749
Albums Rated
3.42
Average Rating
69%
Complete
340 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010s
Favorite Decade
Post-punk
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
80
5-Star Albums
13
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penthouse And Pavement | 5 | 2.61 | +2.39 |
| Movies | 5 | 2.7 | +2.3 |
| Yeezus | 5 | 2.77 | +2.23 |
| Ys | 5 | 2.8 | +2.2 |
| Southern Rock Opera | 5 | 2.82 | +2.18 |
| BEYONCÉ | 5 | 2.85 | +2.15 |
| Red Dirt Girl | 5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
| Millions Now Living Will Never Die | 5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
| Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury | 5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
| Gris Gris | 5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bat Out Of Hell | 1 | 3.45 | -2.45 |
| Green Onions | 1 | 3.41 | -2.41 |
| Live At Leeds | 1 | 3.33 | -2.33 |
| British Steel | 1 | 3.3 | -2.3 |
| Made In Japan | 1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
| The Good, The Bad & The Queen | 1 | 3.03 | -2.03 |
| Damaged | 1 | 2.87 | -1.87 |
| Live At The Harlem Square Club | 2 | 3.76 | -1.76 |
| All Hope Is Gone | 1 | 2.7 | -1.7 |
| L.A. Woman | 2 | 3.67 | -1.67 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Talking Heads | 4 | 4.5 |
| Arcade Fire | 2 | 5 |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 5 |
| Kanye West | 2 | 5 |
| Radiohead | 5 | 4.2 |
| Led Zeppelin | 4 | 4.25 |
| Steely Dan | 4 | 4.25 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 4.33 |
| Stevie Wonder | 3 | 4.33 |
| Kate Bush | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Deep Purple | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| King Crimson | 2, 5 |
| The Who | 4, 2, 3, 1, 4 |
5-Star Albums (80)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Foo Fighters
5/5
This is maybe the best Foo Fighters record, and possibly their least Foo Fighters-y record. Easily their rawest record and for sure the coolest one to like. Definitely their least pretentious record and most laid back record. Big Me is so unlike any other Foo Fighters song. It’s weird.
Tbh I liked this even more than I remembered.
Fave Tracks: This is a Call, I’ll Stick Around, Big Me, Good Grief, Floaty
4.6/5
9 likes
The Rolling Stones
2/5
I've never really understood Sympathy for the Devil. It's completely boring to me.
No Expectations is also rather dull and repetitive.
The vocals on Dear Doctor are so annoying. Stupid honky tonk sound pallet adds nothing.
Jigsaw Puzzle is mildly more interesting than the first few tracks.
This album is much more bluesy and folkesy than I was expecting. You wouldn't call it a rock album like some of the work the Stones are known for.
Prodigal Son probably my favourite song on the album so far. Is this someone other than Mick Jagger singing? The voice is way less annoying than normal.
Factory Girl has somewhat more interesting instrumentation.
I won't be rushing back to this one.
2.1/5
3 likes
Dr. John
5/5
Fuckadoodle do this was so good. Such beautiful and primitive musicianship dressed up behind this bizarre character of Dr John the Night Tripper.
Fave Tracks: Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya, Jump Sturdy, I Walk on Guilded Splinters
4.7/5
3 likes
Prefab Sprout
5/5
I was incredibly surprised at how much I enjoyed this. I'm familiar with one Prefab Sprout song, The King of Rock and Roll, and I like it quite a bit, but I've always thought of it as quite unserious, cheesy, and a bit of a dated 80s aesthetic. But this album bares little resemblance to that track. Instead its comprised of sparse reverbed soundscapes, with flourishes of beautiful guitar, only occasionally verging into danceable pop territory, as on Moving the River.
Other tracks like Goodbye Lucille #1 remind me of Talk Talk. I kept waiting for this album to fall off and it doesn't really do it, though the strongest tracks are certainly on the first half.
Fave Tracks: Faron Young, Bonny, Appetite, Goodbye Lucille #1
4.6/5
3 likes
Tortoise
5/5
21 minute 90s alternative song - sign me up. I'm all about this nonsense. 10 stars.
millions/5
3 likes
1-Star Albums (13)
All Ratings
The Cars
4/5
Sonically pleasing album, if a little bit one-note. Influential and oft-imitated I guess - 3.8/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
5/5 great album. Mayonaise is the best song named after a condiment.
Nas
4/5
3.7/5
Fave tracks - Life's a bitch, The World is Yours, It Ain't Hard to Tell
Television
3/5
3.3/5 - fine, but most of the tracks pale in comparison to the title tune
Booker T. & The MG's
1/5
1/5 - most annoying sound ever. Green Onions is an iconic track, the rest of the album sounds like being trapped in a 1950s fairground torture chamber.
Faust
4/5
4.1/5 - weird and edgy af
Count Basie & His Orchestra
2/5
2/5 - just a bit boring really. Expected something more explosive based off the album cover, but just sounds like standard old-timey big band to my 21st century ears.
GZA
3/5
2.5/5 - don't really get gza or wu-tang, overrated if you ask me. Fave tracks: Gold, B.I.B.L.E.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
4/5 - shpooky1
Fave songs: Spellbound, Halloween, Monitor, Night Shift
Emmylou Harris
5/5
4.5/5 - this was really nice, very positive surprise for me
D'Angelo
4/5
4/5 - so smooth, hard to dislike this album, a little bit repetitive though
Nick Drake
4/5
3.8/5 - solid album, every track has some charm to it, though I don't feel that many stick out. I was surprised to hear how different this is to Pink Moon - a lot more conventional structure and orchestration, not in a bad way.
Fave songs: Hazey Jane 2, At the Chime of a City Clock
Deep Purple
2/5
1.8/5 - in 1970 this might have blown my mind, in 2023 i found it quite boring
Update - went back to listen to Hush and Highway Star after listening to this album, those songs hold up so well in comparison. Strange to me that this album is on the list, generic nothing rock
Scott Walker
3/5
3.3/5 - Scott has such an interesting, enigmatic voice, I really do quite like it a lot. Some of the songs here fall a bit flat though.
Fave Songs: The Seventh Seal, Hero of the War
Little Richard
2/5
nah
Nirvana
4/5
Is this a good album or is it just the last access to Nirvana and thus fondly remembered?
The Man Who Sold The World is such a good song. Gives me chills.
Nice strings on Dumb.
Dumb, Polly and On a Plain are quite similar songs. I like them all but the sequence is a bit repetitive.
Something in the Way is a mood.
Plateau is exciting, I hadn't heard this one before. Oh ok its a cover. Does it detract from this project that the covers are the best bits? The musicianship in the covers has so much more flavour than the Nirvana tracks.
All Apologies is a great reminder after the string of covers that Kurt's got riffs. Beautiful song and rendition.
Fave Tracks: The Man Who Sold The World, Something in the Way, Plateau, All Apologies, Where Did You Sleep Last Night
4.4/5 - as far as live albums go, this is clearly a good'un. Hard to fault the collection of tracks, but I think it is somewhat enjoyed with rose-tinted earphones because of the timing of its release. It is after all a live album basically half made up of covers.
Ute Lemper
2/5
not for me
2/5
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
3 - dont have too strong feelings about this one
Herbie Hancock
5/5
8:30 into Chameleon - the synth/keys that join are so nice.
Watermelon Man groove is delicious.
Sly is my least favourite track, but still pleasant.
Vein Melter is a woozy way to end it.
4.6/5
The Chemical Brothers
2/5
This was the worst music to try and work to.
Every song sounds the same to me.
I feel like if you asked me to make something that sounds like this it would be very easy as melody is completely neglected.
Chico's Groove the first time there is any respite.
Ok so maybe the whole second half is going to be respite, One Too Many Mornings is much nicer and spacier. Ethereal vocals!
Life is Sweet started in the respite zone but it feels like its trying to break back into the A side of the album. I dont trust it.
Playground of a Wedgless Firm seems a little bit lost.
This album cover doesnt look anything like how the album sounds.
Fave tracks: Leave Home, Chico's Groove, One Too Many Mornings
2.4/5
a-ha
3/5
take on me still a banger
train of thought panpipes! (are they synth?)
the synth lines on hunting high and low are cheesey though
living a boy's adventure tale is a bit too melodramatic for me
the sun always shines on tv is so 80s, but it is a bit of a bop
and you tell me almost a bit kate bush-y
love is reason sounds like a christmas song
generally the album sounds like a total pastiche of itself, but the production is mostly quite tight. I didn't find anything here i'd come back to though.
2.5/5 - barely squeaking a generous 3 star roundup.
Gorillaz
3/5
Gorillaz are one of the most overrated bands of the 21st century in my view. This album I think gets a lot of credit for concept over content. Most tracks feel like half-baked ideas, genre-mashes that don't cohere into compelling songs. It's long too. The best tracks are basically just Del the Funky Homosapien rapping over: 1. a preset keyboard riff on Clint Eastwood; 2. John Dankworth's Theme from Modesty Blaise on Rock the House. Upon reflection I feel quite generous giving it a 3. I also listened again to the 2 remixes of the singles, and they both are just better than the originals without changing too much, which I feel is vindication for my viewpoint that this album is a lot of half-baked ideas.
Fave tracks: Tomorrow Comes Today, Clint Eastwood, Rock the House, Slow Country
2.7/5
The Rolling Stones
2/5
I've never really understood Sympathy for the Devil. It's completely boring to me.
No Expectations is also rather dull and repetitive.
The vocals on Dear Doctor are so annoying. Stupid honky tonk sound pallet adds nothing.
Jigsaw Puzzle is mildly more interesting than the first few tracks.
This album is much more bluesy and folkesy than I was expecting. You wouldn't call it a rock album like some of the work the Stones are known for.
Prodigal Son probably my favourite song on the album so far. Is this someone other than Mick Jagger singing? The voice is way less annoying than normal.
Factory Girl has somewhat more interesting instrumentation.
I won't be rushing back to this one.
2.1/5
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
3/5
not my fave style of prog, but not bad. I liked Jeremy Bender, didn't get the point of the last song at all, undermined the vibe of the whole album to me.
3/5
Hüsker Dü
4/5
These Important Years - good start. Reminds me of Sugar. I expected Husker Du to be more unhinged. EDIT - wikepedia'd Husker Du, the lead singer Bob Mould is the lead singer of Sugar. Good call by me.
I like a lot of the next 7 or 8 tracks too - something in the sound pallet here definitely appeals to me.
But this album is definitely too long.
That being said, the back half is still strong. I like the groove on You Can Live At Home.
4/5
Hugh Masekela
5/5
Yes jazz
Tom Waits
3/5
Bonkers
The instrumentals sound like a blind man parading round a scrapyard with drum sticks.
Tom sounds like a deranged lunatic.
Tough one to rate for me, I didn’t really like it bar a few tracks, but I give it some credit for just being so weird and singular.
2.6/5
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
4.1 - solid, smooth, delicious
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
4.2 - very solid album. Not familiar with any of these tracks, but all round very clean crisp catchy sound, not what I would’ve expected from their debut.
Adele
3/5
Hello is rather epic but I feel it deserves to be clowned on, its pretty cheesy.
Send My Love (To Your New Lover) is my favourite Adele song, its a bop. If you gave me the aux and said play an Adele song I'd definitely pick this one.
I Miss You, When We Were Young and Remedy are fine but all a bit bland and slow for me.
Taylor Swift vibes from Water Under the Bridge.
Love In the Dark strings.
Million Years Ago sounded for a sec like it was going Fleet Foxes.
Its just not for me this. Obviously Adele has a great voice, but I would love to hear her turn out more fun or creative songs.
Fave tracks: Send My Love (To Your New Lover), Sweetest Devotion
2.7/5
Beth Orton
4/5
This was good. A slight lull in the middle but very few imperfections. One song kinda sounded like All Saints to me, which was weird but good.
4.2/5
Bert Jansch
5/5
This was great. I loved it. Better than Bob Dylan.
Fave Tracks: Strolling Down the Highway, Smokey River, Finches, Do You Hear Me, Running From Home
4.6/5
Miles Davis
3/5
Birth of the cool might be an apt name, but I don't think this is (even close to) Miles' best.
Move, Jeru, Venus de Milo are all fine but have some formulaic elements to them.
Fave track: Moon Dreams
2.7/5
The Isley Brothers
4/5
That Lady - great track, feels strange without Kendrick rapping on top.
If You Were There - I like the da da da dra das at the end
Listen to the Music sounds Stevie-esque. The transition to What It Comes Down To is vibey.
Summer Breeze hasn't typically been my fave, but it is a great tune really.
Fave Tracks: That Lady, What It Comes Down To, Summer Breeze, The Highways of My Life
4.2/5
Mike Oldfield
4/5
I'm going into this thinking I'm not going to enjoy it. I think I have it on vinyl actually but have never listened.
4:25 changeup, nice.
7:25 organ, not feeling this.
12:40 now we're getting Spanish.
14:10 not sure where we're going now but I'm interested.
20:20 grand piano
21:05 glockenspiel!
Side 2 - just kinda nice. Very chilled, medieval folky.
11:50 - what just happened, i love it.
Do I like this or not? I don't even know. I don't know what the occasion to listen to this is, its very much like a piece of art rather than a piece of music.
Listening through this certainly does make me want to check out more of Mike's catalogue.
3.6/5
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Hmm not sure I like his voice.
Scott Walker vibes.
This seems like its tongue in cheek, but I'm not sure it is.
Does this guy want to be a horse? Is this an album about bestiality?
Timewatching is so dreary.
So much prefer I'm All You Need. This song is great. He's well into horses though.
Fave Songs: If..., I'm All You Need
2.7/5
Radiohead
4/5
I prefer the Scroobius Pip version of Planet Telex tbh. Nah actually its kinda an underrated Radiohead song in my book. Chorus is nice.
The Bends is a very 90s tune, perhaps the most Britpop-y Radiohead. It's still a tune also though.
High and Dry is also just such a beautiful song, same for Fake Plastic Trees. The Bends starts so hot.
Bones I guess sounds quite derivative of much other 90s alt rock. Bassline sounds a bit like Green Day, echoes of Oasis.
Nice Dream sounds much more like a Radiohead song.
Just is both a bit overplayed and underappreciated to me. The guitar lines have some of the first murmurings of what OK Computer would do - like the passage at 2:08 or in the verse along the line "One day he'll get to you
And teach you how to be a holy cow".
I'm not a big fan of the My Iron Lung chorus - if you can call it a chorus.
I can give or take Bullet Proof.
Blackstar is a bit of a ditty.
Sulk is kinda boring to me.
Street Spirit is haunting.
The Bends is still a very decent mainstream rock album to me.
4.1/5
Black Flag
1/5
There will be an end of the spectrum for punk, metal, and possibly some other genres that is gonna be unappreciate-able for me, and this Black Flag album is at that end of the punk spectrum.
Six Pack is slightly more engaging than the first two tracks. But barely.
Oh my days the vocals are so bad, the mixing is so bad. Its not even loud and punky enough.
TV Party is an embarrassment.
This is really hard to listen to. Its so difficult to relate to this noisy angst in 2023, it just gives me angry irrational white man vibes.
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie maybe the least bad song so far.
My favourite moment of the album was the abrupt stop at the end of Life of Pain.
If you separate context and influence from the music, there is as close to zero redeeming quality to this as is conceivably possible.
0.6/5
Brian Eno
4/5
Needles in the Camel's Eye - I love the wall of sound, and the running guitar riffs. The breaks in the song even have a very singular quality to them.
The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch - first signs of Brian trying to be Bowie. I like where the song goes in the stomping final act.
Baby's On Fire - the ringing tone in the background reminds me of Silver Apples "Lovefingers". Eno's voice has a fairytale goblin character to it.
Cindy Tells Me - nothing particular to say about this one
Driving Me Backwards - seems to be a great example of how Eno values experimentation over song structure and musicality.
On Some Faraway Beach - feels even more Eno-y now. Weird ending to this one.
Blank Frank - this is bizarre, every musical choice here feels strange.
Dead Finks Don't Talk - oh naughty sneaky. This one is weird in a fun way. Then it gets next level weird in the last 20 seconds.
Some of them are Old - nothing particular to say about this one
Here Come the Warm Jets - is this sampled by Injury Reserve? It surely is. That's a crazy sample. Ah I love this one, this is awesome. I prefer the tracks without goofy goblin singing.
Its quite interesting to hear this album which is quite quirky in many ways, but also way more conventional to rock standards compared to much of what Eno would go on to do. Pretty fun album though.
Fave Tracks: Needles in the Camels Eye, Driving Me Backwards, On Some Faraway Beach, Here Come The Warm Jets
4.1/5
Amy Winehouse
4/5
My expectation heading in is to not like this. But I enjoyed Rehab, You Know I'm No Good and Me & Mr. Jones more than expected.
Tears Dry On Their Own probably the first track that I think I'd like to come back to.
I can appreciate this album without really wanting to dip into it too much myself. I think I have to give it at least a 4 because I don't think there are any bad tracks, but it mostly washes over me. It's impressive how Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson made this album that so clearly riffs on a previous time/style, but is also unique and inimitable. I can't think of any other 21st century albums that achieve this sound with any sort of similar quality.
Fave Tracks: Tears Dry On Their Own, He Can Only Hold Her
3.9/5
Tortoise
5/5
21 minute 90s alternative song - sign me up. I'm all about this nonsense. 10 stars.
millions/5
Afrika Bambaataa
2/5
Love the album cover.
You can hear the influence all over this album. But it sounds incredibly dated, not a pleasant listen for me. This is one where I fully understand the inclusion on the list, but I don't enjoy it as a piece of music.
1.8/5
The Waterboys
4/5
Fisherman's Blues - enjoyable.
I love the way We Will Not Be Lovers starts - this instrumentation combo is super cool, strings and drums, bass. This is the sort of music Bruce Springsteen would've made if he was Irish. That song was really great.
Strange Boat a bit of a comedown afterwards.
World Party piano almost gives me Steely Dan vibes. Hmm then goes in a very 80s direction I'm not such a fan of.
Sweet Thing, Jimmy Hickey's Waltz, And a Bang on the Ear all sort of just passed me by.
I really like the start of this album, but it kinda fades away and drags for me. I could give or take most of the second half.
Fave Track: We Will Not Be Lovers
3.6/5
Iggy Pop
4/5
Never been a huge fan of Lust for Life, I think it's a fine track but it just doesn't do much for me.
Some Weird Sin's intro is fun.
The Passenger guitar riff has a lot of gravitas. This is a much better hit than Lust for Life for me - the vocal is much more effective.
Tonight is pretty good too tbh. Don't mind Success either.
Turn Blue is a bit slow and annoying. I feel like Iggy feels the need to try something different with his voice but it doesnt really work.
Liked this album a fair bit more than expected.
Fave Tracks: Some Weird Sin, The Passenger, Tonight, Fall in Love with Me
3.8/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
4.1/5
Lots of big hitters on this one. A little bit bloated but I actually really enjoyed the back end of the album. Could be a 5 for me simply by subtracting a few tracks.
Finley Quaye
3/5
Quite a strange one, happy to have been exposed to it though I mostly found it quite bland background reggae.
Fave Tracks: Even After All, Supreme I Preme
2.6/5
Beck
3/5
When I was 13 years old I heard Girl by Beck on the radio and became obsessed with it. I don't know why, such a simple tune, but I was hooked, bought this album and played the track on repeat.
E-Pro is a banger. I would presume Beck's most bangliest banger.
I always liked Que Onda Guero. I think it holds up pretty well.
I really still love Girl. So far this album is a lot better than I thought it would be.
Missing, I don't recall this track, but I like it too.
Black Tambourine is the first miss for me, but I like Earthquake Weather.
Hell Yes is corny, I don't like when Beck does the robot futurist thing.
Broken Drum and Scarecrow are both fine but not doing much for me.
Go It Alone and Last Farewell Ride are both quite enjoyable, but by this point in the album lots of tracks are suffering from being a bit too long and too repetitive. You could cram these two tracks together and make one more compelling listen.
I actually love that Chiribim Chiribom sample in Rental Car - that's maybe the most surprising moment in the album.
Emergency Car is bland, Send a Message to Her is just knock-off Devil's Haircut. Chain Reaction is annoying, why bother we such a closer.
I like a lot of the tracks and elements here, but this album kinda wears me down with how repetitive it can be, and how many repetitions of similar themes there are. It feels in many ways less than the sum of its parts, which is a shame. Beck is a really creative songwriter, but perhaps not a great album curator.
Fave Tracks: E-Pro, Que Onda Guero, Girl, Earthquake Weather, Go It Alone, Rental Car
3.4/5
Butthole Surfers
2/5
Butthole Surfers performed under a different name at every live show. Early aliases included The Dick Clark Five, Nine cm Worm Makes Own Food, The Vodka Family Winstons, Ashtray Babyheads, Ed Asner Is Gay, Fred Astaire's Asshole, The Right to Eat Fred Astaire's Asshole, The Inalienable Right to Eat Fred Astaire's Asshole, Zipgun, and many others.
The silence for the first 15 seconds of the album is unnerving. Who does that. Not surprising then that the album ends with 15 seconds of cows mooing, naturally. I find this album mostly disgusting to listen to, yet I do really admire the chaotic experimentalism of their brand of noise rock. I would be interested in exploring their other work after listening to this.
Fave Track: Kuntz
2/5
David Bowie
4/5
Wow, this took a left turn I didn't expect.
After the first few tracks I was already mentally assembling my comments about how Bowie is a great singles artist, but maybe his albums are overrated, but the second half of this album flipped that narrative completely for me. Some tracks like Warszawa and Art Decade I thought were really beautiful in a way I've not heard from this era of Bowie before.
If you played me the intro to Weeping Wall by itself and asked me to guess the artist I'd never get to Bowie. Subterraneans sounds like a The Comet is Coming song, I'm just flabbergasted that this is a DB album.
I love that there are fully instrumental tracks here, even though at times they feel like they could be enhanced even further with Bowie's voice on top. Still, I liked this a lot, particularly the second half.
4.3/5
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
5/5
Ooooof Satanic Reverses goes hard. The production on this is terrific.
2:55 into Famous and Dandy, love the soothing synths that slide in. I really am digging the production on this one. This is like hip hop Gil Scott-Heron. This was fantastic, perhaps my favourite discovery of the 1001 yet.
Fave Tracks: Satanic Reverses, Famous and Dandy (Like Amos and Andy), California Uber Alles
4.9/5
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Low key a lot of bangers on this one. Bit too long though.
Fave Tracks: Mama Said, When the Love Light Starts Shining Thru His Eyes, Will You Love Me Tomorrow
3.3/5
R.E.M.
4/5
Colleen Chad Wakerman? The first four tracks are quite ho hum in my books. I like the turn it takes with the instrumental track and Sweetness Follows. Quite good, but also quite simple. I liked the album more after reading through the full Sidewinder lyrics - respect for getting such legs out of a topic as banal as a payphone. Good work generating lyrical discourse.
Fave Tracks: Sweetness Follows, Man on the Moon
3.6/5
Mekons
3/5
This album has a distinct sound.
Darkness and Doubt reminds me of some later Clash.
The tracks feel more like standard country-folk rock fare in the second half and do less for me.
Still liked this overall
Fave Songs: Trouble Down South, Hard To Be Human Again, Psycho Cupid - Danceband On the Edge of Time
3.3/5
Various Artists
2/5
Phil absolutely killed it with this one! However Christmas music is not necessary.
The Byrds
3/5
too country for me, very much fine but nothing standout
3/5
Jeff Buckley
5/5
The first 7 tracks of Grace are all flawless to me. There's no other album that is so consistently perfect from the get-go. Jeff's vocal range and the character of his voice are spectacular and unique. The guitar tones are some of the most beautiful ever recorded. The performance is so raw and emotional. There are two of the best covers of all time on the album, "Lilac Wine" and "Hallelujah", two outstanding songs in their own right that Jeff fully makes his own. Anyone with a heart and a working set of ears knows.
5/5
TLC
4/5
Creep, Diggin' On You, Red Light Special - good tracks.
Waterfalls is a bit too radio friendly for me, but hard to deny its a catchy iconic track.
I'm not a big fan of the interludes, mainly because the Crazy Sexy Cool motif just seems really lame.
I think this is a pretty solid R&B/Pop album.
Fave Tracks: Diggin' On You, Let's Do It Again
3.8/5
The Verve
3/5
I found myself signing along to Bittersweet Symphony, and tbh I've always thought I hated the song.
So far enjoying this far more than I wanted to. Ok, I didn't hate it.
3.2/5
Air
2/5
Not exactly bad, but I don't get why this on the list, didn't take anything from it. I don't really get soundtracks - this might be a brilliant soundtrack to the film, but without the context it was just boring to me.
2/5
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
Really quite enjoyed this. I love the sound of the album. Free Bird hits really nicely as an epic closer.
4.3/5
Depeche Mode
3/5
Another positive surprise. I was expecting some hits and a lot of misses, but a consistent (the first half at least) and forward thinking album. Enjoy the Silence is such a great track, another song that I've heard plenty before but only really appreciated now in the context of the 1001. The second half is a decline in quality for me, with a lot of the tracks meandering towards nothingness.
Fave Tracks: Enjoy the Silence, Policy of Truth
3.3/5
Grant Lee Buffalo
5/5
Going in to this one blind. The Shining Hour is a good start, this feels in my wheelhouse.
I enjoyed Jupiter and Teardrop also.
Fuzzy is the starred track on the album, but the slower tempo is doing less for me.
The thing this reminds me most of is the inimitable Jeff Buckley (and of course this album predates Grace). Wish You Well chorus is nice.
Ha - I just noticed there is a song called Grace on this album too.
Soft Wolf Tread probably the least interesting track so far, but I like Stars N' Stripes for sure. MURICA.
You Just Have To Be Crazy is fine, but does not really feel to me like the album going out with a bang.
I'm leaning towards a 5 here. Whilst the highs are perhaps not as high as I might want in a 5 star album the floor is extremely high. This feels like a very consistent album that I could come back to fully, and I expect get even more out of, so I am going to be optimistic.
Fave Tracks: The Shining Hour, Wish You Well, The Hook, Stars N Stripes
4.5/5
5/5
This is fun. It feels like prog that is both willing to be wild and experimental, but also doesn't take itself too seriously. Maybe I'm just in a good mood but I'm leaning 5 for the second consecutive day.
Fave Tracks: Nature's Way, Animal Zoo, Morning Will Come, Rougher Road, Red Light Roll On
4.6/5
Scritti Politti
3/5
What a hideous album cover. I'm familiar with Absolute, but wasn't expecting a new wave pop ska song as the album opener. I don't quite hate it as much as I feel I should.
So 80s.
Fave Tracks: Absolute, Don't Work That Hard, Perfect Way
3.3/5
Sigur Rós
3/5
Its fine I guess. I don't want to revisit any tracks, only to listen as background music. I find the vocals quite annoying tbh. Sigur Ros overrated to me.
2.8/5
1/5
This is horrendous. The intro has to be one of the worst things ever laid to tape. The isolated Fred Durst vocal at the start of the second track is equally awful. My Generation is at least just a boring song. This is by far the stupidest music I’ve ever heard. Its seriously so dumb. The lyrics are appalling. The singles (My Way, Rollin) are the highlights so far, if you can call them that. The Mission Impossible song is the only actually listenable song actually.
0.4/5
Deep Purple
1/5
Pointless, why is this here. So long, such a mediocre recording.
ABBA
2/5
2.3/5
For me, nothing more than the singles I’m already familiar with. Except a pretty creepy opening track about jailbaiting a teacher.
Tom Waits
2/5
Second Tom Waits album of the list, much of the same sentiments. Favourite song was the vocal-less piano track at the end.
2.2/5
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
I think I maybe hate this. The first two tracks are really cheesy.
Liberation started better, Balearic house vibes. I’m really not a fan of Neil Tennant’s vocals.
Yesterday When I Was Mad probably best track so far, but I still find the sound palette of it incredibly cheesy.
The Theatre is similar, has some decent moments, but then the hideous dramatic strings and vocoder-y synth effects are so corny.
One and One Make Five - jesus, this is bad. They turned in a whole song just for the contrived rhyme of “alive” with “five”.
So “To Speak is a Sin” isn’t even “It’s a Sin”.
Go West is one of the most annoying songs ever created. You can’t make me listen to the hidden track.
This is another case where I don’t think this is the worst album out there, but it’s baffling to me as to why this was included in the list. I don’t hear what is essential or groundbreaking about this in anyway.
1.5/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
I've always liked Neil, but he has such a big catalogue I've never dived deep into it. For many years I thought that Crazy Horse was a Native American chief who was also a virtuoso musician and had decided to accompany Neil barnstorming across the US.
Not necessarily the most interesting NY album to me, but its still pretty tasty.
Fave Tracks: Welfare Mothers, Sedan Delivery
3.6/5
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Great album. The musicianship and mixing is so impeccable.
Too High - wonderfully smooth, but has some edge to it. A bluesy undertone to the "Too High" refrain.
Visions - this is a fine song, but I'm here for the funk and the grooves rather than the ballads.
Living for the City - the main riff of this one doesn't really captivate me, but the way the track builds and the spoken word/foley interlude builds a really compelling song.
Golden Lady is sultry. So earthy.
Higher Ground - iconic. Stevie played all the instruments on this track.
Jesus Children of America - another solid track, but not too much to say about this one.
All In Love Is Fair - again, not such a big fan of the ballads.
Don't You Worry Bout A Thing - this is not my favourite track either, Latin vibes.
He's Misstra Know-It-All - a gentle closer.
I have to imagine this album sounded refreshing in 1973, and it still sounds fantastic today.
Fave Tracks: Golden Lady, Higher Ground
4/5
Madonna
2/5
Quite generic new age ambient. The title track for example is driven by tactless pulsing synth lines that make the song a generally unpleasant experience. Its aged badly and all sounds quite cheesy, but I think there are some decent undercurrents here - you can hear the influence for instance on All Saints' Pure Shores.
Skin is intense. We've gone from a beach in Thailand to a Berlin rave. Nothing Really Matters tries to pull us back to SE Asia, but Sky Fits Heaven wants to stay in the cloob. Frozen also sounds so much like Pure Shores - they were really riffing from this album.
Fave Tracks: Little Star
2.4/5
The Temptations
3/5
This album seems like it should be right up my street, but the tracks don't quite click with me as much as I was hoping. I really like the vibe of Papa Was A Rolling Stone, but don't find it as compelling as it should be.
3/5
ZZ Top
3/5
I love the blues rock sound of this album, but to me it gets very samey and none of the tracks really stand out at all.
3.3/5
Talvin Singh
3/5
I'm aware of the name Talvin Singh from some remixes (this beaut for instance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1hyj9yOya4&pp=ygUldGFsdmluIHNpbmdoIGJldHRlciBvbiB0aGUgb3RoZXIgc2lkZQ%3D%3D) but I did not think he would be of the calibre to make the 1001.
Traveller is rather meandering, I think it takes too long to move between themes, and the mix of synthetic and more natural sounds I don't find particularly effective.
I prefer the Asian influence on Butterfly, though again I'm not really a fan of the dancier aspects of the song. I wonder if Jai Paul would cite Talvin Singh as an influence?
I think this album is better when it tries to do a bit less, like in Mombasstic. Decca is just a bit silly isn't it.
Jungle!
O.K. is the first track that pulls me in. Light also more enticing with the intro. As I go through this I think my main takeaway is that the electronic beats used are often pretty tacky, but the blend of eastern and western sounds has an undeniable appeal.
There's something about this music where it feels like I could love it, if one or two small things were different, but instead I find I actively dislike it. It reminds me of when I was a teenager getting into Indie Rock and Pop Punk and the like, and someone bought me a Classic Rock compilation CD and I hated every track. For me it treads the wrong side of a fine line.
Fave Tracks: O.K., Light, Vikram the Vampire
2.8/5
Aimee Mann
3/5
I'm a bit worried that I'm just falling into a trap where any album that sounds something like this ends up with 4 stars. Nope, you know what, this didn't really capture my attention enough to warrant 4 stars. The ending of the album was funny, I liked that.
Fave Tracks: Say Anything
3.4/5
David Ackles
4/5
Scott Walker vibes. I kinda love this. I don't know why at all. I find it very calming.
Fave Tracks: American Gothic, Blues for Billy Whitehead, Montana Song
4/5
Supertramp
4/5
I like the upbeat second half of School.
Bloody Well Right - what a song name. I didn't realise Supertramp were British.
Hide In Your Shell wasn't doing much for me but the song finale is enjoyable.
My least favourite moments are when its just piano and vocals, as in the start of Asylum.
Dreamer does the same thing as a lot of the other songs. I find it boring or annoying at the start, but it builds into something entertaining.
Rudy does it too - it's quite amazing how they manage to deliver this formula on almost every track.
My assumptions looking at the tracklist (and not seeing any hits I recognise) was that I wouldn't be impressed by this album. But I was happily wrong, I find quite a lot of it to be a good fun time. Most songs take a couple of minutes to grow into, but that's something I can tolerate, and it adds an interesting flow to the record.
Fave Tracks: School, Bloody Well Right, Rudy
4.1/5
Peter Frampton
2/5
So boring. What’s with the live albums.
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
This is a surprising choice. I had this album as a teenager, but never really thought much of it then, was just an Arctic monkeys fanboy.
On relisten The Age of the Understament is a very underwhelming track. But Standing Next to Me is a pleasant surprise, channelling the Scott Walker western vibes well.
I mostly feel quite neutral about the rest of the album. Some tracks like Meeting Place are quite effective, others feel like contrived imitations.
A generous round up 2.7/5
U2
5/5
There are some top tier U2 tracks on this album. There's a rough rawness to it that U2 lost somewhere in the late 80s.
I don't really have anything negative to say about the album, I think its a good un.
Fave Tracks: Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Years Day, Drowning Man, "40"
4.8/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Generally I'm not a big fan of the earlier RHCP stuff, though I think on listening to this the funkier album tracks are more engaging than some of the filler on later RHCP albums. The album flows well, though as with most 73 minute albums its too long to sustain the oomph.
Give It Away is another one of those songs I've heard a lot and generally don't feel like I enjoy, but within the context of the album its hard to deny it. The drums are so hard.
This album is kinda losing me the longer it goes on. The musical ideas aren't diverse enough to be continually engaging. The last song is the epitome of that - super annoying, why?!
Fave Tracks: The Power of Equality, Give It Away, Under the Bridge
3.3/5
Suicide
4/5
Some trepidation clicking play on this album. Is it going to be more noisy incoherent punk rage? Happy to hear it ain't that.
A very interesting electronic industrial droney sound palette - it builds tension, which is enhanced by the slightly nervous whispery vocals.
Weird album, weird is good.
Fave Tracks: Rocket USA
3.5/5
Dire Straits
4/5
It's Dire Straits. It's pretty good.
Fave Tracks: Water of Love, Sultans of Swing, Wild West End
4/5
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Drum solos are a terrible waste of time.
Fave tracks: Thank You, Ramble On
3.1/5
Leonard Cohen
4/5
LC has a very unique poetic delivery, but I find it to be too samey at points on this album. Quite a few songs feel like they are diet versions of Suzanne. Tracks like Sisters of Mercy with its Christmassy foley sounds are more engaging to me.
Fave Tracks: Suzanne, One of Us Cannot Be Wrong
3.5/5
Cowboy Junkies
4/5
This is beautifully produced/performed. Never heard of this band or album but it’s definitely another in my wheelhouse. Only complaints - slightly lacking in variety, and I don’t think the Sweet Jane cover is all that strong.
Fave Tracks: Blue Moon Revisited, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
4/5
Eels
3/5
I like the dynamics on the first two tracks, songs segue from section to section elegantly. It’s kinda downhill from there for me though.
Fave Tracks: Novocaine for the Soul, Susan’s House, Your Lucky Day in Hell
2.9/5
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
This is fun. What’s a swampsnake?
In some ways I love this and in some ways I find it deeply offensive. It’s garish, but its still oddly compelling to me.
Fave Traxks: Swampsnake, Gang Bang, Vambo Marble Eye
3.4/5
Paul McCartney
3/5
Everybody knows that Paul’s best work happened after the Beatles. This album feels like an important stepping stone to Wings (“the band the Beatles could’ve been”), but it feels like a lot of loose ideas without all that much substance. I breezed through this album without really being grabbed by any of it. I do like the cover art.
Fave Tracks: Maybe I’m Amazed
2.6/5
DJ Shadow
5/5
I’ve tried to get into DJ Shadow before and not really managed it, but this album listening experience was great to me. The first few tracks are a bit of a slow burn to me, but once the mood is established I feel totally immersed. The album is the soundtrack to walking through a bright but seedy urban landscape at night. It reminds me of Tokyo or Hong Kong. I love the way the Organ Donor motif is teased throughout the album, it’s eerie.
This album really won me over. I see why it’s a classic, it’s groundbreaking and influential and a really interesting listen.
Fave Tracks: Changeling, What Does Your Soul Look Like pt 4, Transmission 2, Midnight in a Perfect World, Scatter Brain
4.6/5
Eminem
2/5
I don’t want to listen to Eminem rap about murdering women and impregnating underage girls. I think it was meant to be shocking, but it’s just gross and creepy. The sonics of the album have aged poorly, and none of the tracks really stand out to me. Eminem’s voice is so annoying.
The chorus of I’m Shady was the first time anything grabbed me in a pleasant way. Bloody hell that was track 18.
Do yourself a favour and listen to I Got The… by Labi Siffre instead of the My Name Is instrumental
1.7/5
Slade
2/5
Falls into the unnecessary category for me. Not really as annoying as I thought it would be, but also didn’t find any of it catchy (save maybe the penultimate track), just feels very generic at this point.
2.4/5
2/5
Another live album that did nothing for me. I was expecting more from this one.
2.2/5
Marty Robbins
3/5
Confusing that there are two tracks called El Paso. Quite enjoyed this, mostly just as background music.
Fave Tracks: Big Iron, The Hanging Tree
3.3/5
The Roots
4/5
Not as good as Things Fall Apart for me, which I assume has to also be on the list. The tracks with female vocal hooks seem to be my favourite. The instrumentals are all round pleasant, the rapping is a little bit vanilla.
It feels generous but its a 3.5 round up to 4 for me.
Fave Tracks: Sacrifice, Complexity
3.5/5
808 State
3/5
The album as a whole is not really my bag, but Pacific 202 (or is it called "Pacific State" or just "Pacific"?) is a real vibe. If I understand it correctly this track is the oft-imitated OG; I remember having this on the DDJ having downloaded loads of House/Electronic tracks and I definitely thought it was a modern track.
On the whole though the album didn't do much for me. I want more acidity in my house.
Fave Tracks: Magical Dream, Pacific 202
3.1/5
Ghostface Killah
3/5
Very medium rap album. Few standout tracks, but also thought most were decent.
3.1/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
I get this impression with CCR that they are capable of making brilliant interesting rock songs (like Ramble Tamble), but at this point in time they were very caught up with churning out blues rock staples and amped up cover songs. These tunes are mostly decent, but don't have much staying power with me. The Grapevine cover is pretty good I guess.
Fave Tracks: Ramble Tamble, Run Through the Jungle, Who'll Stop The Rain?, Long as I can See the Light,
3.9/5
Bee Gees
3/5
Bee Gees are like 1970s Coldplay. I quite liked the first couple of tracks, but then it mostly faded from there. I had an expectation I might find it a little bit insufferable, which I did not, but there wasn't much that grabbed me.
2.8/5
Suede
3/5
Medium.
Fave Tracks: So Young, Animal Nitrate
3/5
Radiohead
5/5
What is there to say?
I find Kid A to be slightly overrated, but at the same time its really quite hard to poke any holes in it. Idioteque has long been my favourite Radiohead song.
I listened twice through today to ensure I was fully engaged with the album, because I knew this was going to be right on the 4-5 border for me.
Fave Tracks: Everything In Its Right Place, Kid A, How To Disappear Completely, Idioteque
4.5/5
Beyoncé
5/5
Surfbword
This album is full of bangers, don’t try and fight it. Not sure there’s a miss on here.
Fave Tracks: Pretty Hurts, Drunk in Love, Blow, Jealous, XO, Blue
4.8/5
Jorge Ben Jor
5/5
More MPB, more World.
5/5
CHVRCHES
4/5
This album is very nostalgic for me, I listened to a lot of CHVRCHES around 2013. There are some phenomenal remixes of some of these songs. I thought I would find it dated and cheesy, but actually I still really liked this. That being said it’s another one where I don’t really understand why it’s on the 1001.
Fave Tracks: The Mother We Share, Gun, Lies, Recover
3.8/5
Foo Fighters
5/5
This is maybe the best Foo Fighters record, and possibly their least Foo Fighters-y record. Easily their rawest record and for sure the coolest one to like. Definitely their least pretentious record and most laid back record. Big Me is so unlike any other Foo Fighters song. It’s weird.
Tbh I liked this even more than I remembered.
Fave Tracks: This is a Call, I’ll Stick Around, Big Me, Good Grief, Floaty
4.6/5
Kraftwerk
4/5
Poor man’s CHVRCHES.
I love this album, this is maybe the most essential to the list so far for me, this is what it’s all about.
The value here is in more than the music. The concept is executed like a classical music suite, it’s so unique and unlike other electronic music despite being a massive influence on basically all electronic music that followed. Would there be LCD Soundsystem or Daft Punk without Kraftwerk? It’s so disciplined and German, it’s about a train and it sounds exactly like a train.
I don’t much like the second and third tracks. If this went straight from Europe Endless to the TEE suite then this would be a near perfect album for me.
4.4/5
Fave Tracks: Europe Endless, Trans-Europe Express, Franz Schubert, Endless Endless
Holger Czukay
5/5
YAYAYAYAYYA
I LOVED IT
5/5
Fave Tracks: all of them
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Gotta love a bit of Jimi, not my favourite album though, some songs feel a bit rough and ready, unfinished.
Fave tracks: Little Wing, Castles Made of Sand, One Rainy Wish
3.6/5
Robbie Williams
2/5
A lot of these songs are offensively bad: Life Thru a Lens, Ego Agogo, Killing Me, Clean. The lyrics are mostly embarrassing, and Robbie's voice has never been a strength.
Angels is ok, else I don't have much anything nice to say about this.
1.8/5
Beastie Boys
2/5
Sounds like a Led Zep sample off the bat to me.
I have two problems with this album, its boring and annoying.
The only songs I enjoyed were Fight For Your Right and Time to Get Ill.
2.1/5
Talking Heads
4/5
I'm most definitely a Talking Heads fan, but I'm actually quite indifferent about this album. It's one where I feel like every track is 3 or 4 stars, no standouts, no real flaws.
Fave Tracks: Warning Sign, The Girls Want to Be With the Girls, Stay Hungry, The Big Country
3.6/5
Blondie
4/5
Some heavy hitters here, and I do think the singles are the standouts. Heart of Glass another example for me of a song that I don't actively listen to because I think I've heard it a million times, but it sounds so good hearing it with a keener ear. Most of all the other tracks just filler for me, but I think the singles carry this one quite a long way.
Fave Tracks: Hanging on the Telephone, One Way or Another, Heart of Glass
3.5/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Another pretty decent CCR album, but it’s not particularly inspiring a selection
Fave Track: Born on the Bayou
3.5/5
Marvin Gaye
4/5
solid marv
4/5
Muddy Waters
2/5
Blues music is too basic. You have to do something way more interesting to the genre to capture my attention. Were people really vibing to this in 1977 (let alone 2024)? Hard to imagine for me.
1.8/5
Guns N' Roses
4/5
I actually quite like this album... always have. Axl Rose's voice is annoying for sure, and its all way over the top, but its over the top in an impressive way. The singles are really well crafted pop songs with a stadium rock veneer. Think About You's chorus almost sounds like a new wave song.
Fave Tracks: Welcome to the Jungle, Nighttrain, Paradise City, Think About You, Sweet Child O Mine.
3.7/5
Raekwon
2/5
Really quite bored of Wu-Tang. 3 maybe 4 albums in? Hardly anything has grabbed my attention. Its not bad, but it all feels quite samey. The albums are always bloated.
Fave Track: Glaciers of Ice (maybe)
2.3/5
Nightmares On Wax
4/5
For an artist called "Nightmares on Wax" this was incessantly pleasant. Good genre representation, thanks.
Fave Tracks: Nights Interlude, Bless My Soul, Cruise (Don't Stop)
4.1/5
Duke Ellington
3/5
So far live albums have been a major source of disappointment for me on this list. This is better - jazz gets a lot more from a live performance than rock imo. Still my favourite track here is probably Take the A Train - always a bop.
Fave Tracks: Take the A Train
3.2/5
Jurassic 5
3/5
Quite medium. Technically solid but feels like it’s missing some sort of x factor. I prefer the second half of the album. Acetate Prophets a wild song at the end.
Fave Tracks: Thin Line, After School Special, Hey, Acetate Prophets
2.9/5
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
Another Chemical Brothers album? I’m not vibing this one either. The first 7 or so tracks are all tuneless and frantic in an unpleasant way. I cant really imagine a scenario they’d be appealing apart from a very specific mood of rave.
The last 3 songs do tickle something within me though, particularly the private psychedelic reel.
Fave Tracks: Lost in the K-Hole, Where Do I Begin, The Private Psychedelic Reel
2.6/5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Some really iconic tracks here. Great blues rock album.
4.6/5
Santana
5/5
I’ve never been a fan of Santana, probably because of that terrible 2000s pop song with Rob Thomas. However, this album was awesome. I liked it all a lot.
Fave Tracks: Oye Como Va, Se a Cabo, Mothers Daughter
4.9/5
Brian Eno
4/5
Love Brian. Another fantastic album here. Beautiful blends of pop songs, experimentation, instrumental tracks, ambient elements. Not a bad track on the album in my view. However do think it slightly lacks elite punch.
Fave Tracks: St Elmo’s Fire, Another Green World
4.4/5
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Gotta give Aretha her respect, but most of the start of this album is very bland. However my favourite tracks were the last two.
3.1/5
Pretenders
3/5
A lot of meh for me. The guitars sound awful mostly, I prefer the songs that sound new wavey. Ah this Brass in Pocket track is familiar. My takeaway from this album is that (the) Pretenders are better being poppier.
2.8/5
Blood, Sweat & Tears
5/5
Loved it, loved it all. Great blend of rock and jazz elements. The Satie bookends are beautiful, can’t go wrong there.
4.8/5
The Birthday Party
1/5
I’m really glad this album is on the list. I listened to it 2.5 times so I could fully appreciate it. If Tom Waits and Nigel Spackman met at a Napalm Death concert and took a load of coke and went back to Tom’s basement and decided to make art I think it would sound something like this.
Fave Tracks: Several Sins
1.3/5
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Funny and soulful protest record. Crazy that this guy went on to play Rambo.
Fave Tracks: Stand, Somebody’s Watching You, Everyday People
4.2/5
The Police
3/5
What in the name of the sweet baby Jesus was that?! The first half is so good, I thought we were heading for a 5. Then the second half sounds like it was written by a child, offensively bad. I guess we’ll split the difference.
Fave tracks: Message in a Bottle, Regatta de Blanc, Walking on the Moon
3/5
Joan Armatrading
5/5
Liked this a lot, the whole album was beautiful.
4.7/5
SAULT
3/5
Interesting comparison having this a couple of days after STAND! Everything that album does well, this one lacks. “Black Is” isn’t bloated so to speak, but lacks punch. To me the first few tracks were interesting and then Wildfires was the only other with strong redeeming qualities. That being said the album on the whole js a very nice mellow listen, there isn’t much bad on any specific track apart from being a bit boring. “Free” from the other SAULT album of this year was one of my absolute favourite tracks of 2020 - it’s a shame nothing on this record gets close despite a very similar sound palette.
3.1/5
Janis Joplin
3/5
I've always struggled to get into Janis and this listen was no different. I can't really find much to criticise but it also just doesn't grab me at all. Whilst she's objectively a fantastic vocalist I just don't seem to enjoy listening to her sing.
2.9/5
Dolly Parton
2/5
Maybe this is a classic for country music fans but I found it very slow and boring. Just couldn’t find anything interesting in it.
2.3/5
Bob Dylan
3/5
I like Bob. I respect his poeticism and his compositions, his legacy and influence, but for me this album is too scruffy. After listening through I find there aren’t really any tracks I want to go back to - my favourite is Girl from the North Country, for which I much prefer the duet with Johnny Cash.
Fave Tracks: Girl from the North Country, Corrina Corrina
3/5
Songhoy Blues
4/5
This is kinda fire. Wasn't expecting much based off the album cover, but this is the sort of thing I'm very happy to see on the list.
Fave Tracks: Soubour, Al Hassidi Terei, Nick
4.6/5
Stereo MC's
2/5
Not a baggy man myself. Didn't really hate this, but did find it a bit annoying, and very little grabbing me.
Fave Tracks: Creation
2.4/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
It's another CCR record, its pretty good, what more do you want from me?
3.7/5
Orbital
4/5
Halcyon and on and on and on and becomes a loop and on becomes a loop and on and on a loop and on becomes a halcyon loop a halcyon loop and on a halcyon loop and on and on and on and on and becomes an on and becomes an on and on and becomes an on and on and on becomes a Halcyon loop.
Fave Tracks: Lush 3-1, Halcyon and On and On
3.8/5
David Bowie
4/5
I find the long opening track to just be a bit boring and meandering, but the rest of this is pretty solid, especially Stay.
Fave Tracks: Golden Years, TVC15, Stay
3.8/5
Willie Nelson
3/5
Very pleasant and very well produced, but tbh the whole thing was sullied for me knowing it’s all covers. It’s not bad at all but I don’t really see the point for this list.
3.1/5
Genesis
3/5
The piano at the start of the album gives me slightly cringey over dramatic vibes. But then I kinda just love Peter Gabriel's voice - the way he sings "on broadway" is tasty.
This prog feels particularly nerdy. I think the proggier aspects don't really add that much, and the best music here is just the pop songs hiding underneath, like the choruses of Counting out Time and The Carpet Crawlers. Perhaps this is why I generally just prefer Peter Gabriel's solo stuff to Genesis overall.
Maybe it was also just a deluxe version or something, but the album is bloated for sure.
Fave Tracks: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Broadway Melody of 1974, Counting out Time, Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist, The Light Dies Down on Broadway, It
3.1/5
Steely Dan
4/5
I've got into Steely Dan in a big way the last couple of years, and I've got this record on vinyl, but that being said, its not close to my favourite album of theirs. There are some catchy hooks, and to me its also the point where they are really starting to hone their polished studio sound. But there are also some rather corny moments, and the attempts to experiment with arrangements or styles outside of their typical wheelhouse mostly just fall flat to me.
Though I still think its a pretty decent record I don't think its very necessary for the 1001 list.
Fave Tracks: Rikki Don't Lose That Number, Night by Night, Any Major Dude Will Tell You, Pretzel Logic
3.7/5
The Byrds
2/5
Really scruffy and sonically uninteresting. I don't know what I expected here but I thought it would be something better than this.
The best track for me was the Bonus Track "Why".
2.5/5
Madonna
2/5
Nobody's Perfect is one of the worst tracks I've heard on the 1001 so far.
Why is Madonna's outfit and all the branding for this album giving off Americana country vibes, and yet the album is autotune electro-pop.
The second half has a few highlights, but still this really is one of the most baffling inclusions in the list for me.
Fave Tracks: Don't Tell Me, What It Feels Like For A Girl
1.9/5
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
I just seem to struggle with the Pet Shop Boys so much. I find a lot of this album, like the previous one of theirs we listened to, to just be straight up bad. I think this is slightly better than that one - a couple of tracks "Being Boring" and "My October Symphony" I'm ok with, but the rest just ain't doing it for me.
2.3/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Honestly just a very pleasant time.
Fave tracks: America, Mrs Robinson, A Hazy Shade of Winter
4.3/5
Bob Dylan
4/5
Some fine tunes on here, I really like I Want You and there’s nothing quite like the way Bobby croons “to be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again”. The barbs on Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat are quite phenomenal.
A bit disappointed that I didn’t really take too much from the tracks I was unfamiliar with, and generally Bob needs to calm the fuck down with the harmonica, but overall a pretty cohesive album that’s stood the test of time well.
Fave Tracks: I Want You, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
3.9/5
Taylor Swift
3/5
I don’t see what all the fuss is about here. This sounds to me like Taylor Swift cosplaying as a folk singer to very mediocre effect. I don’t think it’s bad, just banal and not a logical 1001 inclusion.
2.5/5
Neil Young
4/5
I've been teetering on the 4/5 edge here for a while. I'm a big fan of NY, and I have a feeling this maybe my favourite of his albums, but something keeps me from confidently giving this a 5. Don't Let It Bring You Down is transcendently brilliant, and the rest of the album is solid, but doesn't really come close to that level.
Fave Tracks: Tell Me Why, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Don't Let It Bring You Down
4.4/5
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
3/5
Funny one, feels like another strange inclusion. Not bad per se, but also struggling to see what differentiates this dub album from any other dub album.
Fave Tracks: Bomba, Ungodly Kingdom
2.9/5
Violent Femmes
2/5
I definitely thought this Blister in the Sun riff was a Blink 182 song. And Gone Daddy Gone - I remember that from the Gnarls Barkley cover/sample... didn't expect that to turn up 9 tracks into this album.
Weird one. I didn't really like it.
2.4/5
Lou Reed
3/5
I really wanted to like this one, but sadly I didn't get all that much from it. I listened twice through and both times round my main takeaway was that Sad Song is by far my favourite track here.
Fave Tracks: Lady Day, Sad Song
2.6/5
Frank Zappa
3/5
I like the style of this album much more than I like the actual songs or songwriting. Rock-jazz rather than jazz-rock.
Fave tracks: Peaches en Regalia
3.1/5
David Bowie
3/5
Feels like another solid David Bowie album, but missing the big hits. I’m not particularly into Young Americans or Fame. Considering how many entries he has on the list, is this one really necessary?
Fave Tracks: Right
3.1/5
The B-52's
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot.
Fave Tracks: Planet Claire, 52 Girls, Rock Lobster
4/5
Paul Simon
4/5
A really nice friendly album, I can't pick many flaws with it, but I think it just slightly lacks some of that special sauce that Paul Simon is capable of.
Fave Tracks: Mother and Child Reunion, Armistice Day, Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, Peace Like a River
4.2/5
Love
3/5
I'm looking forward to Forever Changes, which has a couple of great songs on. This one not doing so much for me. I guess for 1966 it was quite progressive, but I don't think its adding much today. No real standout tracks for me.
2.7/5
Pink Floyd
3/5
Pink Floyd on LSD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_az91rgENc
Fave Tracks: Pow R. Toc H., Take Up The Stethoscope and Walk, The Scarecrow
2.8/5
Sam Cooke
2/5
Too samey, just very musically uninteresting for me.
2.2/5
Public Enemy
3/5
This record hits pretty hard at the start, I like the beats, the production overall and the style. But it tails off for me and many of the middle tracks become very samey. The last 2 are more of a return to form for me.
3.3/5
The Who
4/5
Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again are two of the most epic rock songs of all time, they almost carry this album to a 5 by themselves for me. Only almost though, I don't quite vibe with the rest of the tracks in anywhere near the same way.
Fave Tracks: Baba O'Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again
4.3/5
The Byrds
4/5
I like the wacky breakdown in CTA. "Why" was a bonus track on the last Byrds album we had, and it was my favourite track on that - still a bop. In turn I really quite like the bonus tracks on this one too ("It Happens Each Day", "Don't Make Waves"). The Bob Dylan cover is nice too, though I don't suppose it really adds much on the original.
This is a weird one - its really quite similar to Fifth Dimension, but I think this album is miles miles better.
Fave Tracks: So You Want to be a Rock n Roll Star, CTA, Time Between, My Back Pages, Why
4.4/5
Arcade Fire
5/5
Keep the Car Running intro gives me chills. So simple but so good.
No Cars Go does something very similar, chill-inducing for me - has always been one of my all-time favourite songs.
I had this album on CD when it came out, I still really like it.
Fave Tracks: Keep the Car Running, Intervention, Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, No Cars Go
4.5/5
Solange
5/5
I was quite familiar with this album already, and in my head I came in thinking solid 4. But I listened very actively as I walked the quiet streets of a Lyon industrial area and I concluded this deserves more, it’s a great album. The interludes are so well woven, the flow of the whole album is impeccable, 21 tracks never drags, and there are some real highlights too - what more can you say about Cranes in the Sky.
Fave Tracks: Rise, Cranes in the Sky, Don’t Touch My Hair, Don’t Wish Me Well
4.6/5
Bobby Womack
3/5
Incredibly easy listening I thought. But not in a good way. It was a very generic blur in my ears.
2.7/5
Kings of Leon
4/5
Not going to win any cool points here, but I think this is a really quite good album. I remember renting it from the library and ripping it to my computer and then listening to King of the Rodeo on repeat.
I just can't fight it, its so hard not to singalong to The Bucket.
Fave Tracks: Slow Night So Long, King of the Rodeo, The Bucket, Day Old Blues, Four Kicks
4.2/5
Frank Ocean
4/5
Drop some new music please Frank.
This album's pretty great, I liked a lot of the songs I was less familiar with, though I don't particularly like any of the short tracks/interludes, they just feel like a waste of time and disrupt the flow. The album in general doesn't flow well for me at all. Pyramids into Lost just feels wrong.
Because I love Blonde so much, and this album pales so much in comparison its hard to even consider a 5, but there are so many great pop songs on this one - it delivers something different to Blonde that is still a great listen but for different reasons.
For me though something about the album feels disingenuous - instead of the vulnerability and raw emotion that Blonde has, it has shiny synths and stories about strippers, mosh pits and wet tits and rich kids living in LA. With hindsight it doesn't feel right.
Fave Tracks: Thinkin Bout You, Super Rich Kids, Pyramids, Lost
4.3/5
New York Dolls
3/5
Finally found this on Youtube Music. Better than expected, though as expected I won't be revisiting it. But liked the energy and the production was surprisingly crisp.
3.3/5
The Who
2/5
12 tracks of preamble to Pinball Wizard.
Pinball Wizard.
9 more tracks of mostly filler.
OH MY BLOODY CHRIST WHAT THE HELL IS TOMMYS HOLIDAY CAMP.
1.5/5
The Avalanches
5/5
Such a great ride. This album is crazy in the coconut. The Avalanches are fantastic.
Fave Tracks: Since I Left You, Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life, Frontier Psychiatrist, Summer Crane
4.8/5
The Sugarcubes
5/5
I loved this. A wild ride. So many great quirky tunes.
4.8/5
Primal Scream
3/5
This was an interesting surprise. I was expecting a lot more of the "Movin' on Up" indie rock and roll, but it turns out to be a wild ride across genres like dub and acid house. Sometimes it hits, and sometimes it sounds awful. I could understand if you loved or hated this album - Come Together embodies this for me, delicately toeing the line between euphoric and tacky. For me the album on the whole drags - the second rendition of Higher Than the Sun (there's that Jah Wobble fellow again) is painfully mundane, you'd really have to be higher than the sun to endure it.
Fave Tracks: Slip Inside This House, Loaded
3.1/5
Meat Puppets
3/5
I’ve had the Meat Puppets’ Plateau on rotation since hearing the Nirvana Unplugged cover. Great song, and I like parts of this album, though some points a bit too raw for me.
Fave Tracks: Plateau, Aurora Borealis, I’m a Mindless Idiot
3.2/5
Portishead
4/5
I’ve never really got into Portishead before, but being forced into it, I can definitely see it’s merits. The production is really clean and the mood of the album is great. Missing perhaps some highlights beyond Glory Box.
Fave Tracks: Glory Box, other songs too but I didn’t see the track list whilst listening
4/5
2Pac
3/5
I think 2pac is rather overrated. I’m mostly ambivalent to this album, not many stinkers, but barely anything that caught my attention. RIP.
Fave Tracks: Old School
2.8/5
Judas Priest
1/5
Not my bag - I don't think its horrible, but I also don't really find anything redeeming in this.
2.3/5
Green Day
5/5
I had a really good time listening to this. I thought perhaps it would have aged terribly or come across as corny, but I think it holds up well. The album is really well produced and there are some absolute pop-punk bangers. It captures a moment in time and I think is a vital inclusion on the list.
Fave Tracks: American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Are We The Waiting, Give Me Novacaine, Wake Me Up When September Ends,
4.6/5
Fugazi
3/5
Turnover was a really cool start, but as the energy gets more ragged the album loses me.
Fave Tracks: Turnover, Shut the Door
3.2/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Very middle of the road, inoffensive and unspectacular.
3/5
John Lee Hooker
3/5
I thought the first track with Santana was great. Bonnie Raitt was interesting. From there on I thought it was all really one note and boring. I just can't get into Blues music apparently.
Fave Track: The Healer
2.5/5
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Are you experienced? Have you ever been experienced? I really love this lyric.
So many iconic tracks on this album, but I still find it to be slightly imperfect overall - a little bloated in places with meandering tracks that don’t add much.
Fave Tracks: Purple Haze, Third Stone From the Sun, Are You Experienced?
4.1/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Not what you'd expect from big Len, cold war synthpop vibes. I liked a few of the ideas - Jazz Police reminds me of a Momus track - but most of it didn't really do anything for me.
2.6/5
Michael Jackson
4/5
Lots of classic pop bops here, but some of it feels dated instrumentally. Ultimately I still preferred the big hits over any of the other album tracks.
Fave Tracks: The Way You Make Me Feel, Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal
3.9/5
Otis Redding
4/5
I quite enjoyed this considering it’s basically just an album of covers/standards.
Fave Tracks: Ole Man Trouble, You Don’t Miss Your Water
3.5/5
David Bowie
4/5
Very David Bowie David Bowie album. Good, as they all are, but not spectacular. More solid all round than some of the others we've listened to, but also without the big hits. Though it was nothing groundbreaking I quite enjoyed this one. The album cover is silly though.
Fave Tracks: Dancing Out in Space
3.7/5
Dizzee Rascal
2/5
I couldn't stand the vast majority of this. Somehow I've never been able to get into grime, but I expected something more here - more than half of the tracks are basically unlistenable for me. I couldn't tell if the spoken word intro to "Seems 2 Be" was a joke or unintentionally cringey.
The radio hits are way more palletable, and I enjoyed "Brand New Day" and "Do It!" (which sounds like a precursor to cloud rap), but that was about it.
Fave Tracks: Brand New Day, Fix Up Look Sharp
1.7/5
Gang Of Four
3/5
I get this, but I don't love it.
Fave Tracks: Natural's Not In It, Love Like Anthrax
3.2/5
Linkin Park
3/5
Didn’t hate it, felt like it’s actually aged quite well. A lot of the time though I felt like I just wanted to hear some of the meteora hits.
2.8/5
Nico
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot at the start, but then found it a bit samey.
Fave Tracks: The Fairest of the Seasons, It Was A Pleasure Then, I’ll Keep It With Mine
3.9/5
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
So gosh darn good, it might somehow be underrated. I think the front 8 tracks might be the most consistent run of songs in any album ever.
Fave Tracks: basically all of them but lately I’m really into You Make Loving Fun
5/5
Steely Dan
5/5
Impeccable album, if there’s a more immaculately produced rock album out there I haven’t heard it yet. Also Peg.
Fave Tracks: Black Cow, Aja, Deacon Blues, PEG, Home At Last, Josie
5/5
The Pharcyde
4/5
Pleasantly surprised by this, I was only aware of one, maybe two Pharcyde tracks so was assuming they were maybe a bit of a flash in the pan one hit underground wonder, but I thought this was very consistent and had a handful of really great tracks. The skits were solid too, felt cohesive and added to the albums flow rather than detracting from it.
Fave Tracks: Soul Flower (remix), 4 Better or 4 Worse, Passin’ Me By, Return of the B-Boy
4.3/5
Steve Earle
3/5
Didn’t grab me at any point, but I can see how someone could really vibe this.
2.7/5
Fats Domino
2/5
I’m sorry, it just bores me.
2.4/5
Louis Prima
3/5
Louis has a cool voice. Another 50s album that doesn’t really resonate with me, but this is more interesting than some other stuff of the era.
2.8/5
Hanoi Rocks
3/5
Shout out Tooting bec
3/5
The Divine Comedy
4/5
Enjoyed this a lot, way more than A Short Album About Love. A very solid bunch of tracks, with a lot of wit and some deliciously lush instrumentation.
Fave Tracks: Something for the Weekend, Becoming More Like Alfie, Middle Class Heroes, Charge
4.4/5
Norah Jones
3/5
Very pleasant at the start, but monotonous by the end.
Fave Tracks: Come Away With Me, Seven Years, Nightingale
3.2/5
Le Tigre
4/5
I was familiar with Deceptacon, but surprised to find out there is a lot more substance here. Seemed like a slightly left field selection but happy to say it’s deserved.
Fave Tracks: Deceptacon, Hot Topic, Les and Ray
3.7/5
John Grant
5/5
Really had a great time with this, listened through twice.
Fave Tracks: TC & Honeybear, Marz, Where The Dreams Go to Die, Sigourney Weaver, JC Hates Faggots, Queen of Denmark, That's the Good News
4.7/5
Mariah Carey
3/5
Mariah's voice is great, the production here is quite clean and crisp, but not too adventurous. Holds up well, but doesn't really hook me - when I listen to Mariah Carey I just always wish I was listening to Fantasy.
Fave Track: Breakdown
3.3/5
Pink Floyd
5/5
What's there left to say about this old thing? I like to imagine how it would have felt living through the release of this in 1973, and I think it would have felt truly monumental. They took the rock music formula to grandiose new heights, creating something epic and conceptual, without overstepping the line into pastiche.
If we were to play Over/Under/Properly rated I would still say that DSotM is very slightly overrated. Let's face it, some of the tracks that build atmosphere are ones you would never listen to outside of the album experience, even if they do help make it one of the most cohesive albums of all time.
Fave Tracks: Breathe, Time, The Great Gig in the Sky, Us and Them
4.7/5
John Lennon
2/5
Evidence that John was the least talented Beatle.
Not even half-baked, quarter-baked. A collection of badly executed ideas.
2/5
Blur
3/5
Some good songs, sounds a little dated if you ask me.
3/5
Elvis Presley
2/5
Overrated. Didn't even write his own songs.
2.2/5
Hole
4/5
Good album, so much more than just a Kurt Cobain conspiracy theory.
Boys on the Radio sounds an awful lot like The Replacements' Unsatisfied.
Fave Tracks: Celebrity Skin, Awful, Malibu
3.9/5
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Cooler than it is good. Just like heroin really.
3.4/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Really tight bunch of tracks. Down By The River is a classic slovenly rock rumble.
Maybe just lacks a certain je ne sais quoi that a 5 star album should have, but very very nice.
Fave Tracks: Cinammon Girl, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Down By The River
4.4/5
The Stone Roses
4/5
Never been a Stone Roses fan, but this album is jampacked with their heavy hitters, I enjoyed it a fair amount.
Fave Tracks: I Wanna Be Adored, Waterfall, Fools Gold
4/5
Wilco
4/5
Pretty good album, but doesn't feel like anything groundbreaking, hence I do question its inclusion. YHF is obviously on the list and is clearly the more influential and interesting Wilco album.
Fave Tracks: I Got You (At the End of the Century), Hotel Arizona
3.6/5
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
Nice background music, nothing more to me.
2.8/5
Nina Simone
4/5
Brilliant and beautiful.
Fave Tracks: Four Women, Lilac Wine, That's All I Ask
4.3/5
Pavement
3/5
I really like Pavement, but I think this might actually be my least favourite of their catalogue. Their later sound became more polished and I think many people dislike that, but for me the raw energy only carries this album through Zurich is Stained and then the backhalf is just a lot of the same. The scruffy garage band style on their debut doesn't leave space for Stephen Malkmus' sardonicism to shine through.
Fave Tracks: Summer Babe, Trigger Cut, Zurich is Stained
3.4/5
Cream
3/5
I don't understand why this isn't better. The Sunshine of Your Love riff is so iconic, and yet the song is so anonymous (to me at least). This whole album feels like something is missing, some character or passion or some critical instrumentation that would add some flavour.
2.6/5
The Only Ones
3/5
Another Girl Another Planet is a timeless pop rock song. I was quite pleasantly surprised that the rest of the album had more substance than I expcted; The Only Ones have always been a one hit wonder in my mind. That being said, I can't say I really felt the need to go back to any other tracks, just an ok album for me.
Fave Tracks: Another Girl Another Planet
3.4/5
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
How could you not enjoy Exodus? Sometimes I think reggae is a little monotonous (it's like Blues for me), but Bob just puts a smile on my face. Which was perhaps not really his intention when you think about the lyrical content, but oh well.
Fave Tracks: Exodus, Jamming, Waiting in Vain, Three Little Birds
4.5/5
X-Ray Spex
3/5
New wave isn't really doing it for me atm. I guess there are some fun ideas here and this album has quite a defined sound, but there's not much I can imagine going back to. I find the vocals grating and they detract from some of the musical ideas.
3/5
The Undertones
2/5
There's an Undertones album on the list and it doesn't even have Teenage Kicks on it. The most popular track according to Apple Music is "My Perfect Cousin", which has one of the dullest and least rock n roll subject matters imaginable. I find it strange the way they reference the lyrics of Teenage Kicks on a number of the tracks here; sounds to me like a band desperate to remain relevant by rehashing what they know works. Doesn't work for me. Weird inclusion on the list.
2.4/5
Jimmy Smith
4/5
Not the most sonically interesting jazz album, but still a pleasant experience.
3.5/5
Everything But The Girl
3/5
I'm always happy to hear more interesting genres on the list, but sadly this didn't really grab me much. My favourite track was the last track, the Walking Wounded remix, with its dnb kick pattern.
Whilst listening I wondered whether this warranted a higher rating based on it being enjoyable background music, but then I thought about EBTG's big hit "Missing" and remembered how good this type of downtempo/trip hop can be, and this doesn't feel like it lives up to that.
3.1/5
MC Solaar
4/5
Armand est mort - nice Marvin Gaye sample.
Feels like a 3 and a half star album to me. I wonder how it might differ if I could understand more.
Fave Tracks: Matiere est grasse contre matiere grise, Funky Dreamer
3.5/5
Cee Lo Green
3/5
Cee-Lo's voice is so annoying at times, like on Childz Play. His persona just irks me a lot on this album - starting with having his son speaking on the intro, such a weird brag.
Why are Hip Hop artists always so bad at curating their albums, this is way too long.
Fave Tracks: Living Again, All Day Love Affair
2.7/5
Black Sabbath
4/5
Surprisingly enjoyable for me. Love the Big Mouth theme tune.
Fave Tracks: Changes, Snowblind
3.8/5
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
This sounded to me a bit like what the Jimi Hendrix Experience without Jimi might sound like. Some nice ideas, but not really many good songs.
Fave Tracks: Don’t Fall Down, You Don’t Know
3.2/5
4/5
The first four tracks I really enjoyed. Then the middle third I find to be a bit up and down. Some very strange campy Paul songs like When I’m Sixty-Four and Lovely Rita, but the awesome eastern-influenced Within You Without You sandwiched in that run. I like that track a lot, but some aspects are very reminiscent of Tomorrow Never Knows.
There is something very weird about this album that just works. Even though I find the lyrics oftentime to be ludicrously mundane and childish or just annoying, the high points are very high, and the Beatles feel like a band on top of their game.
Fave Tracks: Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, With a Little Help from My Friends, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Within You Without You
4.4/5
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
I can't say enough good things. This album is a movie, its got it all. There are straight bangers (Backseat Freestyle, m.A.A.d city), chill moments (Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe), tracks that are somehow both (Money Trees, Swimming Pools), a 12 minute odyssey (Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst), and no skips.
Through it all there is such a clear compelling narrative and such incredible world-building. I've listened to Sherane aka Master Splinter's Daughter so many times and the song's conclusion still gives me chills on every listen. Even the voicemail skits on GKMC add something, tying Kendrick's tales of the night together.
Fave tracks: All of them, but at the moment my favourites are Sherane, The Art of Peer Pressure, Money Trees
5/5
Todd Rundgren
5/5
I really liked this - a lot of fun. A bit of a hodgepodge of tracks, but in a good way, like Harry Nilsson.
Fave Tracks: I Saw The Light, It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference, Intro, Hello It's Me
4.5/5
Pink Floyd
3/5
There is something so uncool about rock operas. Its all so cheesy and self-serious.
Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2 is another good example of a track which in my head I don't really like, but when it came on in the album I was bopping along.
Goodbye Blue Sky interpolating Goodbye Ruby Tuesday. In the Flesh sounds very much like a Dark Side of the Moon chord progression. Some derivative ideas here.
Comfortably Numb is my favourite Pink Floyd song, so good.
Fave Tracks: Another Brick in the Wall Pt 1 & 2, Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell
3/5
Merle Haggard
3/5
I liked the title track but then it kinda fell off for me and was too samey.
Fave Tracks: I'm a Lonesome Fugitive
2.9/5
John Coltrane
5/5
Great jazz album, maybe the greatest jazz album.
5/5
Madness
3/5
I've always thought that I don't like Madness, and I still don't really like Madness, but I didn't find this album annoying as I do some of their most famous hits. Speaking of which, Our House is a quite undeniable bop.
Fave Tracks: Our House
2.7/5
Sebadoh
3/5
I like this album when it has interesting dissonant tones of bass and guitar, like in Elixir Is Zog - beautifully scruffy slacker rock. In general it struggles from the usual problems that plague slacker rock and 90s alternative in general - unrefined punky energy creating uncohesive and/or bloated albums.
Fave Tracks: Soul and Fire, Sixteen, Homemade
3.4/5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Even though I didn't much like LZ2, with each additional release I listen to my appreciation for Led Zep grows and grows. This is such a good hard rock/blues rock album.
Kashmir is one of the most unique rock epics ever recorded. Ten Years Gone reminds me of Wings - maybe Led Zeppelin are the band the Beatles could have been. The Wanton Song is just an Immigrant Song rehash, but it still kinda slaps.
Fave Tracks: The Rover, Trampled Under Foot, Kashmir, Ten Years Gone, The Wanton Song, Black Country Woman
4.9/5
Beastie Boys
3/5
Definitely better than the other BB album.
Fave Tracks: Sabotage, Get It Together, The Update, Flute Loop
3.3/5
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
3/5
Ok then
3/5
Kings of Leon
4/5
I can’t believe that I don’t dislike this. A very consistent set of tracks.
Fave Tracks: Notion, Be Somebody
3.9/5
Talking Heads
5/5
Great album with no skips, but also none of my very favourite Talking Heads songs.
4.5/5
Gene Clark
4/5
Enjoyed this.
Fave Tracks: No Other, From a Silver Phial
4.2/5
Fiona Apple
4/5
Its a 10, pitchfork already said so.
Fave Tracks: I Want You To Love Me, Cosmonauts, For Her
3.6/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
There's certainly nothing wrong with this, but I don't really feel like I'll want to listen to much of it again.
Fave Tracks: Zero, Heads Will Roll, Faces
3.5/5
Johnny Cash
3/5
Really cool to see an insight into these prison live shows. There’s something very real and raw, yet it also feels quite staged and somehow cinematic. The music itself is ok, but I guess the Folsom Prison recording is the more iconic and seminal piece of musical history.
Fave Tracks: Wanted Man, San Quentin, Folsom Prison Blues
3.3/5
John Prine
4/5
"Bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down... and won" - I love the wordplay on "Illegal Smile", its such a playful and poetic counter-culture ode to weed, or whatever substance.
Fave Tracks: Illegal Smile, Pretty Good
3.7/5
The Vines
3/5
Its not bad, but feels totally inessential to the list. The Vines were a dime a dozen in the early 2000s.
Fave Tracks: Factory maybe, Mary Jane, 1969
2.9/5
The Clash
3/5
It’s early punk so it’s rough, poorly recorded and most of the tracks sound the same. I get this might be an important moment in musical history, but London Calling is obviously better.
Fave Tracks: Police & Thieves, Garageland
2.7/5
The Cramps
2/5
Mostly just cra(m)p clammy goth new wave. Not doing it for me.
2.4/5
Pulp
4/5
Better than I expected. Consistent, mostly still about the hits, but there were more than I remembered - Sorted for Es & Wizz, brilliant song name.
Fave Tracks: Common People, Sorted for Es & Wizz, F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E
4.2/5
Air
3/5
Royalty free new age chillout estranged sibling of Daft Punk.
Though I found it a bit boring it did grow on me through the back half.
Fave Tracks: Sexy Boy, Remember, Ce matin-la
3.4/5
Roxy Music
3/5
So campy. I do not like anything about the aesthetic of this - the vocals, the cover art, even the name "Roxy Music" kinda gives me icky vibes. I do respect the experimentation and that this is quite forward thinking for 1972, but I don't really feel like it translates into good songs. Having listened to Here Come the Warm Jets it makes total sense that this is where Eno came from. I'm happy that he found a way out of this weird little cabal though.
2.7/5
Talk Talk
4/5
My french teacher Monsieur Edser loves this album. He says it's the last of the great rock albums and that Talk Talk really fell off after this. It harkens back to the glorious heights of "It's My Life". Don't you forget.
Fave Tracks: Happiness is Easy, Life's What You Make It, Time It's Time
3.8/5
Kings of Leon
3/5
Another one, hooray. Molly's Chambers by far the standout for me, though there are some other moments for sure. A lot of the start of the album just blurs together, but I still can't really hate it - it's another good but unnecessary Kings of Leon album.
Fave Tracks: California Waiting, Molly's Chambers, Dusty, Talihina Sky
3.5/5
The Cure
4/5
What I like about this album is that it has a very distinct sound. It is completely unbothered about being engaging or commercial. Without context you might think this album is a soundtrack for some sort of scandy noir. Overall it still feels like its lacking some substance, but A Forest really is an immense song.
Fave Tracks: In Your House, A Forest, At Night
3.6/5
Dr. Dre
4/5
Good.
Fave Tracks: Nuthin' But a G Thang, Lil Ghetto Boy, Bitches Ain't Shit
4.2/5
Koffi Olomide
3/5
This was nice background music, but didn't really grab me. I felt like it was musically too major. No tracks really stood out, but I'd happily passively listen to it again. Good to see this sort of representation in any case.
3.2/5
3/5
This was peak music for me in 2006. I was all about the Supermassive Black Hole. I never enjoyed a man’s falsetto before that moment. The guitar riff made me want to dance, like the effortlessly cool astral rockstar that I was.
Has it aged well? I think it’s kinda aged ok tbh. The concept of Muse has aged terribly, but isolating just this album I think it’s got some moments, some cool riffage, some bangers. There are very cheesy campy moments too, but nothing that Pink Floyd or The Who or any of a million prog bands would turn their nose up at.
I prefer the moments on here when we’re doing rock music. The Depeche Mode “Map of the Problematique”, the something halfway between Coldplay and Radiohead “Soldier’s Poem” don’t really cut the custard for me.
Fave Tracks: Supermassive Black Hole, Assassin, Knights of Cydonia
3.3/5
Dr. Octagon
3/5
Lately everything seems to sound like 3.5 stars to me, this was much the same.
I liked the conceptuality and there was some good wordplay - almost reminded me of RAP Ferreira at times - but most tracks felt like they were missing something to take them to the next level. The skits were kinda fun in their lewdness.
Fave Track: Dr Octagon
3.4/5
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
The first guitar flourish in 'The State I Am In' is an absolute joy.
Fave Track: The State I Am In, I Could Be Dreaming, Mary Jo
3.9/5
John Cale
4/5
Underrated vegetable tbh
Fave Tracks: Andalucia, Macbeth, Paris 1919
4.2/5
Beatles
2/5
Looking at The Beatles full catalogue, this might be their worst album. Why is it here? Are we going to have every Beatles album on this list? That's just baloney.
Fave Track: I Wanna Be Your Man (#ringo)
2.3/5
Def Leppard
2/5
There were some moments I found tolerable - the chorus of "Stagefright"; the last minute of the last track, Billy's Got a Gun.
But overall I really struggle to take this seriously. The song titles, the power chords, its all too much. It took me 3 sittings to get through the 11 track album - as I listened there was something disheartening knowing that the album just wasn't going to go anywhere interesting.
2.2/5
Living Colour
3/5
I dunno about this. Kinda fun, kinda naff, not sure I'd want to revisit but I've certainly heard worse in the genre.
2.7/5
The White Stripes
4/5
There have been many songs that I think are overplayed but just stand out as great within the context of their album; Seven Nation Army is not one of those songs. It's almost groan-inducing as the album opener. It's a great song, but its so simple and so ubiquitous that it has nothing left to surprise with.
The rest of the tracklist has some moments, but I feel like The White Stripes are like a novelty flavour beer, you can enjoy it in moderation but if you have 13 or 14 tracks of it, you'll definitely be sick. When things change up like in the spoken word on "Little Acorns" or Holly Golightly's vocals on "It's True That We Love One Another" it's a welcome respite.
Fave Tracks: I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, Ball and Biscuit, The Hardest Button to Button
3.7/5
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Joni Mitchell never lies. Great album, I love the vibe of it so much, I could have it serenade me slightly in the background all day long. That being said I don't think it's perfect, after the first few tracks it kinda lacks some punch, I probably wouldn't seek out any of the second half tracks for individual relistening.
Fave Tracks: Coyote, Furry Sings the Blues
4.2/5
Miles Davis
4/5
Enjoying ceviche in Peru?
Seeing a double rainbow?
Did it make you want to fall in love?
Tbh Bitches Brew was less listenable than I remembered. It is a brew for sure. I still enjoy it as a piece of art, but lets be real its probably more groundbreaking and significant for musical evolution than it is enjoyable for the ears.
Fave Track: Spanish Key
3.8/5
Goldie
4/5
I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy this. I waited until the evening to listen as it just didn’t feel like the daytime would appreciate it. But it was pretty great. All felt very similar, and way too long, but definitely a case of finding a winning formula and just rolling with it.
4.4/5
4/5
Enjoyed this a lot. The Kinks are way underrated, they were the Beatles in another universe.
Fave Tracks: Victoria, Australia, Shangri-La
4.3/5
Can
4/5
I love the first half of this album, then it descends into madness in a way that is kinda great at first, but then does become an earsore.
4/5
Ryan Adams
4/5
Quite an enjoyable experience, didn't feel fundamentally essential to the 1001 though. I strongly dislike the album cover and I am very confused why a guy born David Ryan Adams would choose Ryan Adams as his stage name when there already existed a very successful and well known Bryan Adams.
Fave Tracks: New York, New York, Nobody Girl, Sylvia Plath, the last two minutes of The Bar is a Beautiful Place (which I guess was a bonus track)
3.7/5 (probably 3.5 without the disc 2 tracks which I found all quite enjoyable)
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Nat the most inspiring Bob if you ask me.
Fave Track: Rebel Music (3 O' Clock Road Block)
3.2/5
Throbbing Gristle
2/5
Wow. So much of me wants to be edgy and contrarian and say that I loved this, but there was only one "song" here I could ever imagine playing again - Ab/7A. I fully support this sort of artistic expression - the fact that it exists (and in 1978 too) is a 5 star fact of history. The music as something to listen to in 2024, a very generous 2 star experience.
Fave Track: Ab/7A
1.9/5
Brian Eno
4/5
Two of the goats, and yet to me this album is a little less than the sum of its parts. At times it feels like a slightly less accessible Talking Heads album, and at times it feels like a noise collage that is still trying to hard to maintain rhythm and structure.
Fave Tracks: America is Waiting, The Carrier
3.7/5
Boards of Canada
5/5
Yeah it’s great, don’t need to overthink this one.
Fave Tracks: most of it really - Wildlife Analysis, Roygbiv, Rue the Whirl, Aquarius, One Very Important Thought, Happy Cycling
4.8/5
Fela Kuti
4/5
Really good, would only like it to be a little more diverse across the runtime.
4.2/5
Jamiroquai
3/5
Surprised to discover that didgeridoo led songs bookend this album, and they're not bad...?
I was also really surprised at how jazzy this album is - Jamiroquai at this stage are totally content to make 9 minute songs, or completely vocalless tracks, Which is good, because I do find Jay Kay's voice really quite irritating.
There are none of the big commercially successful songs that I remember from the radio growing up on this album, instead just a pretty solid set of acid jazz inspired funk pop tracks. However I do still find the sound overall has a bit of tackiness to it, and I don't think there's many tracks here I'd actually actively want to come back to.
Fave Tracks: Music of the Mind, Blow Your Mind
3.4/5
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
Ok so hear me out. Just Like Honey is an all-timer, a powerful shoegaze precursor. But the rest of the album is mostly just muck. Cut Dead is EXACTLY THE SAME SONG. The drums are identical, the structure is identical, it feels like a total slap in the face. But ok, we'll let that one slide, let's see what the rest of the album has to offer... Some Candy Talking... IS THE EXACT SAME SONG TOO! Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, I'll write a grumpy review of your album on the internet.
SOWING SEEDS ARE YOU FUCLKING SERRIOUS WTFFFFFFFF ITS ALL THE SAME SONG?!±!!!!!£R!££!RR!£R
Fave Tracks: Just Like Honey, i like the energy on Never Understand, You Trip Me Up
2/5 (this is probably harsh but they really pissed me off with the recycling of Just Like Honey)
Keith Jarrett
4/5
Relatively beautiful.
4.3/5
The Stooges
2/5
Didn't like this. The first couple of tracks were ok and I liked some elements of Fun House, but most of it was just noise. Lots of sounds not coming together in any cohesive way, badly mixed. I get that Punk will always be that way, but this just not inciting any real emotions for me.
2.4/5
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
I often feel with Born in the USA that I should like it more. But the first half of the album is a bit of a slog for me. The songs all feel very simple in structure and chord progression. Apart from the undeniable energy of the title track there isn't much there that grabs me.
From I'm On Fire things pick up, but the real standout is I'm Goin' Down which has always been a favourite of mine. It doesn't really do much different to the rest of the album's formula but it just hits much harder for me. Dancing in the Dark is also great - I find it very hard to not sing a long with "you can't start a fire, can't start a fire without a spark"
Fave Tracks: I'm on Fire, I'm Goin' Down, Dancing in the Dark
3.5/5
The Sabres Of Paradise
3/5
This album was so interesting to me through the first few tracks, but really trailed off in the second half and I lost interest. A lot of the sounds that were super interesting in the first half disappeared and were replaced by dated more generic electronic beats.
Fave Tracks: Bubble and Slide (I and II)
3/5
Kraftwerk
5/5
Kraftwerk is brat.
Fave tracks: The Robots, The Model, Neon Lights, The Man-Machine
5/5
Tim Buckley
3/5
I love the style and the intention behind this album, but I find it lacks the substance in the songwriting at times. Maybe I just listened to it a bit too passively, seems like something that should be right up my street.
Fave Tracks: Hong Kong Bar, Make It Right
3.5/5
Tracy Chapman
4/5
This album really starts off hot. Fast Car is definitely one of those songs that I feel like I have heard too much already but its just undeniably awesome. I was not aware that she wrote Baby Can I Hold You - there are some real heavyweights on this album. The end tails off for me, but still a pretty solid album.
Fave Tracks: Talkin' Bout A Revolution, Fast Car, Baby Can I Hold You
4/5
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
So smooth, a couple of great EW&F slow jams on this one, really solid all round album.
Fave Tracks: Shining Star, That's The Way of the World, Reasons
4.4/5
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Did I enjoy this? Do I like country music? Honestly I don't really know. Drunken Angel has been in my rotation for some time, but its probably still my favourite track from the album.
Fave Tracks: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Drunken Angel, Joy
3.3/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Not hugely strong feelings about this one - too long, mostly boring generic rock and roll. The first couple of tracks on the second side are nice, but then fades back into nothingness.
Fave Tracks: The Lyre of Orpheus, Breathless
3/5
Ice T
4/5
A bit cheesy, very repetitive, but also quite a lot of fun, like the musical version of the movie Bad Boys. I giggled when Ice-T said "I fucked her" at the end of the "Evil e - What About Sex?" bit. Then the a capella section about Nelson Mandela at the end of "Prepared to Die" - kinda corny but also kinda powerful.
Fave Tracks: Bitches 2, Escape from the Killing Fields
3.5/5
The Rolling Stones
2/5
The 1001 is making me realise that The Rolling Stones are probably the most overrated band in history, for me personally. This was so dull. I can't stand Mick Jagger's voice - somehow both mumbly and whiny.
Fave Tracks: I Just Want to See His Face
2.3/5
T. Rex
4/5
Mostly enjoyable. Very T. Rex T. Rex album - although I wasn't already familiar with any of the tracks here, I could hear lots of similar elements to the biggest hits which I am familiar with (Get It On, 20th Century Boy, Children of the Revolution)
Fave Tracks: Metal Guru, Chariot Choogle
3.6/5
Destiny's Child
3/5
I was surprised at how well some of the hits had aged. Although it's weird that the first words on the album are name checking the stars of Charlie's Angels, Independent Woman goes hard. Bootylicious also a bop, and Emotion quite a nice slower cut. In between though not much to write home about - ok songs, decent production that again doesn't sound too dated, but couldn't really pull out any deep cuts of note.
Fave Tracks: Independent Woman Pt 1, Bootylicious, Emotion
3.3/5
R.E.M.
4/5
Something about this album was very comforting. I liked the saxophone on Fireplace. I thought Its the End of the World As We Know It would sound more We Didn't Start The Fire, but it felt very organic within the album.
Fave Tracks: Finest Worksong, Its the End of the World As We Know It
3.8/5
The Who
3/5
Not bad, but really quite boring when compared with their later work; without My Generation this album would really be uninteresting.
Fave Tracks: My Generation, I'm A Man
2.8/5
Lupe Fiasco
4/5
The Instrumental kinda sounds like a Linkin Park song. I appreciate Lupe but most of his music doesn't really resonate with me, generally the production comes across as a bit too glossy, but in its moments there are some really fine tracks here.
Fave Tracks: Kick, Push, American Terrorist
3.6/5
Fishbone
4/5
The Freddie's Dead cover doesn't try to do much but does its job. Bonin' in the Boneyard is silly, but in a kinda good way. Sounded a lot like a Prince song or even a Bootsy song. I liked this album more than I thought I would based on the concept.
Fave Tracks: Freddie's Dead, Bonin' in the Boneyard, One Day, Ghetto Soundwave
3.7/5
The Beach Boys
4/5
I know that ostensibly Sloop John B is about a rowdy crew of seamen, but it sounds to me like the sound of white privilege. It makes me feel something between guilt and cringe listening to it.
God Only Knows is really an all-timer. I was suprised at how Wall of Sound-y this album actually is. Clearly this was a groundbreaking record, but hearing the Spectoryness of it made it feel less unique to me.
Fave Tracks: Wouldn't It Be Nice, That's Not Me, God Only Knows, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, Caroline No
4.2/5
Jeru The Damaja
4/5
What a pleasant surprise. Some really nice beats, can't say I was really paying too much attention to the lyrical content but two of the tracks are called "Perverted Monks in Tha House" so you have to assume the wordplay is elite.
Really liked this, very tight, no real filler, some creative and catchy beats, mellow but also pretty hard.
Fave Tracks: D. Original, Perverted Monks in Tha House, Mental Stamina, Da Bichez
4.4/5
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Captures a nice vibe, and was a nice accompaniment on a night drive through suburbia, but ultimately a very samey set of songs without many standouts of note.
2.9/5
Ray Charles
3/5
I really liked this at the start. Just charming nice bluesy tunes. But I didn't need a double album of it - waned and got repetitive. Didn't get much from the second disc.
Fave Tracks: Bye Bye Love, Just a Little Lovin'
3.3/5
Common
4/5
Quite a pleasant album, but just lacking something to make it feel really special - one real big hitter perhaps. I like a lot of the elements here and I think I could happily have it on in the background all day.
Fave Tracks: Testify, Love Is..., Real People, They Say, It's Your World
4/5
Fairport Convention
5/5
This was neat, surprised I've never listened to them before. Fully in the old wheel house.
Fave Tracks: Genesis Hall, Autopsy, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, Million Dollar Bash
4.5/5
King Crimson
2/5
What a load of pretentious nonsense. 4 of the 6 tracks were just experimental noisescapes. I'm all for experimentation, but you still gotta make something that sounds nice, or compelling, or interesting, or something.
Fave Tracks: Easy Money, Larks Tongues in Aspic Pt 2
2.4/5
The Smiths
4/5
Fave Tracks: A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours, Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
3.9/5
The Kinks
3/5
I thought I was going to like this one a lot, but I couldn't really get into it. I've had the title track in my rotation quite heavily for the last year or so, but not many other tracks stood out to me. The album didn't feel as thematically cohesive as Arthur either, though maybe I needed to pay more attention lyrically.
Fave Tracks: The Village Green Preservation Society, Big Sky
3.1/5
Johnny Cash
4/5
I criticised the other JC inclusion for just being a replica of this album, so I guess I have to be positive about Folsom.
It’s good, it’s definitely a worthy list inclusion, though the songs are mostly very formulaic, Johnny’s best songs are probably elsewhere, but this is an iconic performance.
Fave tracks: Folsom Prison Blues, Cocaine Blues, 25 Minutes to Go, Dirty Old Egg Sucking Dog
3.9/5
Alanis Morissette
3/5
I thought I would be into this, but actually I don't think the album has aged well, kinda ironic if you ask me. Alanis' voice is quite a challenge. I thought the album would be witty and edgy, maybe even jaggedy, but its really the opposite, cheesy and immature.
Fave Tracks: Ironic
3/5
Weather Report
4/5
It ain't for everyone's taste, but I like it.
Fave Tracks: Birdland, Havona
4/5
Gang Starr
3/5
3/5
Billy Joel
4/5
I guess I'm casually familiar with a lot of Billy's work, without ever really actively listening to any of it (except We Didn't Start The Fire). This album feels very familiar, and it has a very strong consistent mood to it. I think its a very cohesive project, reminds me at times of Steely Dan and Bruce Springsteen. Songs like She's Always a Woman and Just The Way You Are are really beautiful in the context of the album, even though they're not the sort of thing I would normally expect myself to go back to.
Fave Tracks: The Stranger, Just The Way You Are, Get It Right the First Time
4.2/5
Stan Getz
4/5
Love this, but lets be honest, The Girl from Ipanema does carry a bit.
Fave Tracks: The Girl from Ipanema, Corcovado
4/5
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
This seemed like a nice idea in concept, but just another scruffy live recording. I don't get why these are on the list.
Fave Tracks: Promenade (Pt 3), Nutrocker
2.4./5
Lorde
4/5
This album is a peculiar one for me. I feel like every track has something to like and something to criticise. Fairly or not, I always felt like this album was Lorde in a way selling out or at least playing up to standards and expectations of the music industry or the listening public at large. Yet on re-listen its quite hard to deny that its a great pop album, with almost no filler.
I was not a fan of Green Light when I first heard it. It lacks some of the rhythmic elements that I enjoyed a lot on Pure Heroine. Starting the album with some piano chords and a couplet about putting on make-up and drinking in bars, it strikes me as cliché and naive, particularly in stark contrast to Pure Heroine where the teenage Lorde seemed wise beyond her years. But the racing euphoric second half redeems the track. Its a theme of the album for me that I'll find myself a bit irked by the lyrical content, but then won over by a beautiful chord progression, or low key banger of a chorus.
Homemade Dynamite is my favourite track on the album - it retains what I liked most about Lorde's debut, it's catchy and danceable throughout, with a chorus that almost sounds like a Flume song. [side note - just went to double check that Flume didn't actually produce it and he didn't but he has a production credit on "The Louvre", interesting]
The rest of the album follows the same sort of oscillations for me. I don't like the hook lyrics on Writer in the Dark, nor the concept of Supercut, but still find them to be well written songs. The only track I think is unnecessary is the Liability Reprise, which reads to me like Lorde deciding she likes the way the word "Liability" sounds when she sings it.
So with the constant tug of war on this album I find myself siding more with the positives. I don't like some of the lyricism, but my only other real gripe is that the album doesn't sound enough like her debut album; that's just nitpicking isn't it. What's a few nits on a luscious head of hair?
Fave Tracks: Homemade Dynamite, Perfect Places
4/5
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
This really is Layla and other assorted songs. A lot of jam banding around on very uninteresting blues progressions and pentatonic scales. It seems on paper as if it's sprawling epic rock and roll, but most songs drag and don't really go anywhere worth writing home about.
Fave Tracks: I Looked Away, Layla, Thorn Tree In the Garden
3.2/5
Bill Evans Trio
4/5
I listened as I ran through the fields surrounding Versailles. Jazz
4.1/5
The National
3/5
I had more previous with this album than I realised. Bloodbuzzzz is one of my favourite songs of all time, but I find a whole album of The National quite dreary.
Fave Tracks: Terrible Love, Bloodbuzz Ohio
3.3/I had more previous with this album than I realised. Bloodbuzzzz is one of my favourite songs of all time, but I find a whole album of The National quite dreary.
Fave Tracks: Terrible Love, Bloodbuzz Ohio
3.3/5
The Killers
5/5
Hot diggity damn.
Fave Tracks: the first 7 and Glamorous Indie Rock N Roll
4.7/5
OutKast
4/5
For an album with such critical acclaim, this was rather disappointing. The first half was nothing more than the hits for me, then the back half redeeemed it with some interesting more experimental instrumentations and even some decent skits.
Fave Tracks: So Fresh So Clean, Ms Jackson, B.o.B., Humble Mumble, Toilet Tisha
3.6/5
Ray Price
3/5
I enjoyed the first few tracks, and particular the intro where Ray explains what the albums about - weird. But then it all got very samey quite quickly.
Fave Tracks: Introduction and Theme, Night Life
2.7/5
Super Furry Animals
3/5
3.4/5
Jack White
3/5
No strong opinions, I think this album is pretty good, but inessential, not groundbreaking, not hooky.
Fave Tracks: Saltine Sixteens, On and On and On, Take Me With You When You Go
3.4/5
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
Very close, but not quite a 5 for me. A few classics in early psychedelia and the absolutely stunning Embryonic Journey. But also a few generic 60s fillers.
Fave Tracks: Somebody to Love, Today, Embryonic Journey, White Rabbit
4.4/5
Femi Kuti
4/5
Good vibes kuti
4/5
The White Stripes
3/5
Dime a dozen white stripes formula muzak.
Fave Tracks: Blue Orchid
2.9/5
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Just like the other Frank album really, a few interesting songs particularly at the start, and then by the end its all an uninteresting blur of music.
Fave Tracks: You Make Me Feel So Young
2.9/5
Sister Sledge
4/5
So many hits! Really surprised at how much I enjoyed this.
Fave Tracks: He's The Greatest Dancer, Lost in Music, Thinking of You
4.2/5
Coldplay
3/5
Very consistent and very boring in a very Coldplay way.
3/5
Iron Maiden
2/5
Noisy and boring.
Fave track: Running Free
2.3/5
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
This might be one of those albums that I think is a very apt inclusion on the list, but not actually a very good album.
Hip Hop has come so far from these basic beginnings. The flow is so painfully predictable, the beats are mostly formulaic (save for the interesting Rock Box), and some tracks are just awkwardly devoid of instrumentation.
There’s still moments like the aforementioned Rock Box and the iconic It’s Like That, but not an album I’d dive back into.
Fave Tracks: Rock Box, It’s Like That
2.7/5
My Bloody Valentine
5/5
This album is like a dream you never want to wake up from. It feels like bathing your ears in melted euphoria. The sounds mbv managed to extract from guitars are beyond comprehension.
only shallow as an opening track is a powerful statement of intent. when you sleep is in a three or four way tie for my favourite song of all time. sometimes can bring me to tears without even really being able to make out the lyrics. to here knows when feels like flying.
Producing this album was a notorious labour of love, but it’s one of those cases where I’m thankful they toiled for their art - they did something special. Even the album cover is perfectly apt, iconic.
Mbv didn’t invent shoegaze on this album, but they undoubtedly defined and perfected it. Nothing slowdivey comes anywhere close, come at me bro.
Fave tracks: only shallow, loomer, touched, to here knows when, when you sleep, i only said, come in alone, sometimes, blown a wish, what you want, soon
5.1/5
The Afghan Whigs
4/5
This was quite stressful in a good way.
Fave Track: Gentlemen
3.5/5
Rush
5/5
I really enjoyed this. There’s a hardcore Rush fan hidden somewhere inside me.
Fave Tracks: Tom Sawyer, Limelight, The Camera Eye
4.5/5
CHIC
4/5
Don't really have a bad word to say about this. It's a tight 8 tracks of funky Chic vibes. It's not a 5 for me as there isn't really any real stand-outs on here for me, but a very solid album.
Fave Tracks: Le Freak, I Want Your Love, Sometimes You Win
4.2/5
Prefab Sprout
5/5
I was incredibly surprised at how much I enjoyed this. I'm familiar with one Prefab Sprout song, The King of Rock and Roll, and I like it quite a bit, but I've always thought of it as quite unserious, cheesy, and a bit of a dated 80s aesthetic. But this album bares little resemblance to that track. Instead its comprised of sparse reverbed soundscapes, with flourishes of beautiful guitar, only occasionally verging into danceable pop territory, as on Moving the River.
Other tracks like Goodbye Lucille #1 remind me of Talk Talk. I kept waiting for this album to fall off and it doesn't really do it, though the strongest tracks are certainly on the first half.
Fave Tracks: Faron Young, Bonny, Appetite, Goodbye Lucille #1
4.6/5
Elvis Presley
4/5
This was so much better than the other Elvis album. Liked a lot of these tracks even beyond In the Ghetto and Suspicious Minds, which are far and away my two fave Elvis tracks.
Fave Tracks: Wearin’ That Loved on Look, Only the Strong Survive, Long Black Limousine, Gentle on my Mind, In the Ghetto, Suspicious Minds
4.1/5
Kate Bush
4/5
Fun, quirky, quintessentially Kate Bush, but I don’t think her best.
Fave Tracks: Sat in Your Lap, Houdini
3.7/5
The Modern Lovers
4/5
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
Fave Tracks: Pablo Picasso, Someone I Care About
3.7/5
The Notorious B.I.G.
4/5
Never been a huge biggie fan, but this album was way more cohesive and consistent than I expected. Not a lot of supreme stand-out tracks beyond the hits I was familiar with, but really liked the vibe, theme, production etc.
Fave Tracks: Machine Gun Funk, One More Chance, Juicy, Big Poppa
4.3/5
Jethro Tull
4/5
Aqualung is such a bizarre unique song, I love it. The title character evokes disgust and empathy in equal measure and the music swings from jagged and jolty to slow and pondersome to racey and anthemic as it pleases. The rest of the album backs it up well.
I was surprised to read after listening that they didn't actually plan it as a concept album and there's just some loose themes. I think I'd like it even more with some intentional overarching concept.
Fave Tracks: Aqualung, Cross-Eyed Mary, Locomotive Breath, Wind-Up
4.4/5
Nitin Sawhney
4/5
Not quite sure how I felt about this one. At points I loved the fusion of genres, and at other times I felt it was just putting too much Western sheen on world music. It has elements of that late 90s/early 2000s new age fusion that to me is way overrepresented on this list. But despite those qualms I thought this was a pretty engaging listen with lots of interesting timbres.
Fave Tracks: Pilgrim, Nadia
3.6/5
Jacques Brel
2/5
Could barely understand a word this guy was saying.
2/5
Stan Getz
3/5
Not as interesting as the other Getz album
3.2/5
Hawkwind
3/5
Pretty cool, I get that this was way ahead of its time. Still have an aversion to live albums though and this was another odyssey to listen through.
3.3/5
R.E.M.
4/5
Remurmur remurmur the firth of novermbuh
3.7/5
Portishead
3/5
3.3/3 duh
Ramones
2/5
The songs here are so basic. The vocals are rubbish. It really doesn’t sound cool to me either. Some of the tracks I was already familiar with are pretty fine, but overall this is a big monotonous yawn.
2.4/5
Al Green
4/5
Let’s Stay Together (the song) almost carries this album by itself. Most of the rest of the track list is fine, not quite filler but never reaching the same heights.
Fave Tracks: Let’s Stay Together, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
3.8/5
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Enjoyed bits of this more than I thought I would, still a bit cheesy.
3.2/5
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
Pretty nice, but none of the tracks jumped out for me.
3.4/5
Duran Duran
3/5
My goodness those basslines. Rio (the song) was more fun than I expected - another one of those songs I have heard a million times but never chosen to listen to, actually a real good anthem. The rest of the album doesn't do as much for me. Hungry Like the Wolf has a great chorus progression and I like some elements of Save a Prayer, but overall its all a bit too 80s for me.
3.2/5
Meat Loaf
1/5
This was as predictably cheesy as I expected. I really did not like it at all. It probably doesn't deserve 1 star but I'm feeling wronged.
1.3/5
Roxy Music
3/5
Bryan Ferry's vocals are super annoying. This mostly just felt pompous to me. Some nice parts but overall it left a bad taste in my ears.
2.7/5
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
Fine, but a bit too clean. California Dreamin' is clearly the stand-out as expected. The rest of the tracks have some nice moments but really nothing special.
3.3/5
Mudhoney
2/5
Couldn't get into this, just noise. Didn't sound like magmuffs to me.
1.9/5
Gram Parsons
3/5
I like the style but nothing particularly striking from this album. I guess it gained significance because of Gram’s death. Second half of the album from the live track onward much better than the start which was quite slow and by the numbers to me.
3.4/5
3/5
Never been a huge PJ fan. I like a few of the tracks here but others are just too dreary for me.
Fave Tracks: Good Fortune, We Float
3.3/5
Pere Ubu
3/5
This was the most losing my edge album of the losing my edge albums so far.
3/5
Slipknot
1/5
The angry cacophany of some Halloween sad boys. This is absolutely not my type of music, but I have actually enjoyed at least one Slipknot song before (Duality) - yet I took nothing from this. If you want to hear a drummer try to break the record for the number of consecutive kick drums in a minute, then this is the album for you. And then there's "Snuff", which is basically an emo song that serves to totally undermine the facade that these guys are scary monster men. How can the rest of the album be seen as in any way authentic artistic impression when that track is there? I don't get it - I think this whole Slipknot fandango is a sham. This type of music is just competing to see who can be the most unintelligible, the most melody-less, but they don't believe it - they want to make sad boy emo pop songs too, they're just caught up in their web of miserable lies.
1/5
Roni Size
4/5
Toooo long, but I thought pretty solid jazzy downtempo drum n bass. Some of the sound palette sounds a little dated as much electronic music from this era does, especially the sort of airy new age electronic music that this verges on. But overall still a pretty enjoyable background listen.
Fave Tracks: Brown Paper Bag, Share the Fall, Destination
3.7/5
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
Pretty much a perfect album for me. All My Friends is one of my favourite songs of all time, but every other track hits too.
Fave Tracks: all of them
5/5
fIREHOSE
4/5
Strange little album, I liked the back half more than the front.
3.7/5
Sonic Youth
3/5
Sometimes its magical, sometimes its just madness. I appreciate the energy as an important part of Sonic Youth, but the fact of the matter is I would rather skip the vast majority of this album. The first few tracks toe the line, then the middle of the album is a really (intentionally) chaotic scramble, then I really quite love Madonna, Sean and Me.
Fave Tracks: Starpower, Madonna, Sean and Me
2.7/5
Paul McCartney and Wings
5/5
Better than any Beatles album don't @ me
Fave Tracks: Band on the Run, Jet, Bluebird, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five
4.6/5
Marilyn Manson
4/5
Went into this expecting the worst, and really didn’t hate it at all, in fact quite liked a few parts and felt it had very little filler. Possibly the biggest surprise of the 1001 so far for me.
Fave Tracks: The Beautiful People, Tourniquet, The Reflecting God
3.6/5
Van Morrison
4/5
Very nice album. Never been a huge fan of VM but I think I could listen to this album all day.
Fave Tracks: Moondance, Caravan
4.3/5
Peter Gabriel
4/5
First half was a bit of a slow burn for me but from "And Through the Wire" I really quite liked every song.
3.9/5
3.9/5
The Go-Go's
3/5
Run of the mill 80s pop punk.
3.1/5
Tom Waits
2/5
Three Tom Waits albums in now, I just don’t see the appeal. His voice and style is weird, which is great and all, but it doesn’t make good music to me. I really would not like to go back and listen to many of these songs. At its most interesting the album sounds like the soundtrack for an evil villain in a kids movie.
Fave Tracks: Time, Downtown Train
2.4/5
Deee-Lite
2/5
Thought this was just a bit shite tbh. Groove is in the Heart made the other tracks sound so generic. NPC dance music.
2/5
Cyndi Lauper
2/5
Two big hits that are great pop songs. The rest is just mindless at best, and incredibly annoying at worst, like the final combo of “He’s So Unusual” and “Yeah Yeah” - some of the corniest vocal affectations make these tracks almost unlistenable.
2.5/5
Eric Clapton
3/5
Fine
Fave Tracks: I Shot the Sheriff, Mainline Florida
3.4/5
Anthrax
2/5
I didn't find this particularly difficult to listen to as I kinda expected I would, but I also didn't really think much of it. There were only a couple of moments where it managed to distract me from my work, and that feels a little bit disappointing from a metal album.
2.4/5
Queen
4/5
Very surprised to find a Queen album on the list where I'm unfamiliar with any of the tracks. And also how come Bohemian Rhapsody is not on this album with that album cover?!
The tracklist here reads more like a Led Zeppelin album than a Queen one - lots of fantasy lore baked into the song themes. The start of Ogre Battle is pretty crazy - is there some reversed tape action going on there? The (pump fake) ending of The March of the Black Queen is a very clear precursor to the ending of Bohemian Rhapsody - interesting. I do really like the way the songs flow on this album - Funny How Love Is sounds like a Christmas song.
Fave Tracks: The Loser in the End, Ogre Battle, Seven Seas of Rhye
4/5
Lou Reed
5/5
Hard to describe why this album is so good. It’s just so pure and simple.
Fave Tracks: Perfect Day, Walk on the Wild Side, Satellite of Love, New York Telephone Conversation, I’m So Free
4.7/5
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
I thought this would have aged badly, but the album starts off crisp. The guitars are recorded in a really clean way - it reminds me more of The Strokes than I ever previously considered. Tell Her Tonight at times sounds like a Beatles song, but with some very strange vocal affectations that give it some extra character.
Take Me Out is of course a very good song, perhaps the song that defines Indie rock from this era. It holds up. And Matinée was low key always my favourite FF song, also holds up pretty well. The verse about talking to Terry Wogan on BBC2 just tickles me in the right places.
The middle of the album loses some steam, but I like This Fire - I remember this song from an old FIFA game or Burnout maybe? Darts of Pleasure and Michael are also certainly more than filler. The subject matter of the latter feels starkly more progressive than most bands of a similar ilk and era would ever write about.
The last two tracks are a bit of a damp fizzle out for me, but overall I'm impressed at the depth and wit of this album and how well its aged.
Fave Tracks: Take Me Out, The Dark of the Matinée, This Fire, Michael
4/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
First few tracks are cool. Oliver's Army has good earworm value. Then for me it really tales off, not much more of any significant substance.
2.7/5
Kate Bush
5/5
I thought this would be an easy 5 for me, but I think it does have its imperfections. As a cohesive piece of art it’s pretty great, but some of the tracks at the start of the second half don’t have much standalone value for me. Still there are so many groundbreaking tracks and ideas here, that are so uniquely Kate Bush, I think it would be a disservice to give it anything less than 5.
Fave Tracks: Running Up That Hill, Hounds of Love, The Big Sky, Cloudbusting, Watching You Without Me, The Morning Fog
4.6/5
Billie Holiday
3/5
I liked this as background music. I think if I tried to engage more I would have liked it less.
3.5/5
Michael Jackson
5/5
When an album like this comes up my hope is that there will be some hidden gems uncovered. Unfortunately that wasn't my experience here - for me on this listen, the hits are the hits and everything else is fine. Don't get me wrong, that still makes for an unbelievable record - more than half the tracks are undeniable pop classics, and the rest are at least solid songs. Yet it's just a little disappointing to come out of the album experience without really anything new.
Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean is a 3 track run that is surely unparalleled in pop.
Fave Tracks: Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, P.Y.T
4.5/5
FKA twigs
4/5
I respect this album, but I'm not really that into it. I don't think I'm going to hugely want to return to even the tracks I think are great.
Fave Tracks: Lights On, Two Weeks, Numbers
3.7/5
The War On Drugs
4/5
A very good album, but nothing groundbreaking in the sound palette.
Fave Tracks: Under the Pressure, Red Eyes, An Ocean in Between the Waves, In Reverse
4.1/5
Pulp
2/5
What a weird album. It’s trying waaaay too hard. At its worst it is totally tasteless, putrid, cringeworthy. At other moments it’s just dull, and occasionally it’s very interesting, as on the title track. There are songs where I like the instrumentation and then Jarvis comes in sounding like a stuck up douchebag or just saying something incredibly lame, like comparing himself to Jesus because they have the same initials. Richard Ashcroft vibes. Not clever, not funny, just a bit sad.
Fave Tracks: This is Hardcore, I’m a Man
2.2/5
Manu Chao
3/5
A bit of an odd record. Bongo Bong is the standout, I quite like it but it also feels like a novelty song. Not really sure how to feel about this record overall
3.1/5
TV On The Radio
4/5
Pretty unusual album, I liked it.
Fave Tracks: The Wrong Way, Poppy
3.9/5
Elton John
4/5
This album was really beautiful, so pleasantly surprised. Definitely no bad tracks. Tiny Dancer is my favourite Elton song so it makes sense that this album chimes with me, considering all tracks really have that same sort of soundscape.
Fave Tracks: Tiny Dancer, Indian Sunset, Holiday Inn
4.3/5
Jeff Beck
3/5
3/5
Rush
3/5
Doesn’t impressa me much tbh. I thought I’d like this a lot, I feel like I should love Rush, but honestly felt this was quite stale and bland. The track about Bangkok was good.
2.8/5
The Smiths
4/5
I feel this album is a bit overrated. It was mostly pretty good, but a few of the tracks reminded me a lot of other jangle pop and shoegaze artists - which I don’t think is a testimony to The Smiths influence and more that they’re a product of a certain time.
I also think there are some truly amazing Smiths songs - namely This Charming Man and How Soon Is Now - nothing on this album gets to that level.
Fave Tracks: Big Mouth Strikes Again, There is a Light That Never Goes Out
3.6/5
Steely Dan
4/5
It’s not Aja, but the Steely debut has a lot of great qualities and a plethora of earworms. Things I like include the Latin drum groove intro to the album, the anthemic chorus line of Dirty Work, the jazzy breakdowns on Fire in the Hole, everything about Reelin’, the “oh Michael” hook that is kinda corny but just too catchy. It lacks a certain je ne sais quoi to be a 5 for me, but it’s a great album.
Fave Tracks: Do It Again, Dirty Work, Kings, Reelin’ in the Years
4.4/5
Super Furry Animals
3/5
I didn't really want to enjoy this. Of all the rock and indie eras I don't need to hear more of, 90s/00s British indie rock is top of the list. But I have to admit this album wasn't bad. It certainly had some sneaky hooks and nice moments, though overall it did still kinda bore me and wash over.
Fave Tracks: Fuzzy Birds, If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You, For Now and Ever
3/5
JAY Z
3/5
Overrated. Maybe the best verse on the album was Eminem's. Some tracks like Girls, Girls, Girls haven't aged well. Production is ok if slightly one-dimensional, but it's beginning to feel a bit dated now.
3.3/5
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
Smooth like butter. Tribe are so good at producing catchy beats and charismatic flows with the simplest of ingredients. Engaging with it more consciously I appreciated this album more than ever before.
4.6/5
Roxy Music
2/5
Totally unwarranted. Don't you dare give me another Roxy Music album.
2.3/5
Morrissey
2/5
Nah, we've probably already got too many Smiths albums on here. Just no need for this.
2/5
Suzanne Vega
4/5
Loved the start of this, the production is really beautiful. Lost me a little in the middle but I liked the closer too.
Fave Tracks: Cracking, Freeze Tag, Marlene on the Wall, Neighborhood Girls
3.9/5
Beastie Boys
4/5
Much better than the other two BB albums. Still don't really like the shouty vocals but the beats/production are real nice on this one.
Fave Tracks: To All the Girls, Hey Ladies
3.6/5
Tim Buckley
4/5
Good vibe, bit of an incoherent overall experience. I like the expansive jazziness of it in principal, but some tracks don't really land.
Fave Tracks: Love From Room 109 at The Islander (On Pacific Coast Highway), Gypsy Woman
3.5/5
The Monkees
2/5
Twee, gross
2.1/5
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
5/5
This is a good 'un. Carry On, obviously. But the rest of the track list is very solid, with different tracks highlighting different members songwriting and vocal chops.
Fave Tracks: Carry On, Almost Cut My Hair, Helpless, Our House, Country Girl
4.5/5
Ray Charles
2/5
Bored
2/5
SZA
4/5
Very good, nothing particularly great for me. Very 4 star album, and that's kinda how I feel about most of SZA's work, it's never bad but also rarely any transcendent standout tracks.
4/5
The Undertones
2/5
I don't think this is really terrible, but its just it feels like any teenage boy with a guitar and an understanding of power chords could have made this.
2.4/5
The Who
1/5
Live albums suck my anus
1 star
Bill Callahan
4/5
Ok I really love “My Friend”. My feeling with this album is that it’s quite cool, but maybe not 1001 necessary. Oof the strings on “All Thoughts…” though.
Fave Tracks: Jim Cain, My Friend, All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast, Faith/Void
No strong feelings
3/5
Gene Clark
3/5
I preferred the other Gene Clark album we had, more concise and felt a bit more genre-pushing.
A lot of this album was fading into the background, it was the Stand By Me cover that stood out, which isn't a great sign considering how vanilla of a song that is.
Fave Tracks: Ship of the Lord, Winter In
3/5
Little Simz
5/5
A modern classic, maybe my favourite British rap album tbh.
Fave Tracks: Offence, Boss, Selfish, 101FM, Pressure, Sherbet Sunset
4.5/5
The Verve
3/5
Okay, but mostly just sludgy boring indie rock
3/5
Adam & The Ants
4/5
Surprisingly good. Lots of interesting musical ideas here. Still also pretty cheesy.
Fave Tracks: Antmusic, Los Rancheros
3.6/5
Thelonious Monk
3/5
Thought I would be way more to into this, but really found it quite dull
2.6/5
3/5
It's kinda fun and some of the production is very clean, but also I don't really want to listen to any of it again.
Fave Tracks: Mongoloid, Shrivel-Up
3/5
Aerosmith
2/5
Boring.
2/5
Teenage Fanclub
4/5
Didn’t expect much from this. I only know Teenage Fanclub from the fantastic Everything Flows (which isn’t on here), but I thought this was a very solid experience.
3.8/5
Beatles
3/5
Really really really meh if you ask me. The early Beatlemania era music is so bland, maybe thanks in part to them evolving creatively over the years as a comparison. You can basically just take the choruses from the two big singles here and leave everything else.
2.9/5
Pink Floyd
5/5
Tastes like good wine. A very satisfying album experience.
Fave Tracks: Shine On (all the parts), Wish You Were Here
4.5/5
The Who
4/5
This was actually quite fantastic. The Who are so hot and cold for me. I can't stand Tommy. Who's Next is epic. The live album is a total waste of time. This is quirky in a very self aware and charming way.
Fave Tracks: Armenia City in the Sky, Odorono, Our Love Was, I Can See For Miles, Silas Stingy, Sunrise
4.3/5
TV On The Radio
4/5
Pretty much a good album. Not sure it needs to be on the 1001.
3.7/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Pretty cool. I like these guys. But The Cutter is clearly the best track.
3.5/5
The Gun Club
3/5
Ok, feels like it’s trying to be edgy
2.9/5
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Very bloated, almost the opposite of Rumours; packed full of tracks that are fine but very few standouts. Kinda reminds me of early Paul McCartney solo stuff oddly. Some nice production but a lot of ideas that don't develop as much as they probably should.
3.3/5
Dr. John
5/5
Fuckadoodle do this was so good. Such beautiful and primitive musicianship dressed up behind this bizarre character of Dr John the Night Tripper.
Fave Tracks: Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya, Jump Sturdy, I Walk on Guilded Splinters
4.7/5
Robert Wyatt
4/5
Pretty fun album
3.7/5
4/5
It's a good record, and I have always loved Starman, but I do think its a bit overrated. A lot of tracks give a very similar energy, which isn't necessarily bad, but for a 5 star album I think it needs some more transcendent high points.
Fave Tracks: Soul Love, Starman, Lady Stardust, Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City
4.2/5
Nirvana
4/5
So much worse than Nevermind in my books. But it still has a lot of highlights.
Fave Tracks: Heart-Shaped Box, Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle, Dumb, Pennyroyal Tea, All Apologies
3.5/5
Muddy Waters
2/5
Big yawn from me
2/5
Sparks
4/5
So surprised I liked this so much. Campy and cheesy but so much fun.
Fave Tracks: This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us
Here In Heaven
Equator
4.1/5
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
Its too much maaan
3/5
Grateful Dead
3/5
Uninspiring in a very Grateful Dead way
3.2/5
Steve Winwood
3/5
Some interesting chill yacht rock vibes here at first, but it all becomes quite sedentary quite quickly.
3.1/5
Tom Tom Club
4/5
Good fine, as you might expect from a Talking Heads offshoot. More than just the inimitable Genius of Love.
Fave Tracks: Wordy Rappinghood, Genius of Love, L Elephant, Lorelei, Booming and Zooming
4.2/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
The Killing Moon is so good. And the rest of this album was pretty solid. Felt like it had a bit more sheen and a bit less bite than the other E&TB album (Porcupine), but I don't think that was really to its benefit or detriment, good solid album.
Fave Tracks: Thorn of Crowns, The Killing Moon, My Kingdom, Ocean Rain
4.1/5
Iron Butterfly
3/5
I was quite into this at the start, reminded me of the Blood Sweat and Tears record, a good reminder that there was a lot of cool rock music going on in the late 60s, buried slightly beneath the mainstream. But it faded for me at the end, the last track just too meandering for me.
3.4/5
Fairport Convention
3/5
Felt lacklustre compared to the other Fairport Convention album.
Fave Track: The Deserter
3.2/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Good stuff, these boys sure can right a beautiful number.
Fave Tracks: Scarborough Fair, Homeward Bound, The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy), 7 O'Clock News / Silent Night
4.3/5
Elvis Costello
3/5
I think this is the third Elvis C album. That's too many, for sure. But this one might actually be my favourite.
Fave Tracks: Welcome to the Working Week, Alison
3.4/5
Billy Bragg
3/5
I can see how this might be important music to some. Its political, cool. As the album title though its more like poetry. The music itself doesn't grab me much. A couple of times there was a pretty nice sonic palette like on The Marriage, and I also quite liked Levi Stubbs' Tears.
3.2/5
Jane's Addiction
4/5
Been Caught Stealing is such a groove. The first half of the album is a bit middling for me, but from BCS onwards I'm more in.
3.7/5
Todd Rundgren
4/5
A pretty fun time
3.9/5
Public Image Ltd.
4/5
I felt this was definitely one of the better punk albums i've heard on the 1001. The punk energy feels more genuine, and musically interesting, quite aggressively experimental at points.
Fave Tracks: Theme, Public Image, Low Life, Fodderstompf
3.6/5
Spacemen 3
2/5
Didn't really do anything for me. I'm very up for this sort of droney representation, but frankly I just found this boring.
2/5
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
Very run of the mill for me. Mostly inoffensive, very few standouts, felt a bit of a drag.
Fave Tracks: Beautiful Child
2.5/5
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
5/5
This is what I came to the 1001 for. I have no idea who or what Penguin Cafe Orchestra is, but that was very fun and unique and sonically pleasing.
Fave tracks: Penguin Cafe Single, most of the Zopf suite, Chartered Flight
4.5/5
Radiohead
4/5
This is a great Radiohead album, and it has a bit more identity than I expected. Still though… we don’t need it on the list - it doesn’t have the same importance has OK Computer or Kid A or In Rainbows or even The Bends.
The drums on There, There are so good though. Most underrated Radiohead single.
Probably my favourite collection of Radiohead song titles.
Fave Tracks: 2+2=5, Sit Down Stand Up, There There, A Wolf at the Door
4/5
Ananda Shankar
4/5
ohhhh mommmy.
Fave Tracks: Jumpin' Jack Flash, Snow Flower, Light My Fire, Raghupati
4.1/5
De La Soul
3/5
This album is a strange experience. On paper I love what De La Soul are doing. But I look through the track listing post-listening and I think do I really like many of these songs? Usually the moments that capture me are the fairly on-the-nose samples of my favourite songs - Peg in Eye Know, Hall & Oates in Say No Go, the very famous Me Myself and I Funkadelic sample. After hearing those samples I want to go and listen to the originals rather than appreciating what De La have done with it. Maybe Me Myself and I is an exception there.
Fave Tracks: Eye Know, Me Myself and I, This is a Recording
3.4/5
Missy Elliott
2/5
I feel awkward saying that I don't like this. I know people love Missy, so it feels almost blasphemous, but this album doesn't sound nice to me. The production has that big glitzy early 2000s hip hop sound that I think has aged particularly bad. There are some Neptunian elements that kinda still slap (did they produce this? I don't really care enough to check), but a lot of it is just annoying.
I really could not care less about the spoken word sections. To me these are just messages that could have been turned into songs, but weren't.
Fave Tracks: Work It, Can You Hear Me
2.4/5
Randy Newman
3/5
I wanted Randy to charm me, but this was quite a snooze.
Fave Track: Naked Man
2.7/5
The Cardigans
4/5
Actually really enjoyed this. It was pleasant music to accompany a slow Sunday morning. Lots of nice melodies but also healthy dose of 90s lo-fi grit and self-awareness. The Iron Man cover is most amusing.
Fave Tracks: Been It, Step on Me, Lovefool, Losers, Iron Man
4.1/5
Digital Underground
3/5
This is a funny little album of highs and lows. At points very tacky, but other times smooth, aged terribly in places but perfectly relevant in others. As an album I kinda don't really like it because of the undulations, but I could certainly pop back to a few of these tracks.
Fave Tracks: Underwater Rimes, Gutfest '89, Sex Packets, Packet Man
3.5/5
Doves
4/5
Surprised that I not only recognised There Goes the Fear and Pounding but also quite enjoyed them. But ultimately this feels like less sold out Coldplay. It might be a lot better if the lead singer had just a little more character to his voice. Its a decent album but I don't need it in my 1001.
Fave Tracks: There Goes the Fear, Pounding, The Suplhur Man
3.5/5
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
2.9/5
The Cure
2/5
Man, I didn't like this at all. A big surprise tbh.
2/5
Fela Kuti
3/5
This wasn't quite as fun as I was expecting. It becomes quite repetitive and not much stuck out from this one for me. Great vibes as always, but I prefer some of the studio work. The 16 minute drum solo track is a bit of a test.
3.3/5
Paul Simon
5/5
This has long been a favourite album of mine. It's amazing to me how beautifully and tastefully Paul Simon blends African influences with his own folk style, creating some genuinely groundbreaking music - I'm not really familiar with any other album that sounds anything like this.
The big hitters for me are a great testament to Simon's diverse skills as a songwriter. The titular Graceland is a driving piece of Americana, somewhat oddly out of place amongst the numerous other tracks with clear African influence. You Can Call Me Al is full of 80s bombast, but is just so irresistibly danceable. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes is one of those beautiful unique blends that could simply never be recreated.
Not every track is a hit for me, its not a perfect album, but its pretty darn good.
4.7/5
The Stranglers
4/5
Quite surprised that I liked this. Pretty tight recordings, pretty cool stuff.
3.7/5
N.E.R.D
3/5
I don't think the sound has aged super well. Some songs like Drill Sergeant sound super corny - maybe they always did. But generally the hooks are undeniable, the Neptunes production chops are there on full display. The early 2000s feels like the new 80s. Catchy songs with a sound that has aged badly, rife for guilty pleasures.
Fave Tracks: Fly or Die, She Wants to Move, The Way She Dances
3.2/5
The Clash
4/5
Fave Tracks: London Calling, Rudie Can't Fail, Lost in the Supermarket, The Guns of Brixton, Train in Vain
4.2/5
Tears For Fears
5/5
Highs that are just so high. Its not a perfect album but it has too much goodness to not be a 5.
Fave Tracks: Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Broken, Head Over Heels
4.5/5
The Adverts
2/5
boring menage a noise
2.3/5
Les Rythmes Digitales
4/5
The opening bars of Dreamin' really hit. Wait a minute, is this album actually really good?
Ok it gets a bit in your face, but I don't hate that. Tracks like MDC Vendredi feel like dubstep precursors.
It reminds me of PC Music, particularly the track About Funk - its just unapologetically brash and fun(k).
Fave Tracks: Dreamin', Music Makes You Lose Control, Take a Little Time, About Funk
4.1/5
Blue Cheer
3/5
not really much of interest for the 2025 ear. Noisy, I'm sure this ruffled feathers in 1968.
2.8/5
Bee Gees
3/5
Quite nice. Reminded me a bit of Victoria by the Kinks or whatever that album about Blighty is called.
Didn’t really find any standout tracks or moments I’d want to revisit though so can’t go much higher than this.
3.4/5
Ministry
4/5
Well well well I liked this a lot more than I would’ve expected. Not my genre at all but I could certainly appreciate this.
Fave Tracks: N.W.O., Just One Fix, Scare Crow
4.2/5
Rod Stewart
3/5
I quite liked the first track then it was mostly in one ear and out the other.
2.9/5
The The
4/5
This is the Day is such a bop. Ohh Uncertain Smile too. This is low key a bopfest.
4/5
The Blue Nile
4/5
What a nice treat. I really like the vibe of this album. It has distinct "80s"ness to it, but doesn't feel tacky or poorly aged.
Each of the first 4 tracks were pretty strong in their own way.
Fave Track: A Walk Across the Rooftops
4/5
Stephen Stills
3/5
First couple of songs were nice. Some of the later ones (Black Queen) were a bit weird. Overall good vibes but kinda melted into not much of note for me.
3.3/5
Animal Collective
5/5
I've seen this album cover a million times, had the CD, but looking at it on the screen here was the first time I actually realise it's a visual illusion.
Great album, aged better than I expected. I used to be addicted to My Girls and its still one of my favourite songs, but there are many good tracks on here and the flow of the album is very strong. The psychedelic, futuristic but also animalist vibes are entrancing.
Fave Tracks: In the Flowers, My Girls, Also Frightened, Summertime Clothes, Brother Sport
4.7/5
The Band
3/5
Apple Music doesn't have the track "Up on Cripple Creek", in the UK at least. I have to assume they spit loads of horrific ableist vitriol. 1 star.
Jk, its ok. But pretty dull. I like the last track actually.
Fave Tracks: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, King Harvest (Surely Has Come)
2.8/5
Public Enemy
2/5
It doesn't do it for me at all. I think I feel the same way I do about a lot of punk music - important political message - don't care for the music though.
2/5
KISS
3/5
Not that bad, Detroit Rock City is a bop. Kiss have bops, I have always liked Rock N Roll All Nite since hearing it in a Tony Hawk's soundtrack.
But then some of the other tracks are very campy. King of the Night Time World is a clear rip off of Charlie Kelly's The Night Man Cometh.
Fave Track: Detroit Rock City
2.6/5
B.B. King
3/5
2.5/5
Wu-Tang Clan
3/5
I went and opened my RYM and I had previously rated 36 Chambers a very controversial 2.5 stars. I think its the skits, they really feel like they interrupt the flow for me. There is clearly some great music here, 2.5 stars was harsh, however I do still think this is an overrated album. Maybe I should stick to the 9 track version on Apple Music which I'm guessing is clear of skits.
Fave Tracks: Can It All Be So Simple, C.R.E.A.M., Tearz
3.4/5
Sepultura
2/5
Not really for me I’ll say. I liked Desperate Cry in points when it was running at half speed. I can’t stand incessant double bass drum kicking.
2.2/5
The Shamen
1/5
Quite atrocious. Sounds like the music Jeremy from Peep Show makes.
1.4/5
Van Halen
3/5
Predictable hair rock
2.5/5
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Joni being Joni. Not many of the tracks stand out but I think its a good solid album.
3.8/5
Thin Lizzy
3/5
Imagine clicking the little hyperlink icon for your streaming provider and landing on the Live and Dangerous (Super Deluxe version) - 9 hours and 51 minutes long. Absolutely disgusting. Thankfully the regular version is only 1 hour 27, but that's still a slog for me.
I liked "Southbound", but unequivocally I would enjoy the studio version better. Same can be said of Rosalie. And Dancing in the Moonlight. Ok, so maybe I am enjoying this - but I standby that I would enjoy this more if it was not live.
The Cowboy Song to Boys are Back in Town transition is nice.
"We'd like to thanks everybody for coming. Especially if you came twice or three times." cheeky sods.
3/5
King Crimson
5/5
Great album, true classic, all 5 tracks are good, and the opener and closer are really really great in my view. But 9 minutes of Moonchild is meandering nonsense, that could so easily have been better, detracts from the whole experience for me. 21st Century Schizoid Man feels so ahead of its time, it’s very impressive.
4.6/5
Heaven 17
5/5
This was pretty sick. Hard to describe, it just scratches the right itch. Shades of Kraftwerk.
Fave Tracks: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang, We're Going to Live for a Very Long Time
4.5/5
XTC
4/5
I like the way this album starts, the nice transition between Summer's Cauldron and Grass is very satisfying. From there the album begins to lose me a bit until Mermaid Smile, which has a cool intro, and I liked The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul.
Fave Tracks: Summer's Cauldron, Grass, The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul.
3.7/5
Thundercat
4/5
Just a very fun album. I would say the first 15 songs are all pretty enjoyable, though only a few standouts until the fantastic Them Changes. Last few tracks kinda fall off for me which is a shame, could've been closer to a 5 without them.
4/5
Willie Nelson
3/5
Simultaneously very nice and very boring.
2.7/5
Christina Aguilera
3/5
Candyman is a real guilty pleasure bop. This is a just fine pop album. Christina has a great voice, you can really appreciate it across a full album.
3/5
3/5
The first half of this album tastes like a glass of room temperature water after a day at the office. From Oily Water onwards I found it much more interesting. Miss America, Villa Rosie, Turn It Up all had some redeemable qualities.
Fave Tracks: Oily Water
3.2/5
Queen
3/5
3/5
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Peach Trees sounds like a Radiohead song. A lot of this sounds like Radiohead tbh. I like the less theatrical bits generally.
Fave Tracks: Agnus Dei, The One You Love, Peach Trees, Old Whore's Diet
3.5/5
Sheryl Crow
3/5
Pretty much fine album. Did not offend me even slightly.
3.3/5
Carpenters
4/5
Honestly this was a very pleasant experience. I thought the Carpenters were maybe too clean cut, but no complaints about the cleanliness here.
4.1/5
Django Django
3/5
I love the vibe of this album. It has a very distinct sound despite none of the elements being particularly groundbreaking. There's a mesmerising robotocism in the rhythms juxtaposed with Eastern melodies on tracks like Life's a Beach and Skies over Cairo. The album cover is a very accurate representation of the music I'd say.
That said the album kinda runs out of steam after the first few tracks, falling a bit flat. Replace Skies over Cairo with the Bullion remix and you'd have a much stronger album.
Fave Tracks: Hail Bop, Default, Waveforms
3.4/5
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Bruce doesn't do much for me. I just struggled to engage with this.
3/5
Traffic
3/5
Some nice bluesy rock, some weird stuff about 13 year old girls.
Fave Tracks: Pearly Queen, (Roamin' Thro' the Gloamin' With) 40,000 Headman
3.4/5
Fatboy Slim
3/5
He's not even fat
2.6/5
The Style Council
4/5
I was really enjoying this one until "A Gospel". Lots of loungey jazz. Vocal-less, chorus-less tracks where warranted. Second half was quite disappointing though.
3.6/5
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Gimme Shelter is brilliant. Then the next 4 tracks are just a waste of time - boring blues rock staples. The back end picks up with some slightly more interesting arrangements, and somewhat crescendos with You Can't Always Get What You Want. Though I weirdly don't like the angelic choir intro to that track, sounds corny to me.
I've always felt like The Rolling Stones are one of the most overrated bands of all time, and this album doesn't really change that, though I much much prefer it to Beggars Banquet and Exile on Main St.
3.4/5
The Fall
4/5
This album straddles an interesting space between post-punk and rave music. It has a reckless abandon that reminds me of Can in ways. It doesn't take itself too seriously, the Lost in Music cover feels so tongue in cheek, I don't even know why, there's just something so wry in the vocal.
I can see a lot of influence from this album. Light/Fireworks feels like a blueprint for LCD Soundsystem, I'm Going to Spain for some reason reminds me a lot of the Libertines (minus the synths).
Fave Tracks: I'm Going to Spain, Service, Why Are People Grudgeful
4.2/5
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
I think Good Kid Maad City is better. I am definitely not a fan of the "I remember you were conflicted..." interjections. Solely because of the repetition where Kendrick gradually reveals more and more of his poem. Its just a waste of time, after the first time it makes me groan at the end of each of those songs.
Still, this album is fantastic. It has a ton of bops and bangers, some incredible instrumentals, and of course plenty of the headiest bars.
But this is an album that should flow seamlessly, and for me at times it just doesn't - "i" is a great track, but its so out of place on this album. I think its still just about a 5 star album, but not RYM best album of all time level.
Fave Tracks: For Free?, King Kunta, These Walls. Alright, How Much a Dollar Cost, i
4.5/5
The Bees
4/5
This feels like quite a peculiar inclusion. It's a very listenable album, it's so inoffensive its almost offensive. For me the only really questionable track is the most famous - the cover of the Jorge Ben/Os Mutantes samba-rock track "A Minha Menina" - which screams early 2000s tv advert music.
A few of the tracks I really enjoy for their simple charms, but overall its hard to make an argument for this album as one you must hear.
Fave Tracks: Punchbag, Angryman, Lying in the Snow
3.7/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
Doesn't do it for me.
2.3/5
M.I.A.
3/5
M.I.A.'s sound is pretty distinct, and for that reason you can argue it as a good 1001 inclusion, but, and big but, this album doesn't have Paper Planes on it, soooo... not sure how necessary it is. The first 6 or so tracks are quite abrasive and noisy in a way I don't find particularly appealing. The second half has way more interesting cuts such as Amazon, Bingo and even the silly U.R.A.Q.T.
An ok album but just makes me thirsty for PP.
Fave Tracks: Amazon, Bingo
3.2/5
The Soft Boys
3/5
No strong feelings. I think I liked a lot of the bonus tracks more than the album itself.
3/5
Erykah Badu
4/5
A very nice vibe, not a lot of standout tracks, but a very enjoyable experience.
3.8/5
Drive Like Jehu
3/5
At first I found this just painful and noisy. But after a while I began to hear beauty through the brashness. Tracks like Luau and Super Unison have a lot of charm in the instrumentation. The whole thing is quite reminiscent of Sonic Youth.
I think if I really engaged with this and was in a shouty mood I could like it a lot.
Fave Tracks: Luau, Hand Over Fist (I think this one's just a bonus track)
3.2/5
Doves
4/5
Another Doves album, how ridiculous. And yet, once again this album is really quite great. My opinion is similar to their other album - its not really necessary for this list, but its still a very solid album.
Fave Tracks: Rise, Catch the Sun, The Cedar Room
4/5
Kate Bush
4/5
First side is pure Kate Bush magic. Second half gets a bit less lush and a little bit more ballady and loses me slightly.
Still K8 is gr8, another very solid and unique album.
3.9/5
PJ Harvey
2/5
Found this pretty uninspiring. Its raw and punky and doesn't really do anything for me.
2.4/5
Oasis
3/5
Never been much of an Oasis guy but did have a sweet spot for this album, I had the CD.
On relisten I find it quite uninspiring. It is very very samey, especially the drums.
Cigarettes & Alcohol is catchy, but its just TRex's Bang a Gong. This album is 4 or 5 catchy hooks, that are mostly derivative of very obvious influences, drowned in horrible guitar tones.
Favorite Tracks; Rock N Roll Star, Live Forever, Supersonic, Cigarettes & Alcohol
3/5
The Human League
2/5
I'm not even convinced I listened to the right version of this, but what I did listen to was pretty badly dated and annoying.
2.3/5
PJ Harvey
2/5
2 PJ Harvery albums in 4 days. Neither do it for me. This one I think is slightly better than Dry, but there's nothing here that I would want to go back to. Would require me to really be desiring some raw angst to revisit.
2.5/5
Soundgarden
4/5
Very much as predicted, nothing superunknown about this one. Louder rather than grungier. Ok album to me, but nothing superexciting. Black Hole Sun and Spoonman are two excellent and fairly unique rock songs, but most of the rest of the album is quite generic.
Fave Tracks: Head Down, Black Hole Sun, Spoonman, 4th of July
3.7/5
Metallica
4/5
Maybe an odd compliment but I love how abruptly the first track breaks to nothing.
I like the "soft" moments, like the initial riff of ...And Justice for All. And One - I always liked that track.
I can really see how you might love this album. But it falls into that sort of not for me category. Too heavy mostly.
Fave Tracks: One, To Live is to Die
3.6/5
Talking Heads
4/5
Only Talking Heads could get away with the steel drums on the opener.
Psycho Killer was the first Talking Heads song I heard, and I think it put me off them for a while. Though I enjoyed it I found it repetitive and not very challenging. So many years wasted without appreciating Remain in Light and other Talking Heads masterpieces. On listening to this album PK was very enjoyable. Its a pretty unique tune with all the usual Talking Heads witticisms.
Fave Tracks: Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town, Psycho Killer
3.7/5
Napalm Death
1/5
This was beautiful. I listened whilst having a relaxing bath and it lulled me gently to sleep. As the murky bathwater slinked down my oesophagus I felt the warm embrace of heaven's kiss. I saw the great beyond, divine mysteries unfurling unto me with unfathomable lucidity. Jesus was there riding a rainbow centaur with a Napalm Death neck tattoo. It was really something.
Three days later I awoke in the ICU ward at the Krankenhaus Dresden-Friedrichstadt, to the smiling faces of my friends Ray and Nigel, sitting loyally at my bedside. They'd brought with them their transsexual goth friend who just sat silently in the corner eating a Happy Meal (the toy and all); quite the character.
Best bath ever.
1.3/5
Kelela
3/5
This is totally fine, but don't see anything really groundbreaking here. Nice to have on in the background, barely caught my attention though most of the time.
Fave Tracks: LMK
3.2/5
Klaxons
3/5
I was the exact target audience for the Klaxons. At the time this was a certified classic, but now it sounds quite dated, though I will say the 4 singles that I recall all still slap pretty hard. Most of the rest of the tracks are poor imitations of the singles, filled with gibberish lyrics that sound very much like they're trying to be quirky cool.
The production is also pretty awful. Some songs have an almost garage feel to them, which doesn't work well with their futuristic sonic aesthetic. Maybe its just the fact that the "DJ! Uh uh uh" sounds that kick off "Atlantis to Interzone" were pre-sets on a cheap keyboard I played as a teenager. This was probably super cool to me at the time but just cheapens the track now.
Idk, its still pretty fun.
3.2/5
Eminem
2/5
Eminem didn't fall-off. He and his music have just aged poorly. This album sounds like a stroppy teenager. Its so immature - who ever thought that the homophobia and misogyny on show here was cool? Its so obviously uncool that I feel quite embarrassed listening to it. Its only shocking in how cringey it is. The beats stank of early 2000s bling era too - they are quite awful.
The skits are predictably atrocious. The main problem with them I guess is that Eminem isn't funny. Songs like Kim where Eminem does various cartoony voices are so annoying. It's weird. Is he trying to be taken seriously or to make a joke? They just fall in odd places in between, I don't like it.
And then this album has Stan which is simultaneously so out of place but so perfectly in place for this album. Its weird. But I guess this is Eminem's best song, so overall I think this is still better than The Slim Shady LP.
2.2/5
Anita Baker
4/5
Hoe Cakes!
I thought this was a very solid, smooth easy-listening album. Classy, not too tainted with 80s stank.
Fave Tracks: Sweet Love, Caught Up In the Rapture
3.9/5
David Holmes
4/5
I thought this was a pretty cool gritty sound collage album, though I'm not sure I'd really go back for much. Feels like a blend of Fatboy Slim and Illmatic.
3.5/5
Blur
3/5
You're So Great is quite an interesting song. Sounds almost like a Modest Mouse track or an early Radiohead demo. Look Inside America is just Country House isn't it?
I don't think this is really a great album. It's ok, kinda like most of Blur's other stuff. But at least compared to their Britpop contemporaries this album is evidence of evolution to a new sound, some experimentation.
Fave Tracks: Beetlebum, Song 2, Death of a Party, Essex Dogs
3.3/5
Wire
4/5
I really wanted to like this more than I did. I've heard a few Wire songs before and loved them. Both the start and end of the album have a lot of cool moments, there's just a bit too much filler in the middle that doesn't add much for it to be a truly great album. You shouldn't have filler in a 35 min album.
Fave Tracks: Reuters, Three Girl Rhumba, Pink Flag, Fragile, Champs
3.7/5
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Some neat and quirky ideas. But ultimately Solsbury Hill is carrying.
3.6/5
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Pretty solid Curtis album. Listenable, no major stand outs for me.
3.7/5
Mike Ladd
4/5
What a strange inclusion. The 1001 is all over the shop when it comes to Hip Hop. The number of great hip hop albums left off, and then stuff like this included. I don't think this is bad or anything, in fact its quite interesting conceptually with the apocalyptic space themes etc, but it just seems so obscure and as far as I can see not an underground critical darling. Its the 3445th best Hip Hop album on RYM for example.
The track "To the Moon's Contractor" is great. Sprawling, progressive. This album grew on me a lot, second half was pretty great. Still a strange inclusion, but I'm not against it.
Fave Tracks: No. 1 St., To the Moon's Contractor, Wipe Out on the Wave of Armageddon, Feb 4. 99 (For All Those Killed by Cops)
3.8/5
George Jones
2/5
Yawn
2/5
Os Mutantes
3/5
I love the vibe of this album. Its weird, funky, experimental, free-wheeling, but maybe all those things slightly to a fault. The first few tracks are engaging, but admittedly most of the good tracks here were written by some other MPB legends - Gilberto Gil, Jorge Ben, Cateano Veloso namely. "Baby" is iconic but this is definitely not the best version I've heard of it, not even the best version by Os Mutantes (1971 for me).
Fave Tracks: Panis et circenses, Baby
3.4/5
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Ken Leeeeee. Ken Leebeebedebu douchouuuu.
Harry Nilsson is great. This album feels a bit more like a showreel than an album. There is so little cohesion between the tracks, but it doesn't really lead to a jarring experience, instead it just highlights how much of a pop chameleon Nilsson is. The transition from Without You to Coconut is one of the wildest tone shifts in musical history.
3.9/5
Ryan Adams
3/5
Quite a nice time.
Fave Tracks: To Be Young (Is to be Sad, Is to Be High), Amy
3.4/5
Big Star
4/5
Thirteen is somewhere between my 49th and 330th favourite song of all time. I think its the backing vocal "ahh-ahh-ahhs" over the line "would you be an outlaw for my love?" that really do it for me . A beautifully simple perfect song.
I think Big Star are much better in the tender moments. "Don't Lie to Me" after "Thirteen" is such a tone shifter. The vocals, the guitars have a totally different douchey sheen.
Most of the rest of the album is fine. Some ok moments like "Give Me Another Chance" but not really any other big hitters.
Fave Tracks: The Ballad of El Goodo, Thirteen
3.75/5
Queen Latifah
3/5
Nothing bad about this one, but it didn't do much to move me at all. Feels quite slow and formulaic after 35 years of subsequent hip hop history.
3/5
The Libertines
4/5
I’m a big fan of the Libertines, though I think as I age and so does the music I see much less appeal in it. Still a lot of good tracks here, though only a couple that are peak Libertines for me, which is a little disappointing on a 14 track album.
Fave Tracks: Can’t Stand Me Now, The Man Who Would Be King, Music When the Lights Go Out, The Ha Ha Wall, What Katie Did, What Became of the Likely Lads?
3.7/5
Baaba Maal
4/5
Quite fun, not that special, but I tended to like the tracks that leaned in a more garish 80s direction.
Fave Tracks: Hamady Boiro, Daniibe
3.6/5
Neu!
5/5
This album sounds waaay ahead of 1975. It deserves much plaudits for that fact alone.
I am into this. One of the most exciting completely new albums for me in a minute.
Fave Tracks: Isi, Seeland, Hero
4.7/5
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Excellent Stevie album. Hard to dislike. I'm not so much into the slower ballady numbers, but its not like they're bad.
Fave Tracks: Maybe Your Baby, Tuesday Heartbreak, Superstition, I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)
4/5
3/5
Another slightly strange inclusion in my view. Turn of the millennium acid jazz samba fusion. Not terrible, and interesting to see a release like this getting the spotlight, but a lot of the sounds haven't aged great, sound just a bit tacky.
2.8/5
Julian Cope
3/5
2.7/5
The Byrds
2/5
Very bored by this one. The Byrds try to dabble in psychedelia and it all sounds like wishy washy nothing.
2.3/5
Mj Cole
4/5
I could see this album being quite marmite. If you don't like UK Garage, and particularly MJ Cole's not-so-grimey slightly twinkley brand of garage, then this album is probably a chore. The beats are repetitive, at least in terms of percussion, and generally the songs follow a pretty similar formula.
If you do like that formula, then this is a rather great album, with lots of really solid garage bangers. I was surprised to hear Bandelero Desperado - I knew the Azealia Banks version, but didn't realise it was essentially a remix of this MJ Cole track.
Fave Tracks: Bandelero Desperado, Crazy Love
3.8/5
Rod Stewart
3/5
Very mild. Not bad, but don't need this in the 1001.
2.9/5
Lauryn Hill
4/5
The start of this album is so great. First 4 tracks (excluding the intro) are quality. From there it dips, but always maintains a decent level - there might truly be no skips - but I could give or take most of the middle of the album. Last two tracks are also great, perhaps that is why the album feels so strong (Apple Music’s favourite album of all time after all…)
Fave Tracks: Ex-Factor, To Zion, Doo Wap (That Thing), Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Tell Him
4.2/5
Björk
4/5
Beautiful, but quite overrated if you ask me.
Fave Tracks: Hidden Place, It’s Not Up To You, Unison
3.6/5
Elliott Smith
5/5
The intro to Between the Bars gives me goosebumps. Such a beautiful song. I’ve been anticipating this album for some time. When I’ve dipped my toes previously the water has been so warm.
If I could nitpick the album there are some tracks that feel like they would be better tracks with larger instrumentation behind them. That might be true of the section from Pictures of Me to Rose Parade.
Still, great album, great voice, RIP
Fave Tracks: Speed Trials, Between the Bars, Pictures of Me, No Name No. 5, Cupid’s Trick, Say Yes
4.5/5
The Lemonheads
4/5
I enjoyed this more than I expected.
Fave Tracks: Rudderless, My Drug Buddy
3.6/5
Calexico
3/5
I'm familiar with Calexico from their Alone Again Or cover and the album Carried to Dust. I was surprised to see that they have quite an extensive back catalogue.
I like that Calexico have quite a distinct sound. It sounds very true to their locale. At times I do find it a little boring though. The vocals have a nice timbre and at times some lush harmonies, but they can also feel like lacking a bit of character at times.
Fave Tracks: Pepita, Not Even Stevie Nicks..., Guero Canelo
3.2/5
The Incredible String Band
2/5
Kinda just folksy nonsense. Sounds like people tripping on acid and just strumming chords randomly. Pleasant sound pallette, limited substance.
2.4/5
Isaac Hayes
5/5
So nice. 4 tracks that all deliver vibes. The opener is particularly iconic. Though now all I hear on top is Beyoncé’s “6 Inch”. This is great music.
4.6/5
4/5
God Wonderwall is annoying. But I don't really think that's Oasis' fault. I want to dislike this album more, but really there are just quite a lot of solid undeniable tunes. As with Definitely Maybe I'm still not a huge fan of the production choices, particularly in relation to the guitars, but overall I think this a more well rounded and diverse album, and deserves a place in the canon.
Fave Tracks: Don't Look Back in Anger, Some Might Say
3.8/5
Incubus
3/5
ooh wow, a new contender for worst album art of all time. And I really really cannot imagine that an Incubus album is going to sound like the vibe that this cover elicits.
I'm a little embarrassed at how much I enjoyed this.
This album has more shades of Nu Metal than I expected. The guitar tones, with twang and reverb have more angst and character than I thought Incubus would have. When It Comes almost sounds like Deftones.
All the tracks that come before the mega hit "Drive" are so different to Drive, its quite strange. BUT nothing is as strange as "Battlestar Scralatchtica" - a record scratching funk rock jam band tune. Everything about this track is so odd, I think I kinda like it, but it is so out of place.
Ok and then on Pardon Me we get some rap. This song has more of those Nu Metal shades of Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, maybe even RATM a bit.
What a weird album. Its not great, but it is quite interesting. It definitely kept me on my toes.
I went back and looked into Incubus a bit more after listening and it seems they are pretty well known as a Nu Metal and Funk Rock band, so those elements perhaps shouldn't have been so surprising. I came into this album having only heard "Drive" and "Anna Molly" by Incubus, not Nu Metal or Funk Rock songs, but turns out those are the exceptions rather than the rule to Incubus' music.
Fave Tracks: Privilege, Stellar, Drive
3.1/5
Dagmar Krause
2/5
This is very different to the vast majority of the list.
Things I like:
- The drum intro on You Have to Pay.
- The Bjorkian Mother Beimlein
- The discordant horns on a track that I think is called Legende von der Entstehung des Buches Taoteking based off someone's comment on Youtube.
- That sexy sax on The Homecoming
Things I don't like:
- Dagmar's voice (not because its bad, its good, but I just don't vibe with that musical theatre style of singing)
- The fact that this isn't on any streaming service.
I tried to like this ok. But I cannot. Just not a genre I can listen to 60 mins of music of and enjoy.
Fave Tracks: Mother Beimlein
2.3/5
Public Enemy
4/5
Hmm I think unpopular opinion but I liked this album more than their other two much bigger hits.
3.8/5
Fave Tracks: Nighttrain, Can't Truss It, By The Time I Get to Arizona (shout out Tony Hawk)
The Replacements
4/5
Androgynous is such a green flag for The Replacements. The fact that such a genuine caring ballad about gender identity comes after the rabid punky energy of We're Comin' Out and Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out is a testament to their versatility and a compliment to their ideology.
Then there is Unsatisfied, which is somewhere between my 14th and 78th favourite song of all time. So much angst.
This is the best album called Let It Be, don't @ me.
Fave Tracks: I Will Dare, Androgynous, Unsatisfied, Seen Your Video
4/5
Skunk Anansie
3/5
Hmm. Weird one, never heard of this band, hard to understand why this was record was chosen.
Didn't hate it, but didn't really grab me much either.
Fave Track: Lately
2.8/5
The Specials
3/5
Never been much of a Ska guy, but at first I was finding this a lot more pleasant than I expected. But by the end of the record I was mostly just bored from a lack of variety.
2.7/5
Isaac Hayes
4/5
The title theme is so good. This is all pretty splendid tbh. I guess I was only vaguely familiar with Isaac Hayes, but having now had 2 albums in a short span I'm seeing I've really been missing out.
It's a bit long, but can't really knock it much apart from that.
Fave Tracks: Theme from Shaft, Cafe Regio's, Early Sunday Morning
4.2/5
Yes
5/5
This was great. I was listening slightly passively whilst working, but then I went back diving into each of the tracks and I found it all very enjoyable. I'm more familiar with their next two albums - but this seems to be a really underrated gem in their catalogue. Well I guess not underrated, its on the list.
Fave Tracks: I think I liked elements of all of them
4.6/5
Happy Mondays
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting to. What I expected to find annoying - Shaun Ryder’s vocals - are quite conveniently buried in the mix at times. They usually don’t overstep the mark.
The instrumentation is engaging and has aged much better than I would’ve thought too. In my mind Happy Mondays occupied a cornier tier of music than The Stone Roses and Primal Scream, but I think that was an unjust preconception. For a few seconds at the start of Dennis and Lois you could even imagine you were listening to a Curtis Mayfield track.
Fave Tracks: Kinky Afro, Dennis and Lois, Step On
3.9/5
Johnny Cash
4/5
This was a pretty good album, but it does kinda lose some points for me for pretty much just being a covers album. That being said they are pretty much all compelling covers. The recordings are brilliantly well made and Johnny's voice carries huge gravitas throughout.
Fave Tracks: The Man Comes Around, Hurt, In My Life
3.7/5
Beatles
5/5
Yep pretty darn good actually.
Fave Tracks: Eleanor Rigby, I'm Only Sleeping, Here There and Everywhere, And Your Bird Can Sing, Tomorrow Never Knows
4.8/5
Youssou N'Dour
4/5
Very good very nice
3.7/5
The Kinks
4/5
So funny to me that we’ve already had a few Kinks albums, all of which are pretty good but not really special, and now we have another one called simply “Something Else by the Kinks”.
And guess what - it’s something else by the Kinks. Let’s be clear something else, not something different. It’s good, not great. It has the timeless classic “Waterloo Sunset”. It has tongue in cheek lyrics and whimsical subject matter. It has some songs that are just average.
It’s a Kinks album. Nothing more nothing less.
3.8/5
The Cure
4/5
Ok I get this one. This Cure album is a magnum opus, that much is clear. And I do like it, but I also have some qualms. Let’s start with the qualms. Maybe just one qualm tbh.
A lot of the tracks follow a very similar sound palette at a very similar ploddy tempo. This gives the album a very consistent feel, but I also find some tracks drift into each other without leaving a lasting impact. You end up with some good songs that are also somehow forgettable.
Ok, so qualm aside, here The Cure really are doing their broody, gothic best. Some things that are excellent: the string arrangement on Lovesong, the wistful romantic nostalgia of Pictures of You, the feeling you get the first time you hear Lullaby - a truly singular song, maybe their best, the last minute outro of Untitled to close the album.
Really if I give it a little more time I think this could easily grow to be a 5 and an all time album for me.
Fave Tracks: Plainsong, Pictures of You, Lovesong, Lullaby, Disintegration
4.4/5
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
A lot of this just passed me by. Then at the end a couple of tracks caught my ear - Patience and Are You Ready to be Heartbroken? were both very enjoyable.
3.3/5
The Zutons
3/5
I had this on CD. It was a different time.
A lot of this album is 2000s TV advert music. Songs like Pressure Point and You Will You Won't which were definitely radio played singles are incredibly annoying. Confusion is similar but feels more respectable as a song. I don't remember getting much replay value out of most of the other tracks in the middle of the album, but they're definitely less annoying - Railroad is pretty good.
Remember Me feels like the standout track to me. This was definitely also an indie radio hit. I like it still I think, but I can't really imagine actively choosing to listen to it now.
I don't really know how I feel about this overall. It's not good, but there's some substance, there's different ideas, there's catchy songs.
Fave Tracks: Zuton Fever, Railroad, Remember Me
2.8/5
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Not my favourite Led Zep, but its still pretty solid. I reckon you can cut this one from the 1001, despite how good Immigrant Song is - that's definitely a 1001 songs you have to hear song.
Fave Tracks: Immigrant Song, Tangerine
3.6/5
Tito Puente
3/5
I liked the first track, then each subsequent track kinda just felt very similar.
Fave Tracks: El Cayuco
3.1/5
Steely Dan
4/5
Bodhisattva was the first Steely Dan song I ever heard. It was on the game Rock Band. It didn't sound difficult but was one of the harder songs to play on drums. I guess that's pretty classic Dan isn't it.
Bodhisattva is a rock song, whilst Razor Boy immediately shows that Steely Dan have a much more whimsical side with the salsa groove. Then The Boston Rag and Your Gold Teeth demonstrate a lot of very typical early Danisms - sardonic storytelling aplenty.
For me this album feels like Steely Dan are still trying to find their identity a bit. Bodhisattva would be out of place on their later polished work. My Old School is a fairly poppy anomaly. Other tracks lean more toward the yacht rock stylings that they will ultimately become known for.
Fave Tracks: Bodhisattva, The Boston Rag, My Old School, King of the World
3.8/5
Moby
4/5
First half is so good, barely a miss. So many familiar tracks that I never realised were Moby. Then the last few tracks where it gets slower and more ambient I'm not that in to. It feels like an anti-climax to the album, they should be on a completely different project in my view.
4/5
Ice Cube
4/5
This went pretty hard. First track a real jam, added to the rotation.
3.8/5
Aretha Franklin
3/5
I'm not much into this, but I'll still give it a 3 out of Respect for Aretha
3/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
The first disc is a 4.2 or 4.3 for me. Very solid tunes, though i think a bit front-loaded. I like aspects of Porcelina Of the Vast Oceans, but it is a bit of a microcosm of the whole album - some really exciting moments, but a bit too long and gratuitous.
The second disc is more of a 3.5 - even though it has one of my top 5 favourite songs of all time, 1979. For me the second disc is much stronger in the second half, the last 4 tracks which are all quieter more downtempo cuts are way more enjoyable for me.
The loud grungy moments across both albums feel out of place to me. The best tracks here are quiet and beautiful and sensitive. Tracks like Zero and to some extent Bullet With Butterfly Wings just do not feel like they belong. I think if they cut the album down to one disc mainly focusing on the lighter tracks this might've been a 5 star classic. I would do it something like:
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Tonight, Tonight
Here is No Why
Galapogos
Muzzle
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
Take Me Down
1979
Beautiful
Lilly (My One and Only)
By Starlight
Farewell And Goodnight
Fave Tracks: Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, Tonight Tonight, Here Is No Why, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, 1979, By Starlight, Farewell and Goodnight
3.8/5
The Everly Brothers
2/5
Feels harsh to say but so boring.
2.3/5
ZZ Top
3/5
3/5
Maxwell
3/5
Weird one. Some kinda nice songs, but production feels super artificial and pristine, kinda off-putting. It doesnt sound bad but just kinda tacky.
3/5
Stereolab
4/5
Even though I hate ketchup I can find space in my heart for this album.
Fave Tracks: Metronomic Underground, Cybele's Reverie, Les Yper-Sound, Olv 26, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Slow Fast Hazel
4.4/5
Eurythmics
4/5
A bit more interesting and less garish than I was anticipating.
3.6/5
David Bowie
4/5
Good, maybe the best Bowie I’ve heard. Changes is a little overrated, a bit untidy.
Fave Tracks: Oh You Pretty Things, Life on Mars, Andy Warhol, Queen Bitch
4.3/5
Taylor Swift
5/5
Peak pop Taylor Swift. Don’t overthink it, just enjoy it.
On this listen I was impressed at how crisp the production is on Blank Space and Shake It Off. Style’s instrumental almost sounds like a Weeknd track. Out of the Woods and All You Had to Do Was Stay could both easily have been singles. I had forgotten how cringey it is when she says “this. sick. beat.” Bad Blood is also a bit cringey but also undeniably catchy - I actually really like the Kendrick Lamar version also. Wildest Dreams is surely a Lana Del Rey song. I can’t quite get over how every song here is so catchy - you could pretty much make any of the first 10 tracks singles, I’m surprised she didn’t milk this album more tbh.
The last 3 tracks don’t add much for me, but there is just so much good pop on this album. It deserves recognition as a great record.
Fave Tracks: Welcome to New York, Blank Space, Style, All You Had to Do Was Stay, Shake It Off, Bad Blood, Wildest Dreams, How You Get the Girl
4.6/5
Arcade Fire
5/5
Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been sleeping on this album for so long, so good, such a great vibe, a great world-building album. Wake Up is so euphoric.
Fave Tracks: Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels) Wake Up, Haiti, Rebellion
4.8/5
Prince
2/5
I consider myself a Prince fan but I was extremely disappointed by this. Maybe I’m not a Prince fan after all.
1999 is great, Little Red Corvette is pretty good, but the rest of the album is is a slog. The album has some dance tropes which work horribly - long songs with repeating grooves that don’t really go anywhere. A distinct lack of chord progressions. The instrumentation has a stank of 80s tackiness and not even Prince’s charisma can overcome it.
Fave Track: 1999
2.5/5
The Doors
2/5
Woozy, ambling, scraggly and not in a good way. Very derivative blues music mostly with uninteresting psychedelic interjections from time to time. The only good track for me is Riders, The Wasp is ok. Very disappointed by this one.
Hypest hype though.
2.2/5
Donald Fagen
3/5
This is a very Dan album. We probably don’t need it. But I quite like it.
Fave Tracks: Ruby Baby, The Nightfly
3.4/5
Korn
1/5
This was trash.
I actually quite like Freak on a Leash, and I’m open-minded even to Nu Metal, but this sucks. It has aged awfully. All in the Family is a top 10 worst track that I’ve heard during the 1001 so far.
I was thinking this was a 2 star, but the last 4 tracks are somehow even worse than the start of the album. They sound like they were written by a dangerously angsty 12 year old.
1.4/5
M.I.A.
3/5
This definitely feels like a more important MIA album, even ignoring Paper Planes. But I have the same critique as her other album in that it’s just quite abrasive and hard to listen to. Lots of sounds and songs lacking melody.
3.4/5
The Coral
3/5
Mostly meh. Dreaming of You feels like lightning in a bottle. I didn't mind Goodbye. Whatever happened in the last 20 seconds of Skeleton Key was fun.
Fave Tracks: Dreaming of You
2.7/5
Kanye West
5/5
Some of Kanye's best sampling work on here - 21st Century Schizoid Man, Avril 14th. It makes sense to me that many people see this as Kanye's best album, it definitely ticks the most boxes, its very well rounded. You still have the chop-up-the-soul Kanye on Dark Fantasy; you've got bangers that foreshadow Yeezus like Monster; then you've got epics like Power and Runaway.
To pick flaws, the tracks in general are very long. I think Runaway is great but it struggles to justify a 9 minute run time. Same for Blame Game - the Aphex Twin loop is beautiful but 7 and a half minutes of it is too much. I don't much like So Apalled and Hell of a Life is just ok for me. But other than that there's a lot of great music here.
Fave Tracks: Power, All of the Lights, Monster, Runaway, Blame Game, Lost in the World/Who Will Survive in America
4.6/5
The Black Keys
3/5
Good ol fashioned rock music. I don't mind this album and The Black Keys but it feels very non-essential for me. I would give up their seat at the table for something nicher any day of the week. Cringe album cover also.
Fave Tracks: Everlasting Light
3.3/5
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
1/5
This is very easy to dislike. Dreary.
Awful band name.
So redundant to the list.
This is musical nepotism. You just hired the guy with the killer CV without even conducting the interview.
Never has anything been so much less than the sum of its parts.
1 star - not because its 1 star awful but because its hard to imagine something less deserving of a spot on the list.
Electric Light Orchestra
4/5
Feels a bit campy but I like a lot of the songs here. Its like Queen but a bit less flamboyant, which leads to higher lows and lower highs, though I do think Turn to Stone and Mr Blue Sky are just great pop songs.
Fave Tracks: Turn to Stone, Mr Blue Sky, The Whale
3.8/5
Brian Wilson
3/5
I found this mostly very annoying. Its so disgustingly clean cut and major. Of course some moments are nice - melodically it's all "nice" - but its just so sickly sweet, give me some grit Brian.
Why is Good Vibrations here at the end? Obviously its a good song, but it kinda makes the rest of the album sound like poor imitations in comparison. Its a reminder at the end that this twee pop can be magic - but that the majority of Smile isn't it.
Fave Tracks: Cabin Essence, Wind Chimes
2.6/5
Minutemen
3/5
Quirky little album. The instrumentation I really quite like, but I do just wish the music, the songs would take themselves a bit more seriously. Lots of cool ideas, and most of them over in a flash.
My ears perked up at track 40 "Dr Wu", and I thought finally a great track, only to realise that this is just a Steely Dan cover.
3.1/5
Green Day
4/5
I would skip the first two songs and go Chump into Longview to start the album - I like the clean track transition.
There are some good pop rock songs here but Basket Case does kinda blow everything else out of the water.
Fave Tracks: Longview, Welcome to Paradise, Basket Case
3.7/5
System Of A Down
3/5
Fine. Not as interesting as their most interesting tracks. I can see how a SOAD fan would like this a lot.
Fave Tracks: Suite-Pee, Sugar, Peephole
3/5
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Of course this is a 5, don't be silly.
Fave Tracks: Sir Duke, Summer Soft, Isn't She Lovely, Black Man, As
4.6/5
Megadeth
2/5
Lame if you ask me. Tries way too hard to be hard, and only succeeds in making music thats uninteresting to listen to. The opening track lyrics are so corny.
2.2/5
Screaming Trees
3/5
This passed me by somewhat, I feel like it should be something I like but it didn't grab me much until the last track.
Fave Track: Gospel Plow
3.1/5
Mott The Hoople
3/5
I'm two tracks and a bit of David Bowie knowledge into this album and I already feel that this is going to be superfluous to the 1001.
Boring mostly.
2.6/5
Massive Attack
3/5
Didn't really get a lot from this, quite disappointed. Unfinished Sympathy stood out, and a lot of other songs fine, but mostly I found the dub tracks uninspiring.
3.2/5
Lana Del Rey
3/5
Fine - Lana Del Rey sounding Lana Del Rey record.
3.4/5
Lightning Bolt
3/5
Cool selection, never heard of these guys. Noisy, and quite difficult to listen to at times.
3.3/5
Ian Dury
4/5
Can’t believe how much I liked this. Some really beautiful jazzy moments in the instrumentation. The first 4 tracks were a really strong start. A track like Billericay Dickie should irritate me, and yet it doesn’t, its simplicity feels genuine, as this album on a whole does.
3.9/5
Fleet Foxes
3/5
I’ve always found FF to be quite bland, and nothing has really changed for me on this listen. It’s borderline co-worker music. White Winter Hymnal is nice.
2.9/5
The Beta Band
3/5
Fave Tracks: Assessment, Space Beatle, Pure For
Liquid bird kinda sounds like a Ween song.
3.2/5
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
Quite enjoyed the vibe of this at first, though I think the mix of samba and 2000s new age has a bit of a tacky sheen to it. But then it kinda dropped off for me and not a lot of tracks grabbed me.
3.4/5
Underworld
3/5
Liked some parts, hated some parts. 3 overall.
3/5
Public Image Ltd.
4/5
I can’t really explain it but I thought this was pretty great. Not sure I would want to relisten much, but the spirit of these tracks felt so genuinely gritty and punky.
Fave Tracks: Albatross, Memories, Poptones, Chant
3.9/5
2/5
Didn't like this much.
2.5/5
The Associates
3/5
Some good moments, but mostly I didn’t enjoy this sound palette. The airy instrumentation needed some stronger melodies. Maybe I need a closer listen to this one, seeemed like there should be more gems in here.
Fave Tracks: Australia, The Room We Sat In Before
3/5
Madonna
3/5
Like a Prayer (the song) is an all timer - the writing is so smart and subversive. And it slaps. The rest of the album is fine but I don’t feel like any other moments stack up. The Prince song is particularly disappointing.
3.3/5
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Some good tracks here, surely some of Run DMC's best. But still quite a lot of samey tracks that follow a very obvious formula and lack interesting instrumentation or diverse flows to keep the album interesting.
Fave Tracks: Peter Piper, It's Tricky, Walk This Way, Raising Hell
3.5/5
Neil Young
4/5
Another decent Neil Young album, we can skip it from the 1001 though.
3.7/5
Tina Turner
3/5
Mostly just meh for me
3/5
The Mars Volta
3/5
I kinda respect this album but I don’t really like it.
3.2/5
Röyksopp
5/5
The first two tracks very recognisable but I would never have identified them as Royksopp, that's cool.
I liked this a lot. It was a very nice time.
Fave Tracks: So Easy, Eple, Remind Me
4.5/5
David Gray
3/5
What's this shneaky little trip hop beat kicking off the album eh? Why does this actually kinda slap? Why?!
File Babylon away in the collection of songs that I feel like I know well but never listen to but actually really are fantastic and I should listen to more.
After the first few tracks this did slip more into what I expected it to be tbh. Quite boring singer songwriter music. If the whole album had the quality or even just the style of the first two tracks this would be a great album and a justifiable 1001 entry. But it doesn't, so it isn't.
Fave Tracks: Please Forgive Me, Babylon
3.3/5
Bauhaus
4/5
The second half of Mask (the track_ is so beautiful. Some moments of this album are so inspired, creative and elegant. Some are a bit of a trudge through experimentalism. But I don't mind that trudge.
Fave Tracks: Mask, 1. David Jay 2. Peter Murphy 3. Kevin Haskins 4. Daniel Ash.
3.8/5
Machito
3/5
Enjoyable but very samey.
3.4/5
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Too dry for me. The instrumentation is very unexciting and big Len’s voice is even more stolid.
2.4/5
The White Stripes
3/5
There has to be some White Stripes on the list, but probably not multiple albums, and I’m not sure what the right one is. I think this one has a lot of great singles: Hotel Yorba, Fell in Love With a Girl, We’re Going to be Friends - but it doesn’t have 7NA sooo…
I think most White Stripes albums have a lot of filler, and that’s true here. None of the tracks I hadn’t heard before really captured my attention, except maybe I Can’t Wait.
Fave Tracks: Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, the singles I mentioned above
3.3/5
Tim Buckley
4/5
This is quite similar to the other two TB albums, but I clicked with this one a little bit more. Again I really like the style, the atmosphere, the arrangements generally, but find it just a bit too raggedy at times.
Moments in this album give me very strong Doors vibes.
Fave Tracks: No Man Can Find the Sar, Once I Was, Morning Glory
3.8/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
Maps and some other songs that are ok but not as good as Maps.
3.3/5
The Thrills
3/5
Well this is a band I haven't thought about for a good 15 years or so.
The tracks I remember here hold up ok, catchy pop songs, particularly One Horse Town for me. But generally this is just insidiously twee. Certainly not essential to the list
Fave Tracks: Big Sur, One Horse Town
2.9/5
Joanna Newsom
5/5
This is great, can't believe I've been sleeping on Joanna. Pretty much flawless. So lush, can't wait to dive back in and actually properly listen to the lyrical content too.
Fave Tracks: Emily, Sawdust & Diamonds, Cosmia
4.9/5
Common
4/5
Yeah alright, not bad.
Fave Tracks: Heat, The Light, A Song for Assata,
3.7/5
Astor Piazzolla
2/5
Surprised at how little I enjoyed this. I can appreciate the musicianship but still it didn't really do much for me.
2.5/5
LL Cool J
4/5
Its mostly very simple direct tracks, but i like it.
3.9/5
G. Love & Special Sauce
3/5
At first I thought there were some cool ideas, but by the end of this I was really sick of it. Sounded very tacky and cheesey.
2.6/5
The Band
4/5
Its pretty good but I don't find it all that exciting. Most tracks are enjoyable, not really grabbed by many moments beyond the tracks I already knew, The Weight and I Shall Be Released.
3.7/5
Joy Division
4/5
Disorder is so good. I think the rest of the album has some bite but is often missing a bit of magic, though I get why people laud this one.
3.7/5
Simple Minds
3/5
Didn't enjoy this much. So 80s.
2.7/5
Black Sabbath
4/5
Pretty good, surprisingly so.
I never really realised that Black Sabbath are closer to Led Zep than Metallica.
3.8/5
Kanye West
5/5
Peak off-the-rails Kanye. This is his best album. All his earlier work sounds in some way dated, maybe even just because it became oft imitated - it’s hard to imagine Yeezus aging that way. It’s jarring, dark, provocative, full of absolute bangers (Black Skinhead, Blood on the Leaves) and also personal, intimate and full of typical Kanye oversharing. This album is magical in the way it pulls hooks out of abrasive sound clashes. Some of the beat switches are so gosh darn naughty.
Fave Tracks: On Site, Black Skinhead, Hold My Liquor, Blood on the Leaves, Guilt Trip, Bound 2
4.9/5
Ozomatli
3/5
This feels like a strange inclusion. Can't find it on Apple Music and had to listen through a Youtube playlist that included at least a couple of live versions and a drum cover.
Hard to thus really rate it fairly, but I thought it was kinda ok, kinda interesting, kinda catchy. At times tacky and sounding dated in an early 2000s way.
3/5
Lambchop
3/5
Who put this here.
Fave Tracks: Nashville Parent, Butcher Boy
3.1/5
Deerhunter
4/5
This grew on me as the album went on. At times a little ploddy and boring, but at its best moments just had that certain je ne sais quoi.
Fave Tracks: Helicopter, He Would Have Laughed
3.6/5
Jean-Michel Jarre
3/5
Really wanted to like this one, appreciate the representation, but I just did not.
2.8/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
I really like this version of Sonic Youth, its a little more polished and listenable than their earlier rawer work, but it also retains the punky energy that makes SY what they are.
Fave Tracks: 100%, Swimsuit Issue, Sugar Kane, JC, Purr
4.1/5
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Was finding this incredibly bland until the last two tracks. I really don't get the hype with the Velvet Underground.
2.9/5
Carole King
4/5
This is an interesting record, in that I don't find it a very interesting listen, but I do think its objectively quite good, and its clearly highly influential. So many of the tracks have becomes staples, covered countless times - I was a little surprised to find out that King did write or co-write all the tracks. Its an impressive setlist.
3.6/5
Björk
4/5
Venus as a Boy is one of the greatest bits of music ever made. The rest of this album has some moments but also can sound derivative at times, like the house beats on Violently Happy or the 80s sounding instrumentation on Crying.
Nonetheless VaaB and Bjorks unparalleled idiosyncrasy still carry this album to a 4 for me.
Fave Tracks: Human Behaviour, Venus as a Boy, Big Time Sensuality, The Anchor Song
4/5
Beach House
4/5
It’s fine. I felt it was very predictable - an expansion on the track I already knew - Silver Soul.
3.5/5
Billy Bragg
4/5
Quite liked this. Felt like music that would be sung in a pub.
3.6/5
Mylo
4/5
I enjoyed this much more than I think I should’ve. Some tracks are a little basic, or slightly cheesy, or just derivative, but it’s not that far away from Daft Punk or LCD Soundsystem or Chemical Brothers. I liked the variety of genres too - some real lo fi vibes on Sunworshipper.
4.1/5
The Slits
2/5
I thought this was naff. The grapevine cover just stood out and showed how pointless all the other tracks had been.
2.1/5
Laibach
4/5
I certainly haven't heard any other albums quite like this one. Trans-National sounds like Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express funnelled through a Berlin sex club. This album really goes places. At first I kinda found it silly and campy and a bit scary, but I think I kinda love it, particularly from Trans-National onwards.
Fave Tracks: Trans-National, How the West Was Won, Herz-Felde
4.2/5
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
3/5
Honestly this was just really quite boring without Paul Simon doing something on top of it... that's the sad colonial truth for me.
2.6/5
Dennis Wilson
4/5
In some ways I like this record much more than any Beach Boys one, but its too gosh darn long.
Fave Tracks: Dreamer, Time, Common
3.7/5
Neneh Cherry
3/5
2.9/5
Germs
2/5
The 1001 has basically made me hate punk. I basically get nothing from this apart from appreciation for the energy. The last track the only interesting one for me.
1.8/5
The Charlatans
2/5
Trash, derivative, imitative.
2/5
James Taylor
4/5
Pretty nice, don’t have much to say about it though. A standard sort of three and a half
3.5/5
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
2/5
Meh
2.3/5
Laura Nyro
4/5
Very enjoyable album, I don’t get how I’ve never heard of her before.
Fave Tracks: Luckie, Lonely Women, Timer, Women’s Blues, Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)
4.2/5
Gotan Project
3/5
Weird one. Artificial sounding, background music. Definitely sounds like an album where the artist is "____ project". Didn't hate it, just confused.
3/5
Bob Dylan
3/5
I didn't like this. I was bored, the music is not interesting in the slightest. I would have liked to give Bob's words more respect and had a proper listen, but I'm a busy man. The last 2 tracks were my favourite.
2.7/5
The Boo Radleys
4/5
When I discovered MBV and had a shoegaze epiphany Boo Radleys were on the list of bands that I tried to dabble a bit into, but that couldn't quite recreate the beauty of Loveless for me. Pleasantly surprised then that I liked this album. Obviously nothing like a Loveless - not even that shoegazey all things considered - but a decent crop of cool songs.
Fave Tracks: I Hang Suspended, Butterfly McQueen, Barney (...And Me), Lazarus
3.9/5
N.W.A.
3/5
Never been a huge fan of the track Straight Outta Compton but on this listen it hit. Its a banger. The same is kinda true of Fuck That Police. The energy carries.
However after that I think its pretty downhill. The tracks have aged to be fairly generic. The beats are somtimes good, but they never go anywhere, and on these tracks the energy is not enough to carry.
Fave Tracks: Straight Outta Compton, Fuck Tha Police
3/5
Metallica
4/5
The intro of Battery is truly beautiful. Sometimes I wish that metal bands would just dedicate themselves to making less metallic albums. I've heard the start of this song a lot but not the end because I used to play it on Rockband drums but could never get to the end... too many kicks.
Master of Puppets (the track) is overrated for me. I don't really get it. James Hetfield kinda sounds like a pirate when he sings "master!"
Orion intro. Orion those two guitars wailing together about 4 and a half minutes in. DO MORE OF THAT PLZZZ.
Fave Tracks: Battery, Orion
3.6/5
Nirvana
5/5
I'm feeling a bit sick today and this was perhaps not the best choice when you have a headache. Obviously a great great super important album, so lets focus on qualms:
- Some tracks like Lounge Act and Stay Away recycle too many tropes from other tracks.
- Too many loud power chords that aren't as musically interesting as eg the quieter moments on Something In the Way, Lithium, Come As You Are etc.
Still a 5 though.
Fave Tracks: Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come As You Are, Lithium, Drain You, Something in the Way
4.6/5
Missy Elliott
3/5
Timbaland beats are distinct but garish. I don't hate it, but I think its overrated.
2.8/5
Killing Joke
5/5
Maybe the biggest discovery of the 1001 for me is that I'm really into industrial krautrocky post-punk. This one slaps just right in that same sweet spot. Gritty but groovy. Pretty much all the tracks are bringing some heat.
Fave Tracks: Requiem, Wardance, Bloodsport, Complications, Change
5/5
Dusty Springfield
4/5
I liked this one a lot more than the other Dusty album. I'd say there were a couple of tracks I really liked rather than just appreciated.
Fave Tracks: The Windmills of Your Mind, In the Land of Make Believe
3.8/5
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
4/5
This album is something. A load of covers, somehow I think they all kinda work. A 13 minute epic in the title track: a really fun track at points, at others a moody ambient soundscape. Relax - certainly the best song about not jizzing I can think of. Random voiceovers like in Tag and Fury. And then The Power of Love at the end, a really powerful ballad that its hard not to sing along to. It somewhat defies explanation, but I think it all works really quite well together.
Fave Tracks: Welcome to the Pleasuredome, Fury, Wish the Lads Were Here, Krisco Kisses, The Power of Love
4.3/5
The Byrds
2/5
Some boring shit from the byrds, the only interesting part was the stereo panning on the intro to Mr Tambourine Man.
2.3/5
10cc
4/5
Bizarre quirky but fun album. Reminds me of Supertramp and Nilsson Schmilsson. Makes perfect sense that these guys did Dreadlock Holiday.
I liked a lot of this. But it’s music you’d mostly be embarrassed to play to others.
Shout out J Dilla.
Fave Tracks: The Wall Street Shuffle, The Worst Band in the World, The Sacro-Iliac
3.7/5
Bon Jovi
3/5
This album has 3 absolute huge glam rock belters, if that’s your cup of tea this might be the greatest album of all time.
I was struck listening to Livin on a Prayer by how minimal and quiet the guitar is. This song is so overplayed it’s difficult to really enjoy.
Of the big hitters Wanted Dead or Alive was the most surprisingly engaging.
Wild in the Streets sounds a bit like a Bruce Springsteen song.
I feel like I should be more critical of this album but really it was quite enjoyable.
3.4/5
Venom
2/5
I don't really feel qualified to review this. The speedier, heavier, darker shades of metal just don't do it for me.
This one was not particularly difficult to listen to, but I also didn't take much from it.
2.4/5
Syd Barrett
2/5
Quite bad. Mostly delusional mumbling. Sadly sounds like too much acid. The first track was pretty good, then steadily downhill.
2.4/5
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Pretty mid, I didn't get much from this. Familiar with Mountain Song and Jane Says, but found them both underwhelming in this context.
2.7/5
Gary Numan
4/5
Gotta love a bit of Gazza. Some of these songs do sound quite similar though, I couldn’t believe that Observer didn’t transition directly into Cars they are almost identical. Cars is a bit of a standout but I love what this albums about and crucial to the 1001.
Fave Tracks: Metal, M.E., Conversation, Cars
3.9/5
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
Pretty nice, but no strong feelings from me
3.6/5
Talking Heads
5/5
Born Under Punches is an apt opener - it punches you in the face and tells you to dance. This album is close to perfect, only gripe is the last few tracks slightly pale compared to the start and the last track kinda whimpers out - it's kinda effective in a moody contrarian way, but a banger finish would leave you gobsmacked. Once in a Lifetime is somewhere between my 89th and 117th favourite song of all time.
Fave Tracks: Born Under Punches, Crosseyed and Painless, The Great Curve, Once In a Lifetime, Houses in Motion, Seen and Not Seen
4.9/5
Parliament
4/5
Very fun, albeit repetitive.
Fave Tracks: P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up), Give up the Funk, Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples
3.9/5
3/5
I think this album is overrated. They sound too polished and edgeless (pun intended). The first 3 songs, the big hitters all merge together a bit for me. Then I think the album actually gets more interesting, but overall it kinda just flows over me. I can’t help but hear the premonitions of the b(l)and U2 would become. Washed out airy nothingness.
I mean it’s not that bad, but I’m kinda disappointed.
3.4/5
The Electric Prunes
4/5
I liked this, surprised I hadn’t heard of them. Good coherent early psychedelia. I had too much to dream last night is a great song name.
Fave Tracks: I Had too much to Dream Last Night, Onie
3.7/5
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
Some moments of this were very cool, others were a bit too airy and lacking impact. The cool moments were a bit too diluted over a one hour run time.
3.4/5
The KLF
3/5
Mostly meh - didn't really dislike it, but found it mostly quite boring.
2.8/5
Bad Brains
4/5
Really liked this despite only really listening out of one ear whilst working. A very pleasant surprise, I thought it would be way more discordant and lacking musicality, happy that I was very wrong about that.
Fave Tracks: Re-Ignition, She's Calling You, Hired Gun
4.3/5
American Music Club
3/5
This felt like a weird inclusion. Fine, nice, not exciting.
3/5
Fatboy Slim
3/5
Have you read the Big Beat Manifesto? Big Beats are the best, get high all the time.
Fave Tracks; Praise You, Love Island, Acid 8000
3.1/5
Big Star
3/5
Maybe just because of Femme Fatale, but reminded me of a VU album. I prefer the power pop Big Star.
3/5
Justice
3/5
Hmmm. I don't think this is aging well tbh. The rocky bits are a bit tacky for me. Of course I love D.A.N.C.E, and The Party and DVNO were two tracks buried deep somewhere in the recesses of my brain, but a lot of the rest didn't do much for me. I think the songs with words are stronger, they give the tracks more meaning.
Fave Tracks: D.A.N.C.E., The Party, DVNO
3.3/5
James Brown
2/5
Boring live album. At least it was short.
2/5
Cheap Trick
3/5
I can't believe it, but I actually liked this. A Cheap Trick live album sounds like a terrible idea to me (and I still don't think this belongs in the 1001), but somehow this was fun. The run of tracks from Ain't That a Shame to Goodnight is a powerful hit parade. How could you not sing along to Surrender. On this occasion I liked finding out that the performance was 1 week after the track released, that was cool.
3.4/5
The Police
4/5
Much preferred this to Reggatta de Blanc. The first few tracks are a little uneventful but from Synchronicity II onwards there's just a lot of neat tracks. The instrumentation has a nice subtle sheen to it, aged remarkably well for an 80s album.
Fave Tracks: Synchronicity II, Tea in the Sahara, Murder by Numbers
4.3/5
The Saints
3/5
This was quite interesting, more than I was expecting for a 70s rock group I'd not heard of. But still I think unlikely I would revisit.
3.4/5
Peter Tosh
3/5
Not very captivating reggae. Didn't dislike but couldn't really get into.
3/5
Ride
4/5
Love me some shoegaze. I like the group vocals on the opener, they are so unambitious but charming. Vapor Trail - great shoegaze song name.
Fave Tracks: Seagull, Dreams Burn Down, Vapor Trail
4.2/5
Pentangle
4/5
This was sweet. Have been missing something like this from the list (yeah yeah Fleet Foxes whatever).
Fave Tracks: Light Flight, Train Song
4/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Mostly nice, but I don't find it particularly special.
Fave Tracks: The Old Revolution
3.3/5
The Fall
4/5
Pretty raw, pretty fun, this was on my preferred end of the punk spectrum.
Fave Tracks: Mansion, What You Need, Spoilt Victorian Child
3.6/5
Eagles
4/5
Nice, but not very special, quite safe. Music quality is crisp, well-recorded, but barely any songs stand out for me. Could happily listen on repeat in the background, but not much more. Take It Easy is pretty good though.
3.6/5
Massive Attack
3/5
Not inspired by this one. Probably Mezzanine is enough from Massive Attack.
3.2/5
Big Brother & The Holding Company
3/5
I get it, I don't really love it though.
3.5/5
AC/DC
2/5
Bland and tacky.
1.9/5
Richard Thompson
4/5
Fave Track: The Calvary Cross (live version)
3.7/5
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
Fave Track: Yeah We Know
3.7/5
Pavement
4/5
This is the Pavement album to listen to. Peak witticisms, peak hooks, and some weird stuff like the Dave Brubeck homage 5-4=Unity.
Fave Tracks: Silence Kit, Cut Your Hair, Gold Soundz, 5-4=Unity, Range Life
4.2/5
Iron Maiden
4/5
I like this type of metal more than many others as it turns out.
Fave Tracks: The Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills
3.9/5
Crowded House
4/5
This was a very nice simple pop album. The big hitting singles are great pop songs, I can't resist Weather With You.
4/5
Beatles
4/5
Solid but not spectacular Beatles album. It’s consistently good, even the Ringo song ain’t that bad. Come Together is way ahead of its time. Here Comes the Sun is iconic, almost feels like a children’s nursery rhyme. I Want You goes to some cool places.
Fave Tracks: Come Together, I Want You (She’s So Heavy), Here Comes the Sun, Sun King, Carry That Weight
4.2/5
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
First 6 tracks here are a fun lovin jamboree. I did not realise this was a live album until the 6th track ended. So that's a very positive sign for this album considering how much I hate live albums.
Ultimately though, this is just a jam session. Its fine, but I wouldn't really want to relisten.
2.8/5
Chicago
4/5
I loved some aspects of this. So free flowing, so jazzy. At times it sounded annoying, or even bad. But overall this was a way more fun and experimental experience than I was anticipating.
Fave Tracks: Questions 67 and 68, Someday (August 29, 1968)
3.8/5
Tom Waits
3/5
Really don't get this guy, why do we need so many of his albums on the list. This one was in many ways the most listenable, which also kinda makes it the least interesting and least 1001-y.
2.7/5
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
Beautiful album, I’d heard things about it but never checked it out before. Short and to the point - no bad tracks.
Fave Tracks: Pick Up Your Feelings, Rashida’s Tale, Lost One, The Other Side
4.4/5
Q-Tip
5/5
Q-Tip is great. This album cover was a little offputting. Gives me Will.i.am vibes.
There are many good tracks here - often the production has a slight aroma of 2000s glitz, but its not overpowering. Its a gentle cologne that is tolerable, makes the room smell nicer, though undoubtedly a little tacky. Still I find this whole album very listenable.
Something about this album doesn't feel like a 5 star, doesnt feel essential to the 1001, but when I try to pick holes I don't really see them apart from that the production at times seems a little dated.
Fave Tracks: Johnny is Dead, Gettin Up, Life is Better, Believe
4.5/5
Funkadelic
4/5
Its very weird the way that ONUAG starts by dropping you in what sounds like part way through the song. As if there is a hidden intro (or more) that they thought nah lets just cut that.
Why does this album have Maggot Brain on it? Seems a bit unnecessary.
This album feels like a debut album - its very loose and jam bandy (obviously). Its weird that its 7 years after Maggot Brain, it feels less mature. Nonetheless it features some absolutely insatiable funk, many many undeniable bops and boppy moments.
Fave Tracks: One Nation Under A Groove, Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The Doo Doo Chasers),
3.9/5
Dolly Parton
3/5
Fine I think? Honestly I wasn't really listening. Sorry Dolly.
3/5
Malcolm McLaren
4/5
This was pretty fun. I liked it.
3.8/5
Slint
5/5
These guys are the World's second best Black C,NR tribute band. Good Morning, Captain is so so good, a unique masterpiece. It has a haunting vibe that I can't think of anything else quite like.
Fave Tracks: Breadcrumb Trail, Nosferatu Man, Washer, Good Morning Captain
4.5/5
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
At first this was very meh, but in the second half there were some tracks that were a bit more interesting.
2.9/5
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Its pretty nice and all, good representation yadi yada, but doesnt really excite me.
3.2/5
The Pogues
2/5
Meeehhh I love Fairytale of New York in December but this just doesn't do anything for me.
2/5
Drive-By Truckers
5/5
First 4 track here were a hoot. Most of the first disc is a hoot. This is a 4.7 star disc.
Fave Tracks: Days of Graduation, Ronnie and Neil, Dead, Drunk and Naked, Birmingham, The Three Great Alabama Icons
Into the second disc. This keeps blowing me away, without really doing anything special or novel, each track just hits the southern rock sweet spot. Total ronseal. The second half of the second disc gets slightly weaker, or at least it starts to get a bit stale.
Fave Tracks: Let There Be Rock, Road Cases, Women Without Whiskey, Plastic Flowers on the Highway, Angels and Fuselage
4.7/5
Patti Smith
3/5
Respect it, don't really love it.
3.4/5
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2/5
2.3/5
Britney Spears
4/5
First half is loaded with bangers. Baby One More Time still works. Second half is a bit weak. The song about emails is so funny and dated.
3.5/5
Joan Baez
4/5
Pleasant
3.7/5
Tom Waits
3/5
This is the first Tom Waits album (out of 5 so far) that I'm giving over a 3. And just barely. I thought it was conceptually quite interesting, but I still don't find his songwriting musically compelling or his voice tolerable.
3.1/5
Dwight Yoakam
3/5
Not really feeling the country that I've had lately.
2.6/5
Turbonegro
3/5
Loud and relatively obnoxious.
2.8/5
Buck Owens
3/5
Enjoyed this a lot more than most of the other old country that I've had recently. Still don't think I'd dive back into it freely.
3.5/5
Prince
3/5
I used to think I was a Prince fan, but I’ve been severely turned off by 1999 and now this. There is no doubt Prince is a phenomenal singer and musician, and a hugely influential icon of sexual liberation. But as a bandleader and album curator I’m becoming very skeptical.
This album is bloated. Almost all tracks outstay their welcome, with monotonous drum beats and circling riffs. It’s jam band funk, but it’s drastically inferior to Parliament/Funkadelic etc.
The most interesting tracks generally tend to be that way due to Prince’s lyrical content - most notably If I Was Your Girlfriend, which would be too creepy coming from anyone else’s mouth; and the title track lamenting drug addiction.
So basically this is not a bad album, but another overrated one, and for me lacking a standout bop like 1999.
Fave Track: The Cross
2.7/5
The La's
3/5
A bit more interesting than I was expecting, but still basically just There She Goes and some also rans.
3.2/5
William Orbit
3/5
Good representation, nice and shpongley. I don't think a particulary good album for those sound of mind though.
3/5
Fiona Apple
4/5
This is a good one Fiona
4/5
Orange Juice
4/5
Rip It Up is one of the great tracks, but happy to discover there’s a lot more to enjoy on this album.
Fave Tracks: Rip It Up, A Million Pleading Faces, Hokoyo
4.1/5
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Good, but missing the standout Bunnymen tracks, so I don't feel like a 1001 essential album.
3.5/5
The Doors
3/5
I don't really get it. The Doors self-titled is amazing, the other albums I've heard are mediocre imitations. Don't need them on the list.
3/5
The Offspring
2/5
I had this compact disc playing on my home stereo. My memory of it was not that it was good, just that there were two bangers. And that was a correct recollection - Keep em Separated and Self Esteem are great, the rest is trash that straddles the punk eras from hardcore 80s stuff to the cheesy late 90s pop punk.
Fave Tracks: Come Out and Play, Self Esteem
2.2/5
Sex Pistols
3/5
Good energy, obviously important album. Kinda sounds like trash but also some nice hooks.
3.4/5
Paul Weller
4/5
This was a very pleasant album. I wasn't actively listening hard enough but whenever I keyed in on the music I found it extremely nice.
Fave Tracks: Sunflower
4/5
Fugees
4/5
More similar to Wu-Tang and Tribe than I expected.
Fave Tracks: Ready or Not, Killing Me Softly, Cowboys
3.8/5
Everything But The Girl
4/5
I actually enjoyed this quite a lot. Did not really sound anything like the very famous remix of "Missing". Loungey soft rock - I liked it in kinda the same way I like Sade.
3.9/5
Basement Jaxx
4/5
I thought this was an enjoyable romp, some hits I haven't heard in a while - Red Alert, Bingo Bango - the rest was decent and flowed together well.
Fave Tracks: Rendez-Vu, Red Alert, Bingo Bango
3.9/5
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
This is a very weird inclusion, because its not a bad album, but it is just a lesser version of the other 2 big LCD albums. It follows a very similar recipe and I think pretty much all the tracks are decently ok, but it just lacks some real standout moments.
Fave Tracks: oh baby, tonite
3.7/5
Radiohead
5/5
As an empowered and informed member of society, who will not cry in public and still kisses with saliva, I am fond but not in love with this album.
BORN TO DIE / WORLD IS A FUCK / 鬼神 Kill Em All 1989 / I am trash man / 410,757,864,530 DEAD COPS
Fave Tracks: Paranoid Android, Let Down, Karma Police, No Surprises (the hits basically).
4.5/5
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
2/5
So clean. Can’t get much out of this, it’s so dated.
2.5/5
Elvis Costello
2/5
Boring, didn't vibe with this at all.
2/5
Sisters Of Mercy
4/5
Kinda fun, very flamboyant and gothic eighties post rock.
3.6/5
Haircut 100
4/5
Really enjoyed this and felt a bit guilty about it.
Fave Tracks: Love Plus One, Lemon Firebrigade, Marine Boy
4/5
Beatles
3/5
I have thoughts on this. Its a bit of a mess.
I know the Beatles aren't necessarily lyrical behemoths, but what is it with these dumb kids bops about characters with alliterative names - Sexy Sadie, Rocky Raccoon, Bungalow Bill.
I like Glass Onion with its meta lyricism. "The Walrus was Paul" is a great tease, John knew what he was doing.
I don't like Revolution 9. I can't buy in, and I'm down for experimentation, so lets applaud the "creativity", but this is barely a song and it sucks.
Mainly the best moments are the songs I already was familiar with - Back in the USSR, Blackbird, Revolution 1, and definitely While My Guitar Gently Weeps. But also shout out Happiness is a Warm Gun, and Ringo's Good Night.
Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da and Dear Prudence are more tolerable than I was expecting.
Overall, like most double albums I think its bloated and there would be a great single album in there. Maybe something like this:
Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Blackbird
Helter Skelter
Revolution 1
Revolution 9 (would be a bolder statement in a 10 track album)
Good Night
That album would be 4 something, but the bloat drops it for me.
3.4/5
Love
4/5
A beautiful little 60s folk hippy album with a playful edge. Alone Again Or is so great, possibly the very best song from the Laurel Canyon scene. This album is way way better than Da Capo.
Fave Tracks: Alone Again Or, Andmoreagain, Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale
4.4/5
OutKast
4/5
This was the second album I ever bought. I had to really turn the volume down on Last Call to make sure my parents couldn't overhear the lyrics.
Overall it falls into all the usual double album pitfalls, bloated and too long. But this is a weird one. Its a Big Boi album and an Andre 3000 album, and a perfect showcase of why the pair need each other.
The Speakerboxx side has some bangers, some great rapping, but also a lot of generic 2000s rap and some completely pointless skits.
The Love Below is beautiful at times, and has 2 of the best pop songs of the 21st century on it, but also has some definite misses. I actually really love the jazzy breakbeat instrumental cover of My Favorite Things.
I think maybe Speakerboxx is a 3.5 and The Love Below a 4, but together they feel like less than the sum of the parts. This isn't one of those cases where you can combine the two and make a really great album out of it though, the sides and songs are just too different.
Fave Tracks: GhettoMusick, Bowtie, The Way You Move, The Rooster, Knowing, Reset, Last Call, Happy Valentine's Day, Prototype, Hey Ya!, Roses, Love In War, She's Alive, My Favorite Things, A Life In The Day of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)
3.6/5
Mudhoney
2/5
Didn't like much of this. Reminded me of Dinosaur Jr but a bit too fuzzzzy for me.
Fave Track: Something so Clear
2.4/5
Method Man
2/5
Dull for me, don’t get the wu tang hype
1.9/5
Joe Ely
4/5
The time signature changes on Cornbread Moon are really ear catching. This is the most exciting start to a country album I can recall.
I've become quite unenthused by Country music from the 1001, but this is a really welcome change. There is way more character and originality here than the vast majority of what I've heard on this list.
Another great example of that is the slightly strange key change in the last 30 seconds or so of Honky Tonk Masquerade. It grabs you as if to say, get out of your comfort zone ya hick.
Then there's the vocal cracks on I'll Be Your Fool. They reek of tongue in cheek coyness. That's a compliment.
Favourite Tracks: Cornbread Moon, Boxcars, Honky Tonkin'
4.2/5
Miriam Makeba
3/5
No real strong feelings about this. I support the inclusivity.
2.9/5
Radiohead
3/5
Pretty pointless Radiohead inclusion if you ask me. First two tracks are the best.
2.6/5
The Flaming Lips
5/5
Really enjoyed this, an album I should've dived into long ago but never did.
Fave Tracks: Fight Test, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt 1., Do You Realize?
4.5/5
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
This one's pretty cool, especially the start, I sense this is the Dinosaur (Jr) album that belongs on the list. Why on earth does Just Like Heaven end so abruptly, its so jarring.
Fave Tracks: Little Fury Things, Kracked, SludgeFeast
3.8/5
3/5
80s music. Not exactly bad, but kinda surprised that I've not heard of this at all considering what it brings to the table is just 80s pop. Also what happened to the second and third Looks of Love?
Fave Tracks: The Look of Love, Pt 1
3/5