m doing this project to try to explore more. But I was glad when this album was over. Every song just felt almost indistinguishable from the next and from any other hard rock band of the time.

So many bangers for wistfully looking out a window on an autumn road trip.

Have always liked Bitter Sweet Symphony but never thought to get the rest of the album a shot. It was splendid!

Lord of bits that have been sampled in future songs and undoubtedly influential. But wow we’ve come a long way in lyrics…

Sad girl music for sad girls. Several earworms and certainly 5 stars for the people it’s intended for.

Probably the only time I've sat down to listen to a Reggae album. Liked some of the political tones.

This album has so many bangers that it’s a shame everyone only puts Le Freak on repeat.

Nobody told me the Pogues were awesome

Arcade Fire is one of the bands that makes me wish it was still 2004.

Fun, but mostly forgettable. Love Girls and Boys though. Also the song I guess too.

Their cover of Ferry Across the Mersey is the hidden gem.

I enjoy Blues, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to get from this album that’s substantially different.

I see why folks adore this album. Lovely dark bits make for some bright points. So different from anything else at the time.

It’s good fuckin’ music. It’s good fucking music. Gaye is iconic, but it’s not an album I’d return to.

So longggggg. But definitely some bright points and influential in scope.

Just...wow. I accidentally had found the last track ages ago and I loved. I can't believe this came out in '91.

Wonderful soul and I think the first time I spent listening to an entire album. It's bang up work and shows what is possible in music

This can’t be the same band that did My Girl!

Neat and likable, but ultimately forgettable

I left this album understanding better why people loved Cohen.

There are 1001 albums on this list. All of them are noteworthy. Some of them I won’t be able to say anything about. They’re not bad. They’re just them. This is one of them.

If classical and jazz had a baby and that baby went up to college and got a really good job and then always came home for the holidays and bought you a nice house and, when you retired, it put you in one of those nice communities with palm trees and where the water is clean and they came over on Sunday to watch Looney Tunes.

Loved this album growing up. Lyrics in the genre have improved over 20 years, but it's without a doubt that Eminem has strongly influenced the genre. I'm still partial rather to the Marshall Mathers LP.

An album where my initial reaction is "Why weren't more people making better music in 1970?" But also an album that just...draaaags along.

There's something special about 90s hip hop, but most of the time they seem a little static when it comes to their cadences.

A treasure of psychobilly.

Fun, folksy, and Cat Stevens voice is incomparable.

Good music to watch trains to.

Fun and punchy. I like to groove to it.

I wanted more. Even the boogie tracks are too gentle.

Very likable, like a familiar neighbor who always helps out.

Good music. It’s unfortunate Morrissey is a shit person.

I won’t turn Don McLean off, but I am never thinking “oh, I need some Don McLean.”

Most original rap from this time period, but obviously some of the most original work musically ever.

I thought I hated Björk. Nope. I loved this and want to listen to more.

Tom is the carnival I always want in the background and this album is no different.

I like their energy.

The drawback is the number of covers. The upshot is knowing how garage rock compares to those covers.

This is a bop.

Bruce is a wonderful person, but this album is mostly background music.

What music can be.

Why are all The Beach Boys so good?

I feel like a bunch of these legends sound awfully the same.

This album gets better as it goes on.

I am pretty critical of bands with multiple albums on the list. Not sure if I get anything out of this I don't get from Parklife. Probably could have died without listening to it.

Funky, groovy, and generally a pleasure even if I have no idea what we're singing about.

Meh. It's Aerosmith. It's fun, but I have to agree with the album's contemporary critics--it's just Aerosmith reheated. Obviously inspiring to a number of guitarist who ended up picking up the instrument *because* it's fun, but the dearth of decadent music and a bunch of people's nostalgia is not enough for me to be impressed by this on its own.

Poppy, catchy, lyrically lovely. Something where my chief criticism is that You Can Cal Me Al lives rent-free in my head.

Starts strong with wonderful anchors. But the real treasure is in the last three tracks, elevating this from popular ear candy to something ethereal and wonderful.

Exactly the reason I wanted to do the 1001 Project.

This is so close to good, but sometimes I can’t let my ears wrap around some things, like vocal choices, that distract me from perhaps fully enjoying it.

I am pretty critical of artists with multiple albums on the list. Not sure if I get anything out of this I don't get from Nebraska, and multiple albums means other noteworthy ones are lost. Probably could have died without listening to it, but the title track is strong enough to keep this rating up a little.

I am unable to separate the art from the artist.

This is my third Miles Davis album. Even though this is as good as the others, I give a vote towards the spirit of “before you die.” In my opinion, we could find 1-2 different albums and someone on their death bed doesn’t need to waste their time after Kind of Blue or Bitches Brew.

Holy fuck.

I like how weird this is. Like…Louisiana Tom Waits.

Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme" is a proto-punk album, and I will not be elaborating.