1001 Albums Summary

Wild jazz that goes in every direction at once but still somehow stays under control.

A highly influential classic but just wasn't feeling it this time for some reason. A little samey-samey.

His voice is notable, but I mostly didn't mind myself moved by it -- in particular, this version of "Hallelujah" doesn't touch the original for me. "Eternal Life" a standout.

"The Girl from Ipanema" is the one you know, but this whole album is the perfect soundtrack to a cold night.

An all-time classic, led by "Rock Lobster." On this listen, found myself repeating "Downtown" a bunch of times. Those voices!

Really like the organ on Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine -- feels really amateur in a good way. LIked this much more than I expected to.

"Summer Babe," "Trigger Cut," "Two States," some of the greatest and most moving music of the decade

I just couldn't even get myself to focus on this music. Sometimes I noticed an interesting sound, most of the time my brain just tuned out.

The hits go really hard here, amazing how I'm not tired of these songs after 30 years

A classic of course. I didn't find the album tracks hit as hard as the hits.

I know this is an important record, but the weird sounds and hammering drums just didn't grab my attention this time.

"Turquoise Hexagon Sun" -- I really like the vibe here, though I find it hard to keep my full attention on it. "Pete Standing Alone" -- I like the crackling sounds on this one. Oh and now I like the distorted voice muttering sound. I'm not exactly sure what people do with this music. Do they dance to it? Or just kind of use it to add texture to their day?

Arguably the best record in an incredible career. The hits are on here, but "Exhuming McCarthy" is one of the best political songs they ever wrote, "King of Birds" one of the most beautiful, and the Wire cover "Strange" was about as hard as they ever rocked.

I enjoyed the weird sounds on this but it's just not peak Bowie for me.

What? I wrote notes on this while listening and 1001 deleted them. Annoying. Anyway, my notes on this were basically that it didn't seem to settle on any one sound and I felt like the band was playing around with different genre exercises more than they were writing songs.

Didn't listen to this one carefully, mostly failed to grab my attention

Really like the minor-key wailing vibe of "Adult Books," more interesting than the straight-ahead punk of the first two tracks. Giving this 4 stars because I like the weirdness of the harmonies

"My Old Man" -- the place where it slips into a 7th scale is weird to me Overall, a very pretty and appealing record. I heard things in it that made me think that much later artists I like a lot, like the Mountain Goats, were listening to this and learning from it,

Zero interest in this, overwrought lyrics, weird screechy sounds

"Jamaica Jerk-Off", oh noooooooo Many classics here, though, of course -- "Saturday Night's All Right" sounding good right now. "Love Lies Bleeding" maybe a little overwrought. I never need to hear "Candle in the Wind" again. But you can't deny the man can write a song.

Unimpeachable classic. "I'm Looking Through You" an all-time Beatles track rarely recognized as such. Marred only by the unpleasant "Run For Your Life."