1001 Albums Summary

Far more enjoyable than I’d expected and so many bangers on here that I knew well but could never have named the artist if you’d asked me.

I liked the songs I already liked but was eager for the others to end. Made it through the whole album but won’t revisit.

More fun and melodic than I expected

It’s a brilliant and important album but I can’t go 5 because I have to be in the right mood to listen. It’s best on headphones for me, and when I’ve got a march on, heading some place.

I wanted this to end so badly. The best of the album feels borrowed. The rest, cringe. There were delightful moments of 90s nostalgia early on but they got swallowed up by the overall awfulness of the rest of the album. Was wavering over 2 stars but song by song, Jah Wobble talked me down to 1.

Not my thing at all but I get it. It’s fine. One thing I have never realised is that it’s not ‘in the garden of Eden baby’ that they’re signing and that has blown my mind.

An absolute pleasure to listen to. I’ve always liked Willie but never chosen to listen so really grateful to have this nudge.

I really dislike funk but parliament are undeniably good at making it. It’s repetitive and there’s all this chat in the songs. It’s a great example of a classic from my second least favourite genre. I danced a bit during the first track, despite myself.

One song I liked but oh so samey. I went with two stars because If You Want Blood reminded me of Empire Records, which isn’t a bad thing.

More appealing to 2023 me than 1997 me. Almost perfect but Albarn’s mockney accent just grates on me.

Excellent album. Very much reminds me of being little as my folks played this a lot.

I have never listened to this lot, unless someone has been playing it, but it’ll go into regular rotation now. A real gift of this challenge

Look, of course it’s really good but no. I can’t. I tried! I started off well with Street Life and then the rest. It was too smooth. Jazzy. It put me in mind of theme tunes to old dramedys.

I really love this album so was delighted that it appeared on the list to remind me to give it a listen again.

A fantastic listen. Some good, old-fashioned hip hop. I always enjoy hearing the moments that were borrowed by later tracks. It won’t be in regular rotation for me but it was properly good to hear.

A really enjoyable listen. I’ll probably listen to more now that I’ve been nudged. It was a little odd listening to Fairytale of New York outside of the Christmas build up.

Great album. Jonny has been trying to get me to lists for a while and I’m so glad I had a reason to listen. Some incredible songs on here. The titular track is really special

His skill is undeniable but I got ever so bored. I get it but I’m not into it.

Of course this was wonderful. One of my all time favourite songs lives here. Beautifully made. A joy to listen to.

Yeah fine. I was bored much of the time but his voice is actually gorgeous. Just won’t be taking it for a spin again, any time soon

Really good fun and very recognisable. Happy enough to listen and can defo recommend walking through Bristol city of an evening while listening. Really adds to the atmosphere.

Aw great stuff. I really like this album and miss the days when rap was slow enough so that I could understand what they were saying

I’ve never listened to a full album by this lot and it was really good. Felt like the building blocks to a lot of later music I have loved. Some songs were stronger than others but the grungy feel was just right for me

So freakin’ cool. It’s hard to believe some of these tracks were made in 69 as they feel so contemporary. A great listen. Some tracks didn’t do it for me but the bangers banged.

“I’ve been around the world a million times and all you men are slime.” Love love love this album. I have listened to plenty of Sonic Youth over the years but never sat to listen to an entire album. Nothing but love for this one.

A classic! It is obviously brilliant but it is never going to be my go to. Total respect for this album and glad to listen.

So much atmosphere. Impossible to listen to dispassionately because it’s so tied up in my youth. Much nostalgia for me. In an attempt to appraise it honestly though, it’s beautifully produced, has provocative lyrics and imagery, the music itself is sumptuous. A truly great album.

What I really like about this challenge is that a few times I get an album that I’m sold on and I don’t enjoy listening much. This is one of those. I’m like ‘yeah, course, born in the USA.’ And the listen through feels so underwhelming. Without the context and the appreciation of the entire catalogue, and album like this one doesn’t land the same. Grateful to The Boss for many things and some tracks on this album are incredibly important to me but it’s not one I’ll listen to over and again.

I didn’t hate it but I did want it to end.

No one’s saying that this album is better than Born in the USA, right? Just that I like it a lot more. I had to rate today based on how much I loved relistening to this album that I had on almost constant rotation for a few months in 1999. I know every word and can still sing along. I still love some of the moments that happen throughout; a moment in Luv when Fran Healy’s voice seems to crack a little with emotion. Or maybe not. Maybe I’m just being 16 again and hopelessly romantic. Either way, I enjoyed this too, too much.

This album is perfect.

Another great listen and such a pleasure to hear the two Clash albums so close together. Two years between them and the sound has matured so much. This album was a riot.

Far more enjoyable than I imagined. Even live, this band sound so good.

Yeah I found this pretty dull. Cee-Lo Green definitely has his moments for me but none of them were on this album. Incredibly mediocre.

Huh. Maybe I do like funk. Not all of the songs were available on the album so I patched together a Funkadelic experience and did not regret it. Grateful for this listen.

Scuzzy, grungy goodness.

A lot of fun. Good summery record.

Yep, an important album by and important band but her voice has always grated on me. Should be my cup of tea but isn’t.

Brilliant storytelling and super enjoyable from the get go.

Mad. A totally mad record. Kate Bush is a total legend but this isn’t the album I’ll listen if given a choice.

I found his voice lovely on the country tracks but thin on the blues.

It’s not my first listen and I don’t know if my mood was just exactly right or if I get it now when I didn’t before but I loved it this time. Loved it.

There are a couple of songs on this album that I’ll always love. I struggled with Blur when they first landed and this album kinda sums up just why. Damon’s into his mockney phase and it isn’t very pleasant. Even as a kid I felt that he was taking something that wasn’t his and it drove me crazy that others didn’t see it but I know now that’s because we all came from different places. Anyway, fun songs on here and moments of grace too, ie. This is a low.

Ok, well actually, pretty good

A fun listen and I could hear how many bands seem to have built their sound on these songs, such as incubus lol, but it wasn’t something I could listen to again.

Wow. This was great. It’s way outside of my usual listening and I’ve always given this genre a wide north but I know Fela is a legend so I wasn’t too surprised when I enjoyed the listen as much as I did.

YASSSSS! I can listen to this all day long.

An excellent debut. I listened when it came out and the same songs jumped out for me this time too. It’s a nicer listen without all the hype.

I love John Grant. This has a few songs on that I first heard in the movie Weekend and was stunned when I did. His voice is so rich and sad. So many layers of feeling. Just glad to listen again.

Good and dramatic. Quite a voice!

This is one of my all time favourite albums, thanks.

It was perfectly good. Moments of funkiness and progginess that I heartily enjoyed but nothing jumped out for me.

Very 60s. I felt like I was in an Austin Powers movie. Psychedelic. Not for me.

A really good listen. I was too young to get it at the time. I didn’t think electronica was for me. Certainly not the case now. This is an amazing piece of work.

A really powerful album. One that I didn’t love back when but adult me feels quite differently. Wonderful poetry, beats that get you moving, it’s a win.

Yeah I liked this more than I thought I would.

Ah I don’t like it. It’s fine. It’s well produced? It’s fine? I just find it a bit annoying really.

Beautiful. Perfect.

What a marvellous listen. I have missed this and I didn’t even know it.

It’s a singles album for me. The singles are incredible but the rest don’t do a thing for me. Her latest album is gold and packed full of excellent songs, tells a story from beginning to end. This is her building up to finding that voice.

I didn’t like this at all and that’s interesting because I always thought I would have but just sorta missed the boat. Happy to revisit and see that I wasn’t missing a thing.

Fun, weird, brilliant. I knew it would be. It’s not one I’ll go back to though. David Byrne’s voice has always grated on me

So much of The Smiths no longer works for me. A relisten is always good but a listen to less familiar tracks leaves me cold.

Some nice pop moments but mostly unremarkable

A great album. Loads of fun, such classics and the skits might even actually be funny, depending on my mood.

Sounds gorgeous and so very Bowie. Just not one I go back to often. It’s like the building blocks of what makes him such an incredible artist but in itself, I don’t fancy it

This album surprised me. I thought I knew Roxy Music but I didn’t at all. It was far more challenging than I had expected. A good listen.

This didn’t do anything for me throughout most of the listen. My ears pricked up during the second to last song but I forgot to care throughout the day. Inoffensive but dull.

Sumptuous, interesting, classic. So much love for this one. Never thought I was a Hayes fan but I was wrong.

I enjoyed this way more than I should have, given how purile some of this stuff is. I’ll listen again, for sure. How old is Blister in the sun, though?! Really thought that was a 90s record.

That was a slog. I found it really boring.

Really enjoyable listen. The singles from this are top notch and the rest were alright too. Blank space is one of the greatest pop songs of all time and yes, I know that’s a big statement to make.

Fine. I get The Fall but I don’t love The Fall

LOVE this album. So many bangers. It was a massive part of my youth too. These two crazies who rap really fast. They’re funky and sorta futuristic. Funny too. Yep, just a massive yep.

Oh The Beatles. What to say. I just don’t get on with it all but then a song comes on and I’m like ‘Ooo.’ This album has some of those on it.

It’s a perfect album. I can come back to this often and still hear something new each time I do. I wrote it off when it first came out as I was hoping for more like The Bends and every album after OK Computer just felt too left field. In my defence, I was very young. Now I’m delighted by how timeless and enjoyable a listen this is, along with the other less-indie records.

It’s a great album. It’s not my fave of theirs and I don’t pick it up often but I’d find it incredibly difficult to listen without thinking of sweaty summer nights dancing in crowds watching this racket play. It’s an even better album for conjuring those memories.

Classic psychedelic rock fare. Grateful for the vibes but I’m never delighted when I am faced with going back for one of these. I need to bring context to fully appreciate it because I can get terribly bored unless I remind myself that the music I love is here because this was first. That said, some lovely moments on this one. 10/10 for vibes but a solid 3 from me otherwise.

Such beauty, sadness, grace, humility. So many things that rarely come about when an artist covers a song. Johnny Cash is raw and vulnerable and his voice is cracked and full of emotion. I heard this album a lot back when it came out and naturally it means different things to me now. I cried listening (while cycling which isn’t a good look).

At times, funny but then I’d remember it’s unironic and that it’s not a parody. The rest of the experience was characterised by boredom.

Sad, gorgeous. Contains one of my favourite Beck songs of all time - Lost Cause.

A nice listen. Better than I’d thought it’d be. I gave it a wide berth when it dropped because it felt just a bit too beardy. I liked it but I didn’t love it. Some gorgeous songs.

I could listen to This is the Day on repeat for hours. It was fascinating once again to hear an album new to me that has so clearly inspired some of my favourite bands.

I liked this a lot. I thought I knew their work but this album surprised me plenty. They were always lumped in with Britpop artists on compilations and I never understood how what I considered to be pop songs sat alongside what I now realise were also pop songs. I’ll listen again, for sure.

I hated it. Yup. Moralising and dull. Terrible combo.

It’s such a banger, despite the discomfort I have listening to Michael Jackson.

Enjoyable reminder of days gone by. Really big fan of some of the tracks on here but I know I won’t go back to it

So cool. Very little else to say.

A few amazing songs make this album. The rest wasn’t for me.

A great album. Nothing unexpected here and a few lovely songs.

Fine. Scratchy. Ok to listen to but it got a bit dull.

Delightful

Wow. Just brilliant. I had no idea.

I grew up with this album. I love it. Mark Knopfler’s voice takes me to places I’m very happy being. The album cover art is so evocative. And of course the songs are just wonderful.

A really enjoyable listen. A crooner improved my morning.

It was surprisingly good. I did a massive eye roll at the prospect of listening to another 70s psychedelic rock album but it was far more entertaining than I imagined.

Jay-Z’s Blueprint ticks all my boxes. Nostalgia factor is high but so it the relistenability. I actually sighed in appreciation of his world weary lyrics like “I don’t want much, fuck I drove every car. Some nice cooked food. Some nice clean drawers.” It’s beyond charming. I love the flow and most (not all) songs aged beautifully because the production is just so on point, thanks to Kanye. It’s two artists at one of their peaks and I had a great time listening on my cycle to work.

Not at all my thing but sure. Good stuff and well made.

It’s fine. It feels like I know it but I don’t. I think that’s due to Steely Dan being so distinctive.

Nice! I enjoyed it and played the sample spotting game as usual. As smooth as it was, I probably won’t go back for more than the titular song.

I did not like this. It was too shrill. Thing is, it should be up my street. I’ve heard so much about Sleater-Kinney over the years in relation to bands I’ve loved. This was a surprise to me.

A genuinely likeable album that opens with a banger

This is the right PJ Harvey era for me. I love how raw this is and recognisably hers too.

I really think 2004 was a crap year for music. I remember listening to this album and thinking, is this all there is? In hindsight, it’s fine. It’s just not electrifying. If it came out in 2001 we’d have ignored it and FF would be a distant memory, like The Rakes. But yeah, it’s ok.

An incredible piece of work

I bloody love this album. No need for me to listen today. I listen enough.

Interesting choice. I saw pet shop boys and thought it’d be something from their heyday but it was good to listen to them that bit later.

The singles on here are undeniably brilliant. I wasn’t sold on the idea of listening to the rest so took a bit of a run up. It was all so very 80s.

Ah Wu-Tang. I liked this so much more 20 years ago. Upon relistening, the production feels shonky and the violence gratuitous but then again, that was the point. I love what Wu-Tang did for hip hop but I’m not going to pick up more than the odd track from this again. Some classics! But it’s not going to get a regular revisit.

This sounds so much like the songs that play over the credits to 80s movies. Probably very good but not for me.

Layered, sumptuous, sincere. I really enjoyed this and I did not expect to.

Bigger than I expected. They were always just ok for me and I never knew there was much more than a bit of nice pop about them. I really liked this though.

I liked this a lot more than I thought when the record began. It opens inoffensively and then some of the tracks on here are the kind that actually end up stopping you in your tracks. I was delighted.

Not what I was expecting. Far more experimental and moody. Really interesting listen, given my preconceptions.

Not at all what I knew supertramp for and pretty good.

I got bored

Very good but too too much for me. I couldn’t listen again.

Wherever I’ve returned to songs from this album I’ve felt uncomfortable. More than once I’ve said that this era of Eminem hasn’t aged well. Listening from beginning to end though is an entirely different experience. This album is an incredible piece of work. The thread that runs throughout (this is who you think I am) works to poke fun at the critics who can’t imagine that rap can be fictional. Having said all that, I still did die a few times of horror because these songs are so dark.

Atmospheric, beautiful, unforgettable

Urgh. Muse are such tryhards. My daughter asked me “Is this Radiohead?” and I was like “Absolutely not!” I’ve liked some tracks and the albums before this were way more interesting to me. This one, nope.

A couple of fun songs but nothing beyond that for me

Too jazzy for me

Gorgeous. Delightful.

Such a lot of fun. Short songs, raced through. Really enjoyed it.

What a massive album. I’ve given it absolutely no time and instead gone in search of the singles when I fancy it. I definitely slept on this one. I think Kanye has a habit of being ahead of his time. A long way ahead. I listen a lot and widely but kanye releases always feel like a miss to me until I go back. I wish I could listen for the moment though and not think about who the man has become (or perhaps always was, it just took me a while to clock it). It’s distracting and it affects the music deeply because so many of his songs pick up issues that he’s revealed himself to be deeply ignorant about, such as New Slaves. I also cringe when I hear Nina. It can feel like a sacrilege the way that he uses her voice. Still, a brilliant album.

Good, important, old school rap. I have much respect for these two but I can’t help get a bit bored listening

This album is beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous and I am so glad to listen to it. I will listen and listen again.

More interesting than I suspected. I have never had much time for Kraftwerk. I saw them play live at Latitude years ago but it felt to me like a novelty act. Revisiting this album was good for me though. Richer and more layered than I’d remembered. Still repetitive.

Beautiful album, so much atmosphere. I have loved this for many years.

Moments of absolute glee but it bored me otherwise. Chris Cornell’s voice is stunning on this record and Black agile Sun takes me right back to the 90s and being frightened watching the video on mtv and not sure exactly why. The rest came and went. It is the more polished end of my much loved genre, grunge. But I don’t love polish. I thought I’d like this more.

I put off listening to this because I wasn't sure I had the patience for something from this era but I surprised myself by really liking it.

A beautiful album.

Excellent album. I’ve been meaning to listen to Elvia Costello properly forever. He played a lot in my house growing up and I figured I’d like his work. This was a lovely listen.

Fun. Can’t say much else.

Gorgeous, scuzzy music

Meh

Gorgeous album

Surprisingly, I didn’t hate it. I can’t stand jazz but this was ok. It was mellow. It was manageable.

I was bored.

Lovely album and one I’ve listened to plenty. It’s not on my relisten list but it’s always nice to go back.

Wow! Ok! Not awful at all. Not actually annoying. I liked this. I will head down into a bit of a rabbit hole with this.

I grew up on Dylan and this album is of course one of those things that played and formed my taste going forward. It’s a great album and one that I could listen to many times but I rarely go back these days.

Beautiful storytelling. I’ve never listened to an entire dolly. Very glad I have now

Just not for me. His voice grates.

Wow. Another delightful surprise. I don’t know how John Prine passed me by all these years but I’m grateful to have listened today.

Surprisingly good music here. I knew she had something to her but never felt to investigate. Grateful for this listen.

This bored me. The Who always did. I tried but it all felt so samey.

Fuzzy. This racket must have given birth to nirvana.

Great big beats! I loved it.

Of course it’s good but it doesn’t move me at all.

Better than I had imagined and I’ve been putting off listening all these years. Another band that I know the singles but they weren’t compelling enough for me to either buy the cd at the time or go back to listen. Great music throughout but a little samey by the end

Beautiful and gorgeous and a great invitation to plough into the back catalog. Perfect.

I really tried and man, this lot make a hell of a noise but I found it mostly unlistenable. Kudos, there's a lot of heart and soul in this, but no thank you.

Fantastic album and not one I’ve given any time to previously. It felt rough in a good way. I’d absolutely come back to this. It’s good to hear the building bricks of what came next for New Order and so many other artists too.

Beautiful music.

An ok listen. Really nice to hear while I'm working because despite it's noise, it doesn't command too much attention. I won't go back but it's fine.

I really liked this. Such boldness and incredible songwriting.

It's too smooth for me. I just can't.

Gorgeous and delightful. Thanks for the suggestion. I will listen again. I knew I liked Sam Cooke but I didn’t know just how much.

It’s really good and I’ve loved some of these songs a long time but I’ve never found my groove with PJ Harvey.

This was a right joy to listen to

Always good to listen to this lot. It's scratchy and the production is sparse. It feels so different from what came later. Classic moments that lit me up throughout. Mmmm...drop!

I’ve always loved this album and found it again recently. Some of the songs here are absolute bangers but I do laugh a bit as I listen. There’s a lot of guff on here too. And the lyrics are outrageously bad in places. Still, I love it.

Wow. I enjoyed this far more than I did the San Quentin record.

It’s a perfect album. I’ve loved this for years and nothing has changed about that. Intense, beautiful, it bangs.

It was fine. I know I should love the Beatles but I can see why they're important but really can't enjoy them very much. A couple songs in here I can listen to endlessly but I wanted to skip most of them. I wish I got them but I don't.

Surprisingly good music. I knew TTD from my youth but never liked his sound and never really got the vibe either. Too smooth. Now, though, this smoothness really works for me.

Absolutely brilliant. I’ve missed out on Serge and it’s good to have an introduction. This will go into rotation.

A great album but less engaging than I remembered. It’s likely that I was excited by the concept at the time. Clint Eastwood is a stupidly good song. Like, so frickin good. Otherwise it was all ok.

A great, great listen. Growing up with this kind of soundtrack has really shaped my musical tastes. I don’t often go back to it though so I was glad to have the nudge to. I probably never listened to this from beginning to end as I didn’t own the cd so chances are, this is the first proper listen. It does not disappoint.

I did listen but I didn’t want to. I’ve never liked this lot. Just felt like a novelty, covers band, sticking to one era, except somehow they do that with original material. Uninspiring. But they can play their instruments so fine, I guess.

Oh so much worse than I remembered. I liked this! How? It’s bad. It has moments I’ll always be fond of but as an album, this just sucks.

I really needed this. Beautiful harmonies and perfect songwriting. A gorgeous morning listen while I buzzed about the house. New to me but will stay in rotation.

Unbelievably good. I’ve not listened to this album since I was a kid. I have been a bit meh on the U2 front for a couple of decades, infuriated by the cult of Bono. This was a fantastic reminder of why people care so much about this band. I could listen and listen. What an opening!

I was expecting plinky plonky piano and rock n roll that I have heard to death. Then when he struck up Money, I was like yeeeeah. Jigging in my desk chair.

I had high hopes for this album but it didn’t work for me at all. A little too scrappy with nothing to hang on to. Might have been my mood and the timing? But it’s not going to get into regular rotation for me.

So very 90s. A couple of tracks that are objectively good, although not my cup of tea. I liked the songs when I was 9 though? Does that mean I need to give this album a decent rating? I think not.

Super cool. I’ve tried a few times though and always said “yes. This is cool” but never gone any further than that. It doesn’t excite me.

I was expecting glitter and glam rock and was delighted to hear more than just this. I have never had a reason to really listen to T-Rex so this was a nice nudge. Good stuff in here.

I can absolutely see why this made it to the list. It’s not something that can work for me. Feels like I’ve already heard it all, a hundred times.

This did nothing for me. I didn't expect it to either. I want to say something insightful about rave culture and the mainstream but I really CBA.

This was a tough listen. Really noisy and I played it way too early. It was interesting though and felt fresh and new despite its years.

I didn’t like this at all and I was expecting to. I listen to a bit of Roxy Music but I have gone to the albums a few years after this one.

Always happy to hear from Pixies. Brilliant album and a joy to listen to.

Some songs are gorgeous. Really beautifully atmospheric numbers like Somebody That I Used To Know but the rest comes and goes without me really noticing until Elliot Smith breaks into my thoughts with one of his repetitive refrains that go round and round like a stuck record.

A real stunner for a debut. Super cool and so much fun to be had.

I love this album. Always have. I had it on cassette years ago and used to listen in the car. I still regularly hit it up when I need something summery and light. It aged beautifully and I’m so glad to have a reason to listen again

I did my best to listen without prejudice but this album has lyrics so insipid it’s insulting. The production is excellent but Madonna just kinda ruins it. And the cover of American Pie is bad enough that I can’t even listen. Just no. Catchy songs throughout so I’ll be singing Hey Mr Deejay for the rest of the week but I ain’t happy about it.

I have a weird relationship with The Beatles. I can appreciate that they were doing something special but it's never really spoken to me. This album is absolutely the one I have enjoyed the most. Songs like Tomorrow Never Knows feel thoroughly timeless. Totally immersive and properly enjoyable. That said, other songs are a bit doo-doo, dah-dah like their other stuff. So it just about escaped a 4 star rating from me. That said, it got closer than any other Beatles listen and that's really nice and new.

This album is perfect. I really love Radiohead and can revisit their albums endlessly without getting bored. This one signals their move towards electronic music and it’s hard to imagine now but at that point, a band like this were just not supposed to do that. And they did it beautifully. Their desire to grow and change as artists is so clear when on this album. It’s a masterpiece.

It's a likeable album with a whole lot of vibe. I knew the two big tracks, and being a bit of a garage girl I was glad to give the album a shot. It was an enjoyable listen. Not spectacular but top marks for atmosphere.

This was great fun to listen to. Love a bit of punk and always good to hear something nice and early

So good to hear this album. I knew Burning Spear and who they were but hadn’t given them any rotation. It’s a fantastic piece of work.

I didn’t hate this, which is massive for me. Jazz gets right under my skin. It’s lovely to have to listen to the kinds of things I’d avoid though because I could get along with this. A bit.

It’s Elvis. Of course it’s good. Classic songs and that voice. I just don’t care all that much though. But hey, if I were much older I’d probably have a bit more reverence.

It was nice. It sounded like the seventies. Super smooth in places.

I find these kinds of albums really difficult to rate. I can hear the influence they have had on the music I love. I can see that they are really good musicians and the production or whatever is sound. I just find it hard to stay engaged with it. I am glad when it’s over even though I can hear that actually, the music isn’t bad at all. So a 3 star rating that appreciates the work but says no when I’m asked if I’d listen again seems the right fit.

This is Joni but it’s not my Joni. I love her voice but on these songs, it doesn’t quite work for me.

LOVED this. I have always liked Depeche Mode but never actually listened to an album. Weird. Glad to pick this one up.

This was bad. I like a bit of Aerosmith but I found it very hard to get through this. Walk This Way salvaged it for me but only just.

I liked this a heck of a lot more than I thought I would. Metal is a strange genre for me. I love punk, alt rock, grunge, but I think I was born slightly late to appreciate Rock-rock. So listening to this was enlightening. It ticked so many of my boxes. A good listen that really engaged me.

I actually get it! Years of listening to this music as a teenager and all the way through I was like ‘oooook then.’ This time around, his voice is so gorgeous and the lyrics, hilarious and darkly satirical. Coming back around for this lot.

Ooo yes. Super smooth, hella enjoyable.

I love listening to Simon & Garfunkel so this was an absolute pleas

Cor this was fun. I really enjoyed bopping my head to this. It felt current too, in ways I hadn't expected. Glad I went back for a listen.

Yes! This all happened so much earlier than I thought, it seems. A great racket I’d never even heard of.

Wonderfully noisy stuff. A great accompaniment to a trip home from Berlin too.

I don't want to rate this at all. It's obviously very good but the man is a big NO for me. I will hit 2 because yay for the production and artistry but the man ruined some people's lives quite profoundly so that colours my enjoyment.

Loved this album. Can’t say I’ve listened to much Willie Nelson before this but I’ve always had a lot of respect for the guy’s career and enjoyed the songs I have heard. This was beautiful though. Great songwriting, hell of a voice.

This absolutely bangs. I have missed a corner of music and this quest has given me that back. This album is astounding.

I tried!

Yes maaaate! So good to listen to this on a Thursday morning in December. Lyrically brilliant and then awful. Musically the same. The beats are either incredible or so sparse it’s barely a song. Great to hear lyrics said here first that get used in hip hop for the next few decades too.

Beautiful. Gorgeous. Almost perfect.

It was Elton so yay but apart from the super strong opening with Tiny Dancer, the rest didn’t work for me.

Objectively brilliant but I didn’t want to listen much. I grew up with this as a bit of a backdrop and always knew it was important music but it never entertained me.

I love a bit of Bey but I’m a singles girl when it comes to her. The albums have never really done it for me. That all changed at Lemonade but up until that point I could take or leave. A track or two stood out from the pack and it was a joy to hear songs like 7/11

I'm so glad I managed to listen to this. It's incredible. I am struggling to find words to put to it.

This is the perfect album. I love every song. Each moment I could recognise from the tiniest of clips because the sound they’ve created is so distinctive and stylised. Always a joy to listen to and it’s never not in rotation for me.

I find jazz so hard to listen to but this was really interesting. I couldn’t just put it on and chill though. This has to be an assignment.

The perfect, classic Christmas album. I love this record and it’s in heavy rotation every year.

A really beautiful album. I’ve listened before but so passively. It was a pleasure to listen to again after all these years.

I didn't hate it but I did find it very easy to ignore. Guitars and stuff. Riffs. Nothing very interesting to me.

In context, quite excellent, very important and groundbreaking work. Upon listening though, it's good. I liked it.

Bloody hell, that voice. What an album and what a sound. Transportative.

Fine, atmospheric and with beautiful production but it doesn't work for me lyrically. Again, it's that decision whether to rate based on how much I enjoyed listening or the context in which it was created. I'm going to say it's just fine.

Remarkably enjoyable. I've never had much of a reason to dip in to Deep Purple but this was soulful, it rocked, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable listen. I probably wouldn't throw it on again but I didn't wish most of these songs away.

Oh I know this album well. I listened plenty in those way too low jeans, on my discman. Such a great bit of pop music and a nice bit of defiant art in response to the mudslinging she had to endure from the media as a woman in the public eye in that decade.

A really good listen from a band I’ve always liked well enough but not really gotten to know about.

It’s a brilliant, beautiful, classic album. Tonnes of atmosphere and the production is perfect. I listened to it on vinyl because it’s one of those records I dug out of a charity shop and felt like a winner.

This album is really important to me. I grew up listening and have never really stopped. Lyrically brilliant and musically stunning. Incredible that she just won Country Song of the Year in 2023 for Fast Car, so many years after release and what a deserving song! It is totally perfect.

I didn’t know this project existed and it was a great listen when I popped it on. What a combo of artists!

Proper classic here with one of the greatest songs of all time on the track listing. Can’t argue with that. I enjoyed it. More soulful than I imagined. Not just rock.

This was a bit of a slog. It just doesn’t speak to me. Can see it’s value but I liked maybe one song?

Brilliant album. Noisy in the right way.

Oh Clapton! I didn’t realise it was him. Quite an album. I rolled my eyes but enjoyed the opening tracks so much. Sagged again in the middle but then came back around for Layla. It was only at that point I realised it was Clapton. A really good album. I’d return to a few songs for sure.

Yup. This could be early REM. It’s a shame they didn’t blow up like REM did. It’s a great album.

Better than I had expected and gave me an opportunity to address this weird dislike for Goldfrapp which must have been based largely on her positioning as an indie icon of sorts. Which wasn’t her call anyway. A good album with some really cool moments.

I'll absolutely come back to this one. Brilliant. I loved Jesus etc and had it on a playlist somewhere but hadn't gotten to explore the rest of the band's stuff. Really pleased to be exposed this this. Right up my street.

Erring on the side of four stars because there’s maybe 2 tracks I’d skip but wow it’s hard to call. This album is a real classic. There are huge songs on here that I’ve had in my life for years and still stop me in my tracks if they come on the stereo. Be Thankful, Unfinished Sympathy and Safe From Harm. Grateful this is on this list and for the drive to work that saw these songs blaring out Friday morning.

It’s basically good. Just fine. I was never really swept up in all this. It felt like good songs but the most exciting tracks by White Stripes came an album earlier for me. The more polished they were, the more the good stuff got stripped away.

I was not expecting this. Not just an indie album by any accounts. More experimental than MOR with moments of indie pop but them being the exception rather than the norm. Knowing Boo Radeleys for their smash hit lead me to put off listening to this one but I’m glad I came back around. I’ll listen again. It’s very good.

A good album to pick up. I can't even imagine how much this would have been loved when it was first recorded. Elvis always souonds old and tired to me but of course, that's because I heard it coming out of tinny pub jukeboxes growing up. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

I found this to be quite boring. The epitome of MOR music. I won’t be going back to it.

I didn’t hate this. I felt something while I listened. A lot of the time it was irritation but some of the time it was anything but. I really don’t get on with jazz but this was an album I would have been sad never to hear. Some of it made me feel like I was a gunshot detective, on the trail of gangsters, some took me to some underground speakeasy cloudy with smoke. I felt like getting shit done sometimes as I listened. Basically, it was very good. I miiiight just return.

A beautiful and perfect album. A lyricist like no other. Except maybe Dylan? So long, Marrianne is one of my all time favourite songs and so a joy to hear. I’ve heard plenty of Cohen but never listened closely so this was a fantastic listen.

I did try but it felt like. Load of nonsense at the time and unfortunately that hasn’t changed for me.

Great stuff. Something to get me bobbing around the house this morning.

Smooth and soulful. It's good but I don't like it.

I love this album. It ages so well. The songs on this are so good that they could have released almost any. One of my fave pulp songs lives here and it was never released. A beautiful bit of social commentary, some dark storytelling and so much humour. And you can dance to it! What more can you want.

Beautiful album. This was a joy to listen to. I had imagined it’d be good but not that it’d be this pretty and fun.

I find it hard to put into words how much and why I love this album. It’s perfect.

Innovative but still really enjoyable. I was really happy to see this album on the list.

Far more enjoyable listening to this understanding what the 808 actually is. Back when it was released I couldn’t work out all the hype. It seemed just like any other dance music.

Beautifully done. A really special performance.

Yeah so I rarely return to Coldplay as their later work is so bad that the earlier work is tainted for me. Parachutes is the exception and is in regular rotation but this album was a wonderful listen. Songs on here that I really liked at the time still resonate. Green Eyes, The Scientist. Pretty songs, pounding drums, synth? I think synth. Anyways, it was a good listen and I was glad of the reminder. I’ll draw a line at X & Y though. That won’t work for me.

Cool but repetitive in places. Some songs I loved and others I wanted to skip.

I tried but it was all kinds of irritating to me. Objectively I can see that it’s good stuff but I didn’t enjoy it. It’s jazzy, middle of the road stuff.

It’s good. Really good. The singers voice always grated on me but there are moments on this album where his voice is beautiful. Songs like Summertime Rolls are nice and psychedelic. A little timeless. So much of the late 80s, early 90s sound across the rest of the album.

Incredibly likable. I hadn’t expected to enjoy it quite so much as I did

It’s a great album. The blueprint to so much of what came after too. Love the beats, the lyrics, Nas’s voice. Brilliant.

So very operatic for a rock album. I really appreciate what they’re doing here but it is not at all for me.

This is wild. A lot is going on here. I tried to listen first time around but found it too chaotic and then I had some writing to do that I'd been putting off and found it was the perfect soundtrack to motivate me. Would I put it on again? It's unlikely. But it was good while I needed it.

Absolutely brilliant

LOVED this album. Did then and still do.

A genuinely likable album. I spent years rolling my eyes at Pearl Jam but enjoyed this loads. Felt very much in my wheelhouse, sonically. 90s, grungey, not sure what else I’d want.

There are songs here I absolutely love. Joyous, beautifully produced pop music. Timeless! But the other tracks I could have skipped all the way through.

Absolutely brilliant. This came up he same week I’d realised it had been a while since I put this on. Love the band and this is their best album.

It sounded a lot like something I’d like but I couldn’t get along with it. Each song sounded similar to the next.

It’s beautiful, bewitching, beguiling. Other be words. Magical.

Another strong Levi’s album. Rich in sound, nice to listen to and lots of swaying and head bobbing while I did. He’s not my guy but this is undeniably great.

Yep! An album I needed to listen to. It was such good fun. They’ve never been my fave as they get 10/10 for vibe but are best enjoyed song by song. The repetition across a whole album just bores me a bit. So a great listen but returning often is unlikely for me.

Richard III has to be one of my fabou Songs of all time. And the album itself is ace but there are still a few of those teenage numbers in here that didn’t even do it for me when I was a teenager so it’s far from perfect. Still, a great listen.

Same experience I always have with LCD Soundsystem - I look forward to listening and a like what I hear but I’m not rapt. It is amazing in places and I get it. I get the hype too. But I’m always having to remind myself to pay attention. 10/10 for vibes, inventiveness and making something clever that you can dance to too. Not 10/10 for enjoyment though.

Oh my god it’s beautiful. I love this album. Lyrically and musically it’s perfect.

Sheesh. Ok I know it’s a classic and yes, of course, well done this lot but it’s way too jazzy for me.

It’s clear why they are cited as influential by so many artists. It is a miracle I hadn’t listened before but glad I did.

It’s good. Really good. But it also really feels like background music

Very operatic indeed. Not my cup of tea but I have to appreciate the craft here.

I loved this. It was the most ridiculously well timed listen too, given that I was on my last day of a trip to Seattle. I adore REM but never went this far back to listen so was grateful for this one

This was really good. Really good. I hadn't expected to enjoy it quite so much. Soulful and folksy.

I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. It was darker. I liked it.

Yes. I really like this pair. It isn’t the album I’d most like to have in my ears but it was still very good.

Just fine really. Worth reminding myself that it’s a 55 year old album and looking at it that way because I can get a bit bored of aabb rhyme schemes and pretty lyrics (even when they are laden with sarcasm)

A good album. Some brilliant songs. They’ve never really been my cup of tea but moments like Wild Horses stop me in my tracks.

I didn’t hate it, despite it being jazz. I wish they’d all play their instruments in a way that made sense to me though. Miles Davis did some lovely trumpeting.

A likeable album.

Yeah so rock n roll and all that. It was fine. I know we have these artists to thank for what we know now as rock but I rarely like listening to anything from this era because it sounds basic to me. I know that's totally unfair because we needed this to get to Radiohead. But I'm lukewarm at best.

Songs like Sing a Song For You are exquisite and his voice is stunning. Absolutely stunning. Then you have songs like Gypsy Woman where I just spend most of it wanting it to end. I really don’t know how to rate a record like this. It’s clearly very good but I wouldn’t like to listen again.

This was excellent. Probably the only album by the stones that I’d gladly throw on to listen to. Magical opening.

I loved it. Of course I did. I couldn't decide between 4 and 5 stars but had to had to had to settle on 4 because I've rated some of my faves at a 4. So 4 it is.

Loves me a bit of Bill. His lyrics like prose, he just sings whatever he needs to and his voice is so beautiful.

I'll admit I rolled my eyes when I saw it was Led Zepplin but I quickly took that back. It's a great listen. I found myself nodding along, foot tapping, feeling properly engaged. It's soulful and it rocks. It is a gift of this challenge that I think I know a band and I've written them into history as one of those things people like but I don't much, and then I listen. So yep. Good stuff.

Blue is my Joni Mitchell album and I’ve been disappointed to learn that it’s the only one that really does anything for me. This was ok but I was glad when it was over. It neither offended nor engaged me.

God, this was hard for me to engage with. It was jazzy, proggy, I don't know. I think it was good? If you like this sort of thing? I really don't.

Well I didn't hate it and for anything in this genre, that's a really big compliment for me to pay. I guess I'd be happy for it to play as background music at some gathering. I could hear it at a coffee shop and not put on headphones to drown it out. Yay Duke.

Wow. Beautiful music. I have a huge gap where this kind of folk should be. Grateful to have listened today. I’ll pick up more of these albums too.

Politics, love, family. A brilliant album. New to me as a full album, although I’ve had plenty of time with his songs. Much enjoyed

Beautiful as always when it comes to Stevie. I didn’t realise the song They Won’t Go When I Go was his and it is such a wonderful piece of music

That was a lot.

That combo of undeniably good but totally uninteresting to me

Fine

With jazz, I really struggle to rate. I have developed a bit of a binary system Do I hate listening to this right now? Can I tolerate it? If it's yes to the first, I'll give it a 2 because I'm not an idiot. I can tell if something is good so not a 1 star, although I'd like to shove my fingers in my ears and scream to block it out. If it's the latter, I'll give it a 3 because it's a massive achievement for a bit of jazz to just not piss me off. I feel pretty awful contributing to a pool of reviews with such an arbitrary system but it's all I have. This album didn't make me mad. So 3 stars. Well done Miles.

What a perfect and brilliant album. I loved this at the time and it has aged so well. A joy to listen to.

Yacht rock! Yeah! Some great moments here. My algorithms have started offering me some awful stuff as a result of my lingering on this and Aja. I like a bit of Steely Dan but I don't go in for the wider genre. It becomes tiresome quick. Good album though.

I can’t get into any more of this 70s prog rock. I need smaller doses. Perhaps if I’d listened amongst other genres I’d be ok but this has been a long streak of 70s rock. I had to go back to Guns and Roses to feel better.

Beautiful album. His voice is incredible and it was good to spend some time in folk as a genre. I knew Once I Was and was kinda keen but some of the other tracks here were really sumptuous.

80s goodness. Great to do a full album

Yeah I liked this a lot. I would though. This is peak Morrissey for me. Before I knew he was a prick, before I found his melodrama too funny to take seriously. Really happy to listen.

Great listening. Super opening with Take It Easy that really sets up the rest of the album.

I was happy to listen to a bit of Prince but I really didn’t love this album. The opening track is fantastic and I remember it premiering back in the 90s and being so engaged by the video but the rest of the album didn’t work so well for me.

Fantastic and not someone who has ever crossed my path. A real gift of this challenge. Beautiful production, big themes, bold choices throughout. It felt current but it was two decades old.

Really interesting! So 90s in places, sometimes lapsing into a more classic style of jazz. Didn’t hear Nick Cave’s vocals at some point? I think I did

Fun! Rowdy! Probably not one I’ll listen to again but a good bit of time spent in adolescence

Good rock noise. Loved hearing Breaking the Law but as ever, the rest didn’t do much for me

Perfectly good stuff

Yes! I’d never attempted a full Linkin Park album. I liked some singles but considered them a bit young for me when they landed. It never felt clever enough, as if such things matter - especially to a Blink 182 fan but whatever. It’s funny to think where we draw lines and where we don’t. Anyhow, going back to this was excellent. I enjoyed every moment of this record and will be returning to it in coming weeks.

Such a shame it was this one. I love a bit of Lana. I think this is my least favourite of hers. It’s breathy and slow and nothing much happens lyrically or musically. As it followed NFR, which I still have on repeat, it was a huge disappointment. I didn’t listen to The Grants as a result and then looped back to find that that was a brilliant album too. Just not sure what happened here.

60s psychedelic pop is fine by me but nothing exciting here

God I love Dylan. And this album has some absolute classics on it.

Truly, a great album. I liked it a lot. Another gem I’d never explored aside from the singles.

Good songwriting and nice melodies too. Not someone who has ever been on my radar but happy to have heard her

I wasn't sold on this at all but then I checked the year and was quite surprised because it felt pretty 90s. So much must have come from this. Then Spotify suggested Beck right after and I was like oooooh. Ok. I see why this is here. Interesting but a bit too funky for me.

So dull. It was like country doing rock. I cringe when they try to be sexy. I liked Aerosmith a lot at one point in my life. Just doesn't bare revisiting.

A better album that I imagined. I’ve never been one for McCartney or the Beatles so it’s a bit of a treat to go in and listen and hear it all with new ears.

Super cool, incredibly layered, surprising. A better listen than I was anticipating.

Gorgeous, smooth, soulful, cool. Everything I would expect from Curtis Mayfield.

A lot of fun!

A beautiful album. Nice to have a bit of country in my ears. The best country artists are such wonderful storytellers, it deserves a re-listen.

It’s perfect. So many incredible songs that I knew and had forgotten about and others I’d never heard.

Yeah it’s the first metal album. And that’s great. Thing is, I wasn’t there and I can’t be and I can’t really imagine what it was like before this happened. So try as I might, I can’t raise much enthusiasm. Out of context, it’s dreary.

A lot more to this than I thought there would be. John Lydon and his various projects have always turned me off but I thought this was pretty interesting. Especially as I went in imagining I'd hate it. I didn't!

Cool so this was properly interesting. My first thought was that it sounded like a soundtrack and actually that was the point of it. It felt like England to me too. The era is a little before my time (I was 6) but the familiarity with the themes meant that it spoke to me in a way that I hadn't predicted. I didn't love it at all but I was glad to have heard it. It's good work.

A nice listen but little more than nice

It’s a gorgeous album and a joy to listen to after the previous offerings.

It’s perfect. It’s my favourite album of all time. I can’t add a thing.

It was pretty good but it got super repetitive. He's funny! And that is ace at the start but it gets old quick.

Iggy always nails atmosphere. I bop my head because I’m on side the whole time and then I hear a lyric or two and I’m back in reality feeling less enthused about the album. Moments I really enjoyed (like nightclubbing) but I had that problem throughout.

Ok this is a big album. I am totally in the dark as to who Dagmar is, relying instead on her wikipedia page for context. But this is musical theatre. This is really interesting storytelling.

This album deserves headphones. It should be played at an absurd volume. It is a bold, voluptuous album. You can listen to just one instrument for a whole song and then go back and listen again for another and it's another song entirely. It is an album I have never stopped coming back to, since it landed.

Bright, busy and bouncy. Hurt my head to try.

A great bit of country pop that manages big themes while still keeping the vibes up. Nice.

Classic!

Lovely to listen to some Neil young. His voice has always grated on me and despite his status as a legend I can’t get past it. That said, it’s a beautiful album.

God I don’t like funk. Seems like it’s good at what it’s trying to be but it’s a slog to listen to.

It’s a brilliant album. A proper joy to listen to these dark songs.

Ooo yes. I was super happy to hear this. It was entirely new to me, or so I thought, but it turns out Headache is a song whose hook has been my ear worm since the 90s and I’ve been totally incapable of finding out where it came from. So this was revelatory!

Really good to listen to something outside of my usual places to go to. Her voice was incredible, both gravelly and soft. The music was obviously good but it didn’t do much for me.

It’s fantastic. It sounds older than I remembered. He is such an incredible wordsmith and whilst I’ve always got him on my playlists, I haven’t given a full album a listen in years so this was a great nudge.

Oh it was fine. Very nice. Stevie always is.

I wish I could rate 5 stars for one song alone but alas, that’s not how this works. I’d happily listen to dire straits all day long. It’s great rock n roll and reminds me of my childhood in a good way.

Great to return to but whether or not I’d return again… not so sure. Aside from Drive, which is still a beautiful song, the album doesn’t do much for me. Pardon me is a banger.

I’ve been meaning to listen for such a long time so was glad when this came up. Fantastic and timely. Raw and sound like when and where I grew up. The turmoil is in the sound. And the anger too.

When I like country it’s for its clever lyrics - one liners and quips. This has that and it has all the cliches I’d expect, west reverb wind and trees. Etc. nothing really stood out though

I love songs on this album but there's a lot of just Bob being Bob, singing in his nasal voice and repeating himself. I can't go in for that. Utmost respect for Bob and so much love for so many of his songs but it's just an ok album overall.

It’s a good bit of disco and more songs on here than I knew I’d know but it’s not for me. Disco just isn’t

How the hell did this pass me by? It’s like it was made for me. A fantastic bit of post punk. Brilliant