1001 Albums Summary

Good beat/lyrics; clear vocals; not usually a hip-hop fan, but these guys are good; enjoyed the instrumentals (Day at the races has a really cool bass line)

I have never heard a Miles Davis album since I'm not big into jazz. I will say all the instruments come in clear on my headphones. It felt like background music a lot of the time. Ultimately can't complain since it was nice to work to. It sits about a 3-4 star for me since it really sounds like I'm listening to someone's jam session.

This is the Boston album by the band Boston. If you've heard a Boston song before, it's probably here. Full disclosure: I've never been a fan of Boston. I always associate them with being the band you would hear at local festivals rather than an actual big headliner. Re-listening to this album confirms it. I was bored with most of the songs. You'll know by the first song if you like Boston or not because all of their songs sound like it. You can safely stop after "More than a Feeling" (or skip it, because let's face it, it's the worst song on the album) and not miss anything. 'Favorite' Song: #5 Smokin' because that's what this album would be doing if I had a physical copy and tossed it into a fire. Recommend?: No.

The last Radiohead album I listened to was Pablo Honey years ago. I wasn't particularly blown away by it, and the same can be said about "In Rainbows". However, I did like the album even if the songs seemed to blur together after the first couple of songs. Favorite Song: Not really sure without looking it up. It all sort of blended. Recommend: I guess.

Not bad. The lyrics and instrumentals are good, but no song seems distinct to me. It was good for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Favorite Song: #6 Recommend: If you're a fan of folk, sure. It's worth a passing glance.

Comments: Kinda weird and not too Radiohead-y to begin. It definitely feels like I've been transported into the future for a lot of the tracks. Compared to some of the other Radiohead albums I listened to (Rainbows, OK Computer, Pablo Honey), I like this one the most from them. It sounds mostly experimental to me and I think it works. Some of the songs had really good bass to it. Lyrics are alright, meaningful to some. A weird distorted mess at times, but it goes with the vibe so I don't think it's a bad thing. Favorite Song: #6 Optimistic Recommend?: I think it's worth a listen even if you don't usually like Radiohead. It's a 3-4 star for me.

Go to your dad's car and find his CDs. I guaranteed you can find something better than what's in this album. You've heard this kind of rock before in bars, parties, and festivals. The lead singer has the voice and charisma of a goldfish with the band providing filler instrumentals. There's no passion to it; one song leads into the next and some do sound different (especially the pop sounding songs on here). It's by the numbers southern rock about the sad things in life. It's not enough to get a recommend from me though. Spend your time with something else.

Some good beats and mixing. About 50/50 on the songs that I like/wasn't a fan of. Sometimes the songs started off good with samples with samples that didn't really fit later on in the song (or vice versa).

A good mix of slower rock songs and faster rockabilly. Jangly guitars abound. Elvis' voice is comforting and subdued in some songs, vivacious and engaging in others. Overall a good album.

Eh, I've heard better. Nothing I'd write home about. It's sits squarely in the middle of the pack of what I've listened to so far. It's just ok.

Inoffensive sounding rock music. Nothing really stuck out to me and nothing really grabbed me besides the intro bass line of titular song "Teenage Head". A very mediocre album at the end of the day for me.

Something new, something familiar, something experimental. Strange and ethereal and also comforting in parts. I haven't listened to the album in a number of years since Bowie's passing. I still think it's a really, really good send-off album.

Bookended by two great songs, the rest of the album is.. okay. It's not my favorite MJ album, but still alright.

Not bad. Decent even. There's some fun stuff in here like "It" and "U Got The Look". Really enjoyed the drums and bass on this album, though a lot of the lyrics were a miss rather than a hit. It's a bit long at 80 minutes in total for the album. For me, it sits somewhere between a 3 and 3.5.

Not for me, but I appreciate that it's in this list since it's.. weird and something that isn't the usual suspects.

Live, sure. Dangerous? Sure. Dangerously boring.

#1 - Alright sound. Laura's voice feels hard to pick out over the instrumentals (a recurring theme). #2 - Just ok. #3 - Liked the rhythm changes in this one. It feels like we just skipped by these three songs. #4 - A slower paced song from the first three. Felt the instrumentals worked well in this one. #5 - Another slow jam (that picks up toward the end). #6 - Fairly haunting. I liked this one. #7 - I wasn't sure how to rate this one honestly. I guess it's okay/decent. #8 - Fun sounding lyrics. Another one that I liked in this album. #9 - Of the slower paced songs, I like this one the most. #10 - The funky sound is cool, but it feels a bit out of place compared to the rest of the album. #11 - I could not stop hearing the bongos (?) in this song. #12 - Honestly, by the time I got to this point, I was a little done with the album. I feel the album hit the saturation point here, and it became background noise for me. #13 - An okay song to end on. Nothing really stands out here. Overall, I found Laura has a good voice, but it's drowned out by the instrumentals in some of the songs. I feel like there's some good stuff here, but misses too. The rhythm changes in some of the songs were okay and shook it up every now and then. I can't say I hated it or loved it; it gets a 3 for me.

1 - Don't think there's an artist that thanked me for my purchase before. For an intro track, it was pretty good. 2 - I liked this diss track. Actually laughed at the Bowie-esque Fame interludes. They did a good job with this. 3 - Eh, compared to the first two this is a lot more subdued. Not a fan. 4 - Starts off fine enough. Decent overall. I felt the mixing and background instrumentals worked well here with Jay-Z. 5 - Just ok. Didn't hit with me. 6 - Good beat, good lyrics. Enjoyed it though not of the weird electronic backing voice. 7 - Alright. I liked the funky sound to background. 8 - So far, probably my favorite of the album. Bombastic sound with great lyrics. 9 - This is another one I find that I like. I thought the last track led into this one pretty well. 10 - It's alright; definitely a shift from the tough persona he typically presents. 11 - I didn't really like this one for some reason. To me, it just feels.. off from the recent tracks and album? 12 - Subdued, dark backing mixed with good lyrics. This one grew on me after a time. 13 - Technically, there are hidden tracks with this one, but I'm only focusing on the first part. Good ending track though. Solid beat and lyrics to send us off. After taking some time to think on this, I don't think I can give it a five since there are a few misses to me. It's a solid 4 though and can see why this one is on the list.

#1 - Upbeat sound, but forgettable. It feels like I've heard it before somewhere from another album from another artist. Is that going to be a recurring theme of this album? #2 - Jangly. Are you sure this is "britpop" and not bad modern country? It borders on mediocre and ok. #3 - The chorus is fine, but the rest of the song wasn't interesting to me at all. #4 - No. This was a skip after a minute. #5 - It's not bad and compared to what I've heard so far, it's alright. I felt it had a decent tempo and lyrics. Instruments worked well here. #6 - The intro starts of pretty haunting. What are we going to get? ...oh look, more of what you expect. Similar sounding vocals and instruments. I did stick it out for this one and.. well, it's not bad. #7 - Not awful. The lyrics were good with this one. Music fit well here. #8 - Eh. I was pretty done with the album at this point, but I'll soldier on. #9 - Again, the intro makes it sound like this could be something weird, but interesting? Then it launches into the album you were experiencing. It feels incredibly uninspired; they should have stayed more with the intro to it. #10 - I try to stick it out through as much of the album as I could, but this one was a skip too. Nothing was doing it for me here. #11 - Uh, weird? Most of it is bad, except for maybe the bridge of the song. #12 - If the vocalist could sing better, this could be a decent track actually. I was okay with the guitar rhythm here. I can see why this one may have been placed in the list, but considering my notes, it's tepid at best. Nothing really hit with me in this album and I ended up having to skip a song or two. I wasn't a fan of the lead vocalist. I also disliked that there was a tonal whiplash in my experience (like in #6 and #9). If we could give half points, it'd be a 1.5/5, but I'm going to be generous and say 2 since it's more lukewarm than outright mediocre.

#1 - Can't say that I hate it. It's pretty decent for an intro track. #2 - Okay. I think the running theme for me here is that there are some okayish tracks but nothing super stands out. Picked up for me toward the end of the song. #3 - Doesn't stand out/not anything special compared to the first two. #4 - Eh. Too downtempo for me. Didn't vibe with it. #5 - The vocals don't work well for parts. Instrumentals are good though and they're a welcome change from the last two songs. #6 - Another eh. #7 - Interesting parts, but.. yet another eh. #8 - A bit better, but not by much. #9 - The sum of this song is good. Weird. The repetitious lyrics toward the end works for them. #10 - No, not a fan. Despite some of the positives of the album, this is a straight 2. I can't give it a one because I enjoyed parts of it. This is a weird album to have on the list; I don't believe it should be. The curious thing about it is I would be okay with trying another album of theirs and giving them another fair shot, but this album really didn't do it for me.

#1 - Very smooth, relaxed. Nice opening track. #2 - Liked the start of it, but felt it went on too long. #3 - It sounds fine, but I definitely feel like I'd fall asleep if I listened to this one much longer. #4 - Decent. So far of the four I've listened to, this is the best on the album. I really vibed with the funky sound in this one. ★ #5 - Compared to the other slowish songs so far, I did like this one. I felt there was more variation here too. #6 - This is probably the song that the album is known for (note the groovy beat). I'm a sucker for this hit. ★ #7 - I like the lead in to this one. The harmonica is somber and energetic that, I find, matches the lyrics. #8 - This one is ok. #9 - I thought this one was okay to until the chorus kicked in and it clicked with me. Really well done all around ("do it Jeff!") ★ #10 - It's good, but.. it seems cheesy? That feels wrong to say, because it's a good track. The close out for the album was a fun touch. I felt the album was a good length, relaxed (maybe too relaxed in parts), and overall of good quality. I wouldn't be upset if I had to hear this again. 4/5.

The wiki says this is African Blues so that's slightly different than what I usually expect from this project. At first, I was worried this was going to be something you'd hear on NPR late at night. #1 - I couldn't make out a word the gentleman was saying, and the instrumentals are eclectic and all over the place and work together in parts. This is going to be a very unique album to say the least. #2 - Okay, this is starting to sound more like blues that I would expect. This one feels a lot more structured and put together. It flows really well even if it sounds somber and mournful. #3 - I didn't know African Blues was a genre, but if you had to have me point to a song that would be most similar to it, it would be this one. Good music picking and instrumentals, lovely background vocals. ★ #4 - It starts with an almost latin american style guitar picking and that continues. The song is very mellow and relaxing without being tiring. #5 - Good beat, I found myself following along. Again, good mix of instrumentals and vocals. #6 - Another bluesy song. Great all around. Mr. Toure knows how to put in background vocals as well as create this kind of music. I haven't heard this good of guitar picking in a while. #7 - To me, it sounds like this would be sung while doing work (something like The Song of the Volga Boatmen, for example). It's good. #8 - First one of the album where I felt this one was alright. Definitely not my favorite of the album. #9 - Short and sweet with parts that sound frenzied (could be a good track to run to or if something hectic/fastpaced was happening a movie). Good bass. #10 - Simple to follow along with. Found myself humming the song after the album was over. ★ #11 - Instrumentals here were good, enjoyed the thumping. Compared to previous tracks, I'm not entirely sure if the vocals they went with worked well. #12 - A good, quality song. Not much more to say. #13 - Really not much more to say about this album. If you got this point, you know what to expect. A good track to send us off. While I don't speak the language of Ali Farka Touré, there's clear passion to his craft in these songs. After some of the albums I've been getting, this has been a very pleasant surprise; I've never heard of him. I feel like this album is what the 1001 album book should showcase more of (granted I'm only day 60 of 1001 so we'll see). So far, this is one where I was confident in giving a five only a few songs in.

#1 - Okay, I think we know what were getting into here. /Fantastic/. Very frantic. #2 - Well, it's a poem. Not a good poem, but a poem. #3 - Uhh. #4 - I'm not sure what to make any of this. Is this outsider art for musicians? #5 - At this point, I'm just going to accept the madness that is this album. Actually, there are some good riffs here. #6 - Normal sounding - in the good way - compared to the rest I've heard. Pretty good, but we're not getting anymore on this album, are we? #7 - An experience. #8 - ...not.. terrible? #9 - Again, not terrible. It's okay for something blues-adjacent. (...) #12 - I can dig it. (...) #15 - What the actual f*ck. Hahahaha. #16 - Well. #17 - LMAO. Are we sure Joan's not a t-rex? #18 - This album runs on beans, the musical fruit. (...) #27 - Rather a sad song to end on actually. (...) denotes that I have nothing to say for this range of songs. There's a lot on this album to digest. He's a definitely an original even if he sounds like my dad singing in the car; we're here for the ride and stuck with him. A "once in a lifetime" experience. I would leave this unrated if I could because it's experimental and weird and I don't think you can rate it. But I have to give it a number and it's a 3/5 because it's unique.

#1 - Okay, this doesn't sound like experimental or avant-garde jazz. It sounds like normal jazz. Not terrible, not great. Kind of noisy and busy than having a good consistent sound. #2 - Slower paced than #1 and a lot more sad in the beginning. It picks up and gets back to the hectic and frantic sound as it goes on. It has more structure than a jam session, but not by much. #3 - If I had to give a favorite, it would be this one. It actually sounds like a good musical piece. Slow with a Spanish guitar touch. Surprisingly impressed.. at first. Then it launches into the jazz you'd expect. Without the heavy trumpet bits, I'd give it a nod of approval. #4 - Apparently this one has three different movements in it. Neat. Though, listening to this and as it tries to blend classical music, I wish I was actually listening to classical music. I'm surprised this came out in the 60s. This seems more like a set of pieces from the earlier 1900s. Eh. It's at least done nicely. I don't know why this was included. I enjoyed the more classical elements and the Spanish guitar that was used throughout and compared to the jazz, I would rather listen to those types of albums. It's fine, but there I'm sure there are other albums in the book that are more deserving. I guess if you like jazz this will be good? I'm not sure what's really special about this. I'm glad it was short. 2/5.

#1 - Okay, this might be decent as an album. Let's see where it goes. An alright intro song; feels like I'm thrown back to the 90s. #2 - Neat. Rather than the usual east coast v. west coast hip-hop you'd get around this time, this takes a different twist. This album is starting to sound like something Fatboy Slim might have pulled for himself in parts. #3 - Not bad. Actually this is pretty good. Still haven't heard a track I really like yet. #4 - Introduction to the band. Nothing to say - it's forty-five seconds. #5 - Good beat and backing instruments/sounds. Don't think I've heard anything like it in quite some time. ★ #6 - Not bad. Really like the instruments here. #7 - Again, not bad. I do like this album is pretty easy-going in sound, and pretty heavy with the lyrics. #8 - Good stuff. Nothing to complain about it and it's a good all around track with no complaints. ★ #9 - At the risk of repeating myself.. it's okay. #10 - Please see #9. #11 - Intermission track. Eh. #12 - I think my opinion so far on this album is that it's alright. Nothing to really write home about. #13 - It's a bit more memorable than the other tracks in the latter half, but not by much. #14 - I was well fatigued from this album by this point. It feels samey in spots, but it's not awful. There's worse albums on this list. #15 - At the end of the album.. yeah, it could be worse, could be better. I don't have any major complaints, but it feels like the album is too long. The album is alright, but it didn't really grip me. It might be a case of 'a product of its time'. I only ended up liking one or two songs. I didn't hate it. It ranks about a 3 for me.

#1 - Pretty good actually. I'm not a huge fan of jazz, but I can see the appeal of people who like it in music like this. The chanting of 'a love supreme' at the end was a nice touch. #2 - Piano playing was excellent here. Good quality - and I mean this with all the nicety I can muster - background music. It's a level above 'I didn't hate it' and 'decent'. Enjoyable. #3 - The drum roll was really good. The cello (?) section at the end here too was nice. #4 - The title for this part 'Psalm' seems appropriate. I'm not a big fan of jazz and try to understand it, but I don't think it's for me. That being said, this was a nicely done album and I enjoyed parts of it. I guess if you like jazz you'll love this? It's a 3 for me.

I think this is my third or fourth Radiohead album in fifty days. This is supposedly one of people's favorites. #1 - Ah yes, now I remember. Sublime instrumentals overlayed with UGUUGHHs and YEAAASHSSs and EEEEEEEHs from Thom Yorke. Is it really a Radiohead album without him though? #2 - I'm biased to this song because I've heard it before (not the entire album besides really this one and Karma Police). It's on my playlist so, yes, I like it. ★ #3 - Decent. It feels relatively hopeful compared to some of the other songs by them. #4 - Honestly, not sure how to describe it. Mournful basically. #5 - Good stuff. Depressing and crushing. #6 - Another one of my favorites from this album (biased) that I feel holds up. And yes, it's still on my playlist. ★ #7 - Haunting interlude to the second part of the album. #8 - Compared to the rest of the album so far, this is kind of the odd beast out when it comes to sound. Not terrible and the lyrics are pretty good. On it's own, not so much, but listened to the interlude to here is such a shift. #9 - And now I'm being drug back down to the Radiohead you know and love. Title is pretty appropriate and, again, haunting. #10 - I'm a fan of it. For me, definitely a song about growing up and finding contentment. #11/#12 - The rest of the songs kind of blurred together for me at this point (it's only two, but still). I feel like all the heavy hitters were played earlier. Doesn't mean they are bad tracks, I just think they failed to stand out compared to the rest of the album. I can't give this a (fairly) unbiased, first time listen to this album since I've heard bits of this album before. Honestly, if you're going to be listening to Radiohead, this is the album. Kid A wasn't bad, but this surpasses it. Phenomenal album, 5/5.

#1 - I don't know if they're going to be my favorite new band, but this is definitely a good intro to the band. The bass line is killer. #2 - Loud, garage-y punk. This album might be pretty good. I felt it was a little too similar to the first track though. #3 - Eh, it's alright but nothing too special. #4 - Pretty good. By the point in this album I think you're gonna know if you like it or not. Or if you like punk or not. It feels like this album should have one or two songs for THPS. #5 - Short track. It's okay. It works. #6 - Again, it works. It's okay. Good punk, but nothing special. Just like this review. #7 - Didn't really get my attention. Kind of fades into the rest of the album. #8 - Starts off better than the last few songs at least and turns out I like it a bit more than the past few songs. Not by much, but it's alright. #9 - Decent. It's about the same as #8 is though. #10 - Liked the rhythmic fast strumming from the guitar on this one. #11 - Feels generic for a punk song. Probably the weakest track here. #12 - Bass line is cool. Ending on a good note. I felt like this should have been mixed in with another song with vocals and you would have gotten another really great song. I always feel the world could use a little bit more punk music so this was pleasant to listen to. Besides the first two songs, nothing really stood out though. I can't complain too much; they were respectful of my time at under 30 mins for the entire album. It's a standard 3. Not bad overall.