1001 Albums Summary

didn't think this would be my cup of tea but I found myself liking it quite a bit, would come back to this for chill out/melancholy tunes. Songs are different enough from each other to stand apart, yet the album still feels cohesive as a whole. 3.5/5 rounded up to 4 Faves: Glory Box, Roads, Wandering Star

day 2 and we get salsa. so far 2/2 in genres I never listen to! this is a vibe though, listened to this while in traffic and felt totally at ease. I know it’s meant to be danced to, but I just want to chill on a beach with a margarita and listen to this. musically, lyrics are pretty big for me so it’s hard for me to connect with a song when I can’t understand it (I don’t speak Spanish). But there are a lot of elements of this I love. Cool instrumentation, unexpected elements, some funky/disco vibes at times that I enjoy. It feels really refreshing listening to it, has an impromptu feel like the band is just jamming. Compared to a lot of over produced stuff today it just felt nice. I do think it started to lose steam a little bit toward the end though Faves - Pedro Navaja, Plástico 3.5/5 rounded up to 4

day 3 and ooof. I could get through the first half ok, but started to get exhausted by the time Witness came around, and found I'll Kiss You to be physically painful. It's a relatively short album that felt much longer. Cyndi Lauper is undeniably iconic and can do insane things with her voice, but it can be very grating. I've just found I can only take her in small doses and much prefer the more ballad-y songs. That being said, there are some classics here and I'll probably find myself getting even the most annoying ones stuck in my head at some point, so she did a lot of things right. I probably wouldn't choose to listen to the album on my own though. 2/5 Faves: Time After Time, All Through the Night, When You Were Mine

day 4. hmmm. I’m tempted to rate this higher because it is Tom Petty, but I don’t feel like there is much on this album worth listening to beyond the 2 songs I already knew. Gimme the first two and the last two, nix the stuff in the middle and I’d be good. I quite like the Luna->American Girl ending though. that being said, it’s not bad, just a bit samey-same. short songs and an easy listen. 2.5/5 rounded up to 3 faves - Breakdown, American Girl

day 5. interestingly, though I don’t listen to techno/electronic music I did know 1 song from this band, but it’s on their next album The Fat of the Land. Judging by this listen, I think I’d like the sound of that more than this one. it just dragged on forever … it wouldn’t fit any place in my listening. Not quite work background music, not pumping me up enough for a workout, not chill out music. Idk. 2/5 I can tolerate but wouldn’t choose to listen to. Faves: No Good (Start the Dance)

day 6! I really love Alex Turner's voice and Arctic Monkeys as a whole but wasn't aware of this side project, so this was a great find. the instrumentation everywhere is cool, but so over-the-top on some songs that I didn't love how it drowned out the vocals. I do enjoy the vibe of this album though, it feels like a throwback and Beatlesque at times, as another reviewer described. I could see myself going back to this, though probably mostly the front half. 3.5/5 rounded up to 4 faves: Standing Next To Me, Separate And Ever Deadly

day 7. A pleasant listen with a little darker/moodiness underneath, which leaves me feeling like there's more to chew on than what seems to be on the surface. Ex A - Happiness, super upbeat but gives serious culty vibes. At the same time, as soon as I finished listening I forgot what everything sounded like, and had to relisten to a few tracks to remember what my favorites were. I was not familiar with Goldfrapp before and now I kind of want to listen to more, but I don't know that I'll be running back to this album. 3/5 Faves: Little Bird, Happiness

day 8. All I knew of Fatboy Slim before this was Rockafeller Skank and that Christopher Walken video for (checks notes) Weapon of Choice. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Could've been cut down for size, but as background music for grind-it-out type work it actually made the hour go by fast. I could see myself coming back to this. 3.5/5 rounded up to 4 faves: Acid 8000; Right Here, Right Now; Praise You

day 9. this is beautiful and I think deserving of my first 5 star rating. one I will definitely come back to when I want to feel something <3 4.5/5 rounded up to 5 faves: Angeles, Say Yes, Pictures of Me

day 10. I chuckled when this came up, it's very timely as I was reading a reddit post about RHCP the other day and thinking about them a bit. Where I've settled is if you don't take them too seriously, RHCP are a solid band. Sure, get a better vocalist, write better lyrics and they could be great, but they also might be more forgettable. They have a vibe that works and Kiedis sells it well. Now, this album is verrry top heavy. #'s 1-6 are instantly recognizable, huge hits. Kinda surreal to hear them all one after the other. And the rest ... I like Easily and Road Trippin'. Right on Time almost made my ears bleed, but aside from that I didn't haaate the second half. It just could've/should've been cut down a bit. I've found that RHCP is a band that gets infinitely better when listened to with headphones. I appreciated them more on this listen. fab instrumentation, especially in these earlier funkier years. I still feel that I lack a connection with them, but they are fun to jam to and are undeniably iconic. tl;dr it's a good album, 4/5 (even if it's trendy to hate on RHCP, I can't in good conscious rate it lower), could be tighter though faves: Parallel Universe, Easily, Scar Tissue

day 11. on this episode of “never tell me the odds”: the odds of me drawing not 1 but TWO Goldfrapp albums by day 11… what is this. I once again have no idea how to describe this. some of it has a sexy-mysterious-haunting vibe I kinda like (first few songs & Horse Tears), but it got too weird and la-la-la and creepy clown for my taste in the middle with Deer Stop through Oompah Radar. I guess I do feel like I was taken on a strange, Alice in wonderland type journey and I dig albums that can take me away, so I kinda get it. I think I liked Seventh Tree more, but I’m not sure that I’ll be revisiting either of these enough to feel confident in that opinion. 2.5/5 rounded down to 2, maybe I’ll listen again if I’m in a weird mood, idk yet faves: Human, Lovely Head, Utopia

day 12. it’s getting a solid 4/5 from me, it would be a 5 but I think listening to a full album of them just wore me out a bit because of how fast paced everything is! I guess I wish there were more ebbs and flows. Also I’ve always found Jamie’s Cryin’ to be a painfully annoying song. it’s an undisputed classic though. Faves: Eruption+You Really Got Me, Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love. unexpected fave out of the ones I didn’t know: Ice Cream Man

day 13. a name I recognize but I have no familiarity with his music. I really like this album! it has a good variety and flow, doesn’t really drag. Just a lot of solid tracks. I don’t really get the hype about Alison though, sorry … 4/5 would definitely come back to again faves: Welcome to the Working Week (loved it!!), Blame It On Cain, Pay It Back

day 14 and an excellent album to kick off Memorial Day weekend here in the U.S... I've never listened to a U2 album in its entirety, and I have no idea why because Where The Streets Have No Name is easily one of my favorite songs of all time. the opening never fails to give me goosebumps, and it is the perfect representative for what's to come on this album. I really enjoyed reading about what U2 was trying to do here ... "Throughout the sessions, U2 sought a "cinematic" quality for the record, one that would evoke a sense of location, in particular, the open spaces of the United States." ... and they 100% nailed it. that soaring, atmospheric, escapist kinda mysterious sound is what I've been drawn to, and it's captured so well throughout the album. there's a lot to love here aside from the 3 biggies, so my faves that I didn't know before are - Bullet The Blue Sky, One Tree Hill, Running To Stand Still and Exit. it's a solid 5/5 for me and I'm looking forward to diving deeper to appreciate it even more.

day 15. listened to the original ones first, then went back and listened to High Tide or Low Tide which sounded way better to me - and would have been a favorite - now I wish I listened to all the Jamaican/re-released versions first. anyways. this album was just okay to me … I do have the impression that most reggae sounds the same and this didn’t really change my opinion. Stir It Up does stand out and makes sense why it was the only song I knew previously. Other faves were No More Trouble and Concrete Jungle. I just found the rest to be too similar not only in sound but often times in messaging too … meh. sorry, it’s a 2.5/5 rounded to 2 for me, I didn’t hate it but it doesn’t stand out to me.

day 16. woah, a recent one! I'm not at all familiar with Kelela (or really, R&B in general). I found this to be a pleasant listen and the production is solid, but I don't know that it's particularly memorable. Her vocals aren't particularly distinctive. And I started to get a bit bored in the second half with a lot of the songs bleeding together and getting more ambient. but some of the songwriting is pretty good and I like the overall vibe. my faves were Frontline (by a lot), Onanon, LMK also why is Bluff her #1 song? it's 1 min of filler ... I don't get it ... 3/5, it's just alright for me, not running to get back here

day 17. this was so good! an instant mood booster, short and sweet with nothing dragged out. I rarely listen to single jazz artists (sometimes a playlist) so I don't really have the knowledge to explain what sets Miles Davis apart, but I'll take everyone else's word for it and make a note to pay more attention :) faves: Move, Boplicity, Budo, Jeru 4.5/5 rounded to 5

day 18. I don't really understand why I see some people calling this album a concept album. I feel like this album tried to do a lot of different things, but didn't do any of them particularly well, so the flow just feels weird, despite the use of the interludes to attempt to make it feel cohesive. The top half has several songs built around social injustices/political themes, and while I wanted to applaud those songs for taking on big topics I instead felt like they often came across overdone and cheap. Then, intermixed with those songs but moving toward the middle of the album were several upbeat, more typically themed 80's pop songs which became a bit too much for me to listen to all together (and often sounded dated), though there were some catchy ones I enjoyed in this section (faves on the album - Escapade, Black Cat). closing with 3 romantic ballads in a row is a choice.... by that point the album was stretching my patience already and I found these really generic. I don't know how I finished tbh. I clearly just wasn't feeling this one, idk, sorry Janet. 1.5/5 rounded to 2.

day 19. This album is sublime and I'm so glad I only knew Hallelujah before listening. When it came up, I knew enough to know I should be paying attention to this one, so I saved it for a relaxed Sunday night. So many feelings about this. I'm starting to understand why so many artists cite him as an influence both for guitar and vocals. I could hear so many parallels. What stands out to me is how dynamic it is. You're getting a wide range of genres on the album, but also great progression on each individual track, especially in the first half of the album. So many tone shifts and songs that went a different direction than you would expect, sounds interwoven beautifully. Two of my faves, Grace and So Real were great examples of this. And yet the album is balanced as if he knew exactly where people may perceive him as doing "too much", and pull back. Hallelujah is perfectly timed on the album. The only song I would skip is Corpus Christi Carol, but even that one sets up nicely in juxtaposition to Eternal Life afterward. EASY 5/5 rating random note - the closer on Spotify is Forget Her, which was not on the original release. I read it was supposed to be on the album, but Buckley (who seemed repulsed by the song) pulled it at the last minute in favor of So Real. It was later released posthumously. I felt a little guilty for enjoying the song after hearing how Buckley felt about it. But, before knowing this I did think it felt off as a closer, with Dream Brother suiting the mood of the album better.

day 20 and another repeated artist. It’s like the algorithm says oh you didn’t like this? You’re gonna try again in a week! This is a good album. Good songs both well-known and new to me, and there is more variety and conciseness to this one that I appreciate compared to the last album I reviewed, -checks notes-, Catch a Fire. new faves: Natural Mystic, Waiting in Vain. I guess I appreciate the songs without the backup singers’ echos. Exodus is also a jam, just too long and repetitive for my taste. I appreciate this album more knowing that he wrote it after surviving attempted assassination and exiling to London. Still cranking out infectious, feel-good songs that still resonate today. Just a pure soul. While the religious themes don’t personally hit with me, the tunes can transcend that so that anyone can find something to love. solid 4/5 for me.

day 21. easily the most obscure band I’ve had come up so far (going off Spotify listens). When I started these ratings I reserved a 1-star rating for the “ugh, get this out of my ears” albums, but I tend to be really open to stuff and not wanting to judge too harshly, so I didn’t know if I would actually use it. It’s here! Congrats, The Gun Club. You get my first 1-star rating. this is rough. First two songs were ok, but I quickly grew tired of this album. I just can’t listen to that annoying, whiny, talk-shouty style of vocals. It’s so grating to me and completely takes away from what would be ok sound. I do enjoy the bluesy-infused punk, I just can’t get past the vocals. And most of the songs were really lacking in substance which didn’t help. Also, two uses of the n-word?? no. lastly, good lord, some of their worst songs felt like they went on forever- For the Love of Ivy and Jack on Fire. Make it stoppppp! the ones that weren’t that bad - Preaching the Blues, Ghost on the Highway, Sex Beat. 1/5 not coming back ever please don’t make me

day 22. well. I went from 80’s punk yesterday to 2000’s punk today, and… I’m starting to think I just don’t like punk. And I actually got excited to see this one because I liked Hate To Say I Told You So … but nope. it’s definitely not as annoying as the Gun Club album, and at least it’s a short 28-min listen, but I just don’t think I can justify more than 1 star here. This is about as generic as it gets. I always got the Hives confused with other bands back in the day and now I know why - it’s not just the generic name, it’s everything lol. I don’t understand why a compilation album is included on this list either. best tracks besides HTSITYS - Main Offender, Supply and Demand ? or maybe I just checked out after these 3 songs 1.5/5 rounded down to 1

day 23. the older I get and the more chaotic the world around me gets, the more I appreciate the Eagles. I’ve never listened to this album in its entirety and only knew Take it Easy and Peaceful Easy Feeling. Both great tunes. I just really enjoy the easygoing, folksy rock vibe, it’s relaxing to me, albeit a bit generic. the misses for me were Chug All Night and Most of Us Are Sad, but I liked the rest of the songs. New faves - Nightingale, Take the Devil, Train Leaves Here This Morning 3.5/5 rounded up to 4

day 24. I *think* this is the first Queen album I’ve listened to in its entirety. Only knew Killer Queen before. This is such a fun, weird, catchy joyride that just flies by. I had to listen to it twice and pay closer attention to the individual songs to figure out what my favorites were because they all just flow together so well. Even songs I wasn’t wild about like Misfire had some role to play in setting up what comes next. that being said I do feel like I would end up skipping some of the slower tunes. She Makes Me wasn’t doing much of anything for me. there were a lot of highs on the album for me (more on the front end) - Now I’m Here, Tenement Funster+Flick of the Wrist, Brighton Rock, Stone Cold Crazy … and I really like In The Lap of the Gods Revisited, it closes the album perfectly. 4.5/5 rounded up to 5, not perfect but I would absolutely listen to it many times over

day 25. this was just ok for me, interesting enough that I might come back to it (or at least revisit Supertramp another time), but not standing out enough to me that it'll be top of mind. I went back and tried to listen to some of the tracks again to remember what my favorites were, and I'm still struggling to remember what they sounded like, oops. faves - School, Crime of the Century, Asylum 3/5

day 26. meh. fine chill music at the end of the day but nothing stood out to me, good or bad. faves - The Art Teacher, The One You Love 2.5/5 rounded down to 2

day 27. a great morning listen, lots of very infectious tunes with stories that draw you in, just enough melancholy to give it depth, but not too much to tip the scale into depressing. felt very balanced and I really liked the flow of the album. standouts - Expectations, She's Losing It, The State I'm In, I Could Be Dreaming ... yeah I feel like I could keep going, this is good. misses - I Don't Love Anyone, You're Just A Baby 4/5

day 28. put this on while cooking, didn’t pay attention to the song names much but it was a very fun listen all around 3.5/5 rounded to 4 faves - Flight of the Foo Birds, Splanky

day 29. beautiful, soulful, heart breaking in a lot of ways. Tracy Chapman has such a distinctive voice with a quiver that transfers every emotion so cleanly. it's a bit of a tough listen and got a little sleepy for me toward the end, but I enjoyed diving deeper beyond Fast Car (still an all-timer and the best from the album). faves - For You, Across the Lines, Behind the Wall 4/5

day 30! I feel like this is once again another example of people labeling an album a concept album that is not really a concept album. On its surface I love the idea of an album progressing through the stages of life, but this is only half the album, and I don't feel like any songs really capture childhood/youth or even adolescence. It launches right into Save the Life of My Child, which is a great song, but it takes the viewpoint of adults looking at childhood (and heavy themes of suicide) rather than hearing from the child himself. Unless this is itself a commentary of how kids grow up too fast and we as adults are always looking elsewhere rather than listening to them, then I could see it .... to me, it still feels a little out of place with what is to come. as for the second half, I've never really loved Mrs. Robinson, and I rolled my eyes a bit at the heavy-handed breakfast food and zoo animal metaphors. Also felt like At the Zoo was a bit of a strange closer, it left an already short album feeling especially unfinished to me. despite these "complaints" I have, there are some really great songs on this album and I do love me some folk rock. It's a pleasant listen I could see myself coming back to, I just feel like there was a lot of potential here that wasn't fully realized. fave tracks- A Hazy Shade of Winter (A+), America, Overs, Fakin' It, Save the Life of My Child ... 3.5/5 rounded up to 4

day 31. well, after seeing the title I was bracing myself for what was to come, but thankfully only the title track was preachy (and feels very juvenile… not a fan). My only previous knowledge of The Smiths came from the movie 500 Days of Summer (oops), so I always thought they were a band for more hipster kids than me. I still mostly have that impression after listening, but they’re alright. I found the first half to be more off-putting to me, too poppy for the talk about wanting to die and whatnot, and overly simplistic/repetitive melodies that made me quickly tire of Morrissey’s voice. But they settled into more of a groove on the second half and the songs took on a tone more fitting to their lyrics, which made me appreciate them more. I really liked the four-song stretch from That Joke to Barbarism. That lifts the album for me and may give me something to come back to. 3/5 faves - Barbarism Begins at Home, Well I Wonder, That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore, Nowhere Fast

day 32. I got The Smiths yesterday so this genre/era is fresh. This was a notable step up for me and a pleasant surprise! The singles are really solid, and the album has a nice flow and balance to it and doesn't drag. There were a couple songs in the middle that were just there, but I could still see myself listening to the whole thing. Nothing incredibly earth-shattering, but no major turn offs. Another commenter mentioned that they could hear flashes from other decades, and I agree. I kept thinking of 2000's bands they remind me of - got some flashes of Jimmy Eat World & Death Cab for Cutie (especially on Quiet Heart), a little bit of a Franz Ferdinand vibe on others. faves - Streets of Your Town (instant playlist add), Quiet Heart, Love Goes On!, Was There Anything I Could Do? (dug the violin on this one) 4/5

day 33. I breezed through this as background music first listen, thought it was ok and was ready to give 3 stars and move on, but I figured I should at least go back and try to remember/appreciate something about it. this is a pretty good album, nothing too glaringly bad on it. Lots of different styles and instruments and they flow in and out of them effortlessly, so I get why it’s considered one of the greats. I just don’t think this album is for me. Longer than I like, first off. But mostly, I often felt the production was a bit too… bombastic? There’s so much going on at any given point that everything gets drowned out. And I already have a hell of a time trying to figure out what Mick is saying. So I found it to be a bit of a frustrating listening experience. I struggled to find a song where I “got it”. Rocks Off came closest, maybe Sweet Virginia or Shine a Light. Several others I thought mayyybe, but then I read the lyrics and it’s a generic song about drinking or sex again. idk, maybe the Stones just aren’t for me. 2.5/5 rounding up to 3

day 34 - the first album I’m seeing with an avg rating over 4, and deservedly so. I don’t know what I can say that hasn’t been said before, Aretha is simply incredible. I was smiling and grooving from that first “chain chain chaaaainnn” all the way through. The production, arrangement, overall flow of the album are all stellar and highlight her voice so perfectly. I don’t think I can find a flaw in this album. Natural Woman is my favorite, but of the tracks new to me I really loved Good to Me as I Am to You and Groovin’. easy 5/5!

day 35. this was a really fun, speedy listen. I absolutely love Rob Halford’s voice and the power he brings. As for the tracks, the flow is pretty great, the first four tracks are so solid together … and then I felt like everything came to a halt with United. next four got back on track, but I couldn’t get behind Red White & Blue either and it felt like a weird note to close on. Ignoring those two songs it might even be a 5 star album for me. new faves - Rapid Fire, You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise, The Rage 4/5

day 36. I got behind on my album listening because of this one - thrown off by all the negative reviews and wanting to listen to this multiple times to try to understand. But screw it, I’m going with my instincts and basing this off the music here. I love this album, it’s funky, it’s fun, it’s eclectic and it has heart. I can’t pick out a skip on the album because they’re all really solid. There are so many layers here between the horns, accordion, groovy bass, background vocals, and yet it never feels like too much, they all have their place and get to shine perfectly. This album puts me in a good mood, is unique and I could listen to it many times over, and for me that’s worthy of 5 stars. 5/5 Faves (besides Al) - Graceland, Gumboots, I Know What I Know, The Boy in the Bubble also I thought the “bodyguard” in Al was named Eddy, oops … I think I like Eddy more than Betty :)

day 37. At first I thought this was pretty generic 80’s new wave, but I appreciated it more as the album went on and the dark, foreboding, spooky vibes came out more. I probably still wouldn’t think to come back to this, but there was some good stuff here. also, having not listened to Velvet Underground before, All Tomorrow’s Parties was new for me … I listened to both and liked Japan’s version better, but found it to be a boring song overall. faves - Halloween, Alien, Despair 3/5 overall it was fine

day 38. well … I wanted to like this more than I did. It’s an energetic, upbeat, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it album, but because it moves at such a blistering pace, I grew tired of it pretty quickly. Tutti Fruitti and Ready Teddy were indistinguishable to me and everything just feels … dated. As it should, I guess? But I’m largely rating based on how likely I would listen to stuff again and again, so … here we are. 2/5 feels about right? faves - idk maybe Slippin and Slidin, Long Tall Sally, Tutti Fruitti