The first step in a long journey, it was fitting to listen to this album over a rental car stereo on the way to New Hampshire. I purchased this exact album for Ciara's dad Christmas 2022 and it was Ciara's own love for REM that first put this album on my radar. It was not my first listen, and it won't be my last. This album is seminal, excellent, and probably the best REM album ever. "Drive" is the sleeper stand out for me, that I don't think got a lot of radio play growing up. "Nightswimming" is the all-timer though, first introduced to me by Ciara and I think of her every time I hear it. Swimming in our pool at the old house in New Jersey with colored pool lights on in the middle of summer.

I hate Steely Dan. Steely Dan is like Nickelback for me, a meme band that I’ve just committed to hating. I’ve heard Aja before, but never with a critical ear and even still, it just doesn’t do it for me. Smooth jazz like elevator music, hokey lyrics and dated harmonizing. Ciara said it’s the music that plays in hell and she might be right. Or at least on the elevator ride down. “Josie” is the best of the worst and thank god it’s a short album. I tried, but can now confirm Steely Dan ain’t for me.

The first album on the list I’ve never listened to, by a band I never really got into. Beck isn’t totally my cup of tea. I find most of the audio distortion he uses to really grate in my ears and his talk-sing style I’ve never found too appealing. The one song I liked was “Where It’s At” and even that has an annoying squeaky sound during the chorus. I found some songs completely intolerable, and the ones that were listenable were rather boring. And that hidden track of computers having sex was enough to even put Ciara over the edge. I can’t ever really see my listening to this again and though I tried, I stand by my thought that Beck just isn’t for me.

I really thought I knew Queen, but I've never heard this album and only really knew the hit single "Killer Queen" off the track list. This is the Queeniest Queen album I've ever heard. If I had to make a parody of Queen music, I'd just use this album. It's bombastic, chaotic, and super glam & fun. I thought the songs flowed into each other in a really unified way, making this almost feel like a concept album and difficult to select a single track as a sleeper hit for me. I think I liked "Stone Cold Crazy" best, but "She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)" was also super weird and different from a lot of the rest of the album. Overall, just a fun listening experience hearing deeper cuts from a band who's hits are so well known.

I knew this album, but don't think I've ever really listened to it. I really enjoyed it, more then I even thought I would. I described it to Ciara as a harder rocking Beatles album, and feel like there is a lyrical flow/similarity to a lot of the classic rock I love. This album would've been a 5/5 for me if not for "Aluminum," which I thought was basically just noise for the sake of noise. But I enjoyed every other song, the way they flowed together, and the overall vibe transported me back to my pre-teen years.

After listening to this, I understand the name of the artist and album better… I can appreciate art for art’s sake and I personally don’t mind a dissonant soundscape but they lost me on “Frankie Teardrop” with the sudden shrieking. I see the influence of this album and appreciate the sound it may have eventually led other artists to explore, but at the end of the day I just don’t know who would listen to this album regularly. I certainly won’t be.

What a mediocre album, I'm surprised it even made this list! I've heard Tusk before, but never in a critical capacity and I was hopeful there was something I had missed the first time around, but no. The album is just so bland and boring to me, beyond the standout song "Tusk" and maybe "Sara" and "Storms." Otherwise, it's just a long, lame, snore. Maybe I have a higher standard for Fleetwood Mac because of Rumours, but regardless this album just ain't worth another listen.

I've definitely never heard of this album or Mj Cole, so I love when this project is able to expose us to completely new music. This album was fun! Nothing spectacular to me, but very pleasing boops and beeps that had my heading nodding along with the 2000s dance rhythms. I found the sound to be very dated to that time period, with the female vocals reminding Ciara of Destiny's Child because of the vibrato and crooning. Probably not something I'd actively seek out to listen to again, but I found it harmless and entertaining for an hour and change.

Went into this listening thinking we’d dislike the album but I was personally pleasantly surprised. I thought the songs were catchy with a nice beat, and I enjoyed the overall concept of the album. Ciara felt it was a little too spoken wordy at parts, but it worked for me. Though some of them were recorded a bit badly and difficult to understand. I would definitely revisit this album and in general, just cool to experience newer music for the first time as I’ve absolutely never heard of this.

I mean, it’s Ella Fitzgerald singing the great American songbook. How could you dislike it? As Ciara said, it’s very cozy music and Ella in general always reminds me of Christmas music because I think that’s where you hear her most these days. But every song is great, and there’s some timeless classics here I caught myself singing along to (Nice Work if You Can Get, for one). This album is a classic.

Not sure how you would even classify this music, but definitely a familiar sound that still felt completely new. It was like the Go-Go’s went punk. I appreciated the New York call outs on “My My Metrocard” (Rudy Giuliani DOES still suck) and while I didn’t hate this album, I don’t think I’d revisit anytime soon. It was a fun listen, but not exactly my cup of tea and songs like “Slideshow at Free University” really grind my gears on albums because they just feel like experimental fillers. Do something that sounds good if you want to experiment with a song you’d only be able to put on an album and not be a radio hit!

I found this album to be very average 90s rock, then learned it released in the late 80s, which made it seem cool and influential toward the guitar heavy era to come. Then “Don’t” came on and I really hated it. Just found this to overall be nothing special, and that one screamo song that came completely out of nowhere ruined any good well the album had for me. It may have influenced some of the 90s rock greats, but I’m glad they all learned to do it better.

Wow this album was a real surprise treat. This is not the Kings of Leon I know! The “Use Somebody” / “Sex is on Fire” overplayed and overhyped pop rock band has its origins in some really jammy 70s-rock-esque tracks that I really enjoyed. I would absolutely put this album into my rotation, and I particularly loved “Holy Roller Novocaine,” which I do feel like I’ve heard before but it was great to re-experience here. I’m sad this band on this album did not end up becoming the Kings of Leon that exists today, because this shit rocked.

I thought I liked Fugees, but after listening to this album I realize I just like Lauryn Hill. The hit songs (hers) are great, the rest are just average to me. I found the album to grow repetitive and meander for too long. It’s perfectly fine music that maybe just isn’t for me, but man does “Killing Me Softly” and “Ready or Not” hit.

This is a much harder-rocking, angsty Nirvana than the Nirvana of Nevermind and I frankly wasn’t a fan. I debated between a 2 or a 3 here just because there are 3 tracks on this album I really like and “All Apologies” might be my favorite of all Nirvana songs. But still, it’s not enough for me to save this album from the screaming, dissonant noise that makes up the majority of the album. I’ve always felt pretty meh on Nirvana and this album proves why.

I wanted desperately to give this album a 3, but man does it really go on for too long which knocks it down to a 2 in my view. I think the sounds and synths are really innovative and I do like the overall tone of the album, it’s just so fucking long and it’s the same synth-y whine and wail over and over again. We also listened to this while driving an incredibly windy and steep roadway in New Zealand which probably didn’t help my patience. How did “Cars” become a radio hit? What a weird song.

Of course we know JAY Z, but this album was such a pleasant surprise. The songs flow together so nicely, and 20 years later there is still a freshness to them. The beats are strong, the lyrics are meaningful, and it’s all together just a wonderful album that was great for driving and reminded me of Summer for some reason. I hadn’t heard “Renegade” in a long while either and I really had some nostalgia hearing that song.

This whole experience was worth it just for an album like this to come along and blow me away. First album on the list to make me cry (“In my Life”), and I think I genuinely liked every single track. I knew of this album because of “Hurt” but oh boy there are so many other excellent covers here. Johnny Cash’s aged, gruff voice resonates with regret throughout, in an almost concept album like production of an old man looking back on his life through song. Absolutely loved this one and will definitely be looking to add to my collection.

I was a little worried about this album after the first scream-y song right up top, but it mellowed out thankfully. That said, it was still a punk rock mess of an album. It’s hard to hear with 2023 ears, but I can imagine at the time in the 80s this sound was really different and hugely influential. I can hear early traces of even Green Day in some of the guitar riffs. And I did enjoy the guitar riffs and melodies, but lyrics were fairly incoherent as typical with post-punk.

3 absolute bangers out the gate on this album. Side note, what happened to “Bootylicious” and why doesn’t that song get any love any more? But overall, I find this album to be very much a nostalgic time capsule of early 2000s pop. Ciara had a beautiful memory of this album and feeling like it helped her learn at an early age she can be an “Independent Woman Pt. 1” which was very sweet and meaningful. However, the album does get a little weird and churchy at the end, which knocks it down a peg for me.

I mean, I truly considered writing a college thesis on this album so there’s so much I could possibly say about The Wall. It’s a masterpiece in my book and an early example for me of a favorite album and part of the reason why I’d even be interested in a project like this to begin with. This album made me love albums and I think that says it all.

Overall, an enjoyable album of “early” hip-hop that was a fun listen. It felt a bit dated to me, with the same sing-song phrasing that I find to grow repetitive track after track that a lot of early hip hop does. However the songs were different and atypical, with some odd themes and subject matter that really made them stand out. “Fishin’ 4 Religion” was actually a standout track, with simple lyrics the beats really shone through and there’s a lot of joy apparent on this record.

Had very low expectations going into this listen, but wow what a pleasant surprise! Billy Bragg sounds like a cockney Morrissey, so there was something oddly familiar about an artist and songs we’ve absolutely never heard before. I really liked this though, the “folk punk” sound is matched with equally impactful lyrics and I love the strong pro-union sentiments throughout. I thought the album was just a bit long and started to meander at the end. But the final track of “Hold the Fort” was beautiful and really brought the album home.

Another pleasant surprise! I only knew of Eels from the Shrek 2 soundtrack (“I Need Some Sleep”) so imagine my delight when a song from the Shrek 1 soundtrack came on, (“My Beloved Monster,” one of the album’s best). This is just a great showcase of alternative music that still sounds fresh today. I can imagine this album being released by an indie artist this year and it not feeling out of place. There’s even traces of Death Cab for Cutie here. This album was definitely up my alley and I’ll be checking out more Eels as a result.

Marvin Gaye is a petty bitch. And ultimately, that does not necessarily make for a great album. There are some funky jams here and it’s Marvin Gaye so the vocals are great, but nothing really stood out about this album and it didn’t feel like there were any real hits from it. I enjoyed the concept, as petty as it was, which elevates the experience slightly but overall found this album to be fairly mediocre.

It’s nice to hear Janet Jackson, as it really feels like she was blacklisted and is barely heard ever since the Super Bowl incident which is such a shame. Her talent is on full display here, with catchy beats, socially conscious lyrics, and beautiful singing. There’s some great hits here, and while I’ve definitely heard “Escapade” I don’t think I’ve ever attributed it to Janet. However, the music just sounds dated overall. Very 80s, very heavily produced. And the socially conscious lyrics and general concept of the album is a bit cheesy.

I just genuinely don’t understand this music. Ethereal 80s pop? I don’t really understand the appeal or the lyrics or what’s happening. Are they singing in a different language? Or is it some made up fairy language? I can appreciate the musicality, but at the end of the day this just isn’t for me. Blessedly the album is fairly short which keeps it from being a 1.

This album was a major surprise. Expectations were low, but what a fantastic record of afrobeats and jazz. Maybe some of the best jazz we’ve ever heard. And the title track “Zombie” was definitely a song we’ve heard before, but couldn’t place where so it was a nice revisit to something trapped inside our heads. This album moves and flows, bobs and weaves, and with a tight runtime and 4 songs it’s just really masterful at letting the music evoke an emotion and a story. And the backstory to it, as a scathing rebuke of the Nigerian government and the consequences that led to, just heighten the mystique and appeal. What a great, unique piece of music.

Just an absolute classic album, probably the definitive “live” album because 3 hit singles that get tons of radio play came from this album. So the live versions of the songs are actually better known than the studio versions. This album is a lot of fun to listen to, nice easy going 70s rock that verges between soft rock and some harder hitting guitar riffs. The hits are hits for a reason, but nothing holds a candle to “Do You Feel Like We Do” an absolute banger of a jam at 13+ minutes. Such a strong way to close out the live album and just encapsulates that vibe of the whole record.

I went into this listen with low expectations, knowing I’m not a D’Angelo fan but hoping I’d get something more out of a critical listening experience. But alas, I still find D’Angelo to be the blandest R&B artist ever. It’s like the stock music of R&B, it just feels like it has absolutely no edge. Tracks like “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker” are just lame instead of cool. And when your best track is a cover of “Crusin’” you know you’ve got a problem. Stick to the sandwiches D’Angelo!

For a long time, my love for this album was marred by the fact that I thought the back half was pretty weak compared to the front half. That basically Disc 2 didn’t hold a candle (pun intended) to Disc 1. But after a critical listen, this is like comparing a macon apple to a pink lady. They’re both fucking amazing, it’s just one seems so much better in direct comparison. Hit after hit after hit on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It’s basically an Elton John greatest hits album, which makes an absolute all-timer. It also has some of the best album cover art of all time to boot. A masterpiece.

Maybe a just have a soft spot for Van Halen, but I thought this was a great album. There’s some serious hits here, “I’ll Wait” is probably my favorite VH song and “Hot for Teacher” is just so fun. And that’s the overall vibe of the album, fun hard-rocking guitar licks. It’s very 80s glam metal, but it’s basically a VH best of album so how could you not love it? It ends fairly weakly unfortunately, but the hits throughout really elevate it for me. And as the last album to feature David Lee Roth, it has a finality to the end of the VH era that dominated 80s rock.

When I think about the 80s, if I was to put a soundtrack to it it’s probably sound something like this album. At times bombastic, other times cheesy and sentimental, it really encapsulates that 80s synth new wave dance pop beat. And I liked this album a whole lot more than I expected to. “Relax” is such a tune, so to hear it in the context of its album was a treat. A weird little album, with two random covers thrown in and some instrumentals and terrifying laughter on the title track. It was different, but it worked for me.

I found this album to be nothing particularly special. It was a lovely time capsule of an era of Brit pop renessiance that we grew up through in the early to mid 2000s, but I didn’t know The Libertines then and I don’t really want to continue to know them now. There were a few nice tracks; I liked “What Katie Did,” but overall I just found the music to be very average and nothing particularly groundbreaking. Overrated? Maybe.

A very 90s sound for 1988, I can understand the influence this album had on angsty alternative indie rock. It’s a sprawling album, long and varied with multiple vocalists and driving guitar riffs. But ultimately, I find it to just be a bit average in todays day and age. “Teen Age Riot” is the obvious standout, but that comes so early as the opening track you forget it an hour later.

I mean, this album is hit after hit after it’s honestly insane. This is a special album with some really raw and powerful lyrics, beautiful melodies, and excellent piano. “Smackwater Jack” is probably my least favorite track, but that’s just the worst of the best as it’s still a catchy tune. “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” is my absolute favorite and really shines on this album. This record is a masterpiece through and through.

Expectations were low for a Frank Zappa band’s album, but this wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it was going to be. That said, I thought it was going to be an easy 1 so the bar was pretty low and it’s still only a 2. I pretty immediately got what they were trying to do by satirizing The Beatles and psychedelic rock and hippie culture, but that does not mean it will make for a good album. It’s an interesting art piece worthy of a listen, but not something you’d want to play regularly I think. I can respect the parody, but it’s a tough pill to shallow satirizing the greatest band of all time.

This was a surprising little album packed with some great hits. I’ve never purposefully listened to Harry Nilsson, but have certainly heard his radio hits and know the name. He’s really a great songwriter though, and this album showcases it with a few hit singles. “Gotta Get Up” is a standout favorite of mine though, and what a great album opener. There’s some cheese here, “Without You” lays it on thick, but it’s endearing overall and at 35 minutes the album never overstays its welcome. Plus, how could you not love the lime in the coconut guy?

Two White Stripes albums within the first 50 albums we’ve listened to. I was much less familiar with this album vs White Blood Cells, but very familiar with the powerhouse opener “Seven Nation Army.” That alone elevates this album, as I think it’s one of the greatest songs of the 2000s, but overall this is a darker brooding album that seems more introspective than White Blood Cells. And “Ball and Biscuit” was the sleeper hit for me, a song I don’t think I’ve ever heard before but was really bluesy and excellent. Might not be as good as White Blood Cells, but that could be the nostalgia talking. Either way, it’s splitting hairs over another great album.

Certainly not music I’d regularly listen to, so it was an enjoyable experience hearing the driving conga drums and funky beats. And for music made in 1957, there’s a freshness to the recording (I liked the mono speaker for vocals). But overall, the music is repetitive which averages out my score. Favorite track was probably the opener “El Cumbanchero” so it was hard to keep the hype up from there. For music I’ve never heard before, it was easy to sing along and bop to the beat though and that’s impressive.

So far, I feel like we’ve heard a lot of not well known British punk albums and this is no exception. With surfer rock riffs and off-key singing, this album didn’t sound uniquely different from others we’ve heard before and its influence doesn’t carry quite an impact on 2023 ears. “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” is a Halloween Playlist track though, so I have to give some credit there. Otherwise, not a super memorable album that maybe went on a bit too long. At least it didn’t fall into the punk trap of every song sounding the same.

This album really surprised me. I thought Judas Priest was much more heavy metal, but I guess I should’ve known they were more so in the 80s hard rock space with songs like “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight” being radio hits. Besides those two standouts, “United” was the sleeper hit, a song that made me want to run through a brick wall and rally the troops. Just really enjoyable 80s cheese throughout the album and at 35 minutes never too much of it. I can easily see myself listening to more Judas Priest in the future after hearing this definitive album.

Another British punk band, another average album. This one particularly falls into that Ramones-trap of every song sounding the same, with many of the lyrics to the songs just being the title repeated over and over, “Fast Cars” and “No Reply” for example. “Sixteen” was probably the favorite track, but even that was hardly memorable. I think it’s always impressive to be hearing this kind of sound in the late 70s because I can understand the massive influence it must’ve had, but in retrospective it’s difficult to be impressed by a sound you’ll come to know as the same old thing when it comes to punk.

I’m not super familiar with TV On The Radio, but I did like this album a lot! Maybe just because it felt like something different than the norm, but the brooding drones and alt-rock guitar really scratched an itch. “Staring at the Sun” was the standout (though I think I’ve heard it before) and “Bomb Yourself” felt like a cutting political take on the era, but every track flowed nicely together into a cohesive and unique sound. Hearing this album makes me want to explore the band more since this is just their debut.

This was an impressive, albeit very long album because it’s a live recording of a concert performance. That said, it gave me a newfound appreciation for Metallica. This album is a great way to explore their catalogue with the added bonus of the bombastic hook of the symphony. The hits hit hard here, “Enter Sandman” & “Nothing Else Matters” were excellent in this setting. But the album is long and there is a sameness with Metallica’s song that wears on. Still, the performances are excellent and I enjoyed the experience of the live concert!

God, I did not like this album. I think because it sounded like bad David Bowie. It was just all over the place, with grating vocals and repetitive synth wailing. There are some nice riffs here and there, and I think if I had to pick a favorite song it’d be “18 Carat Love Affair” but that’s truly saying the best of the worst. I didn’t find any of the “hits” to be anything special, and some were downright painful (“Bap De La Bap”). Really struggled through this listen and ultimately I think that garners it a very low score.

I ended up liking this album more than I expected! Leonard Cohen is like a better sounding Bob Dylan and the songs were like poetry set to acoustic guitar. "So Long, Marianne" was the stand-out hit, but the overall vibe of the album was just cool and folksy. There was a certain zen to listening to this on a cloudy day, driving down the highway. There is a bit of a same-ness to these songs but in the end I think it was just the right length too, and if there was even just one more song it would have started to get grating.

This album benefited from a second listening, months and months later after taking a pause from the 1001 greatest albums challenge. I remember listening to it the first time stuck in west side highway traffic, and for whatever reason forgetting to write a review. This time around though, it was a morning drive down to Jackson and a really enjoyable experience. It feels like an album that shouldn’t be so good, but nearly every song except the last (Avalon) is beautiful in its own way. I have a special place in my heart for “Staralfur” after the Life Aquatic, and it ended up being a serendipitous day hearing “Sven-g-englar” again during Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. A lovely album and a great way back into this challenge.