1001 Albums Summary

A great one to start the list with- very solid folk rock with a couple songs that still pop up in popular media with some regularity.

Hard to separate from the tragic story of Winehouse's career, this one's still a great showcase for her voice and vulnerability.

A nice little "art pop" album with some tunes that immediately conjure 80s movie vibes.

Many remember this for the manner in which it was released ("pay what you want"), I more remember it for the first Radiohead album that came out after I was already an unabashed fan. Doesn't quite reach the heights of their preceding albums but still very, very good.

This represents the peak of my enjoyment of Taylor. She's clearly got talent for putting out hit songs (some I find enjoyable, some not) but this one has a good blend of the pop-catchiness with some ties still to her roots.

Thought I'd like this one more based on the strength of the title song, but this turned out to just be a good rock album, not an amazing one.

Didn't know anything about this artist. Album was lyrically interesting, and I like the jazz feel of most of the tracks.

So, so good. This album is filled with undeniable hits (it could almost be half of a Greatest Hits double album), but I'd probably have to rate it 5 stars just for Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.

Well it wasn't boring, so that's something. Just wasn't pleasant to listen to, at all.

Hard to separate the music from the feeling I got playing Fallout: New Vegas. Definitely transports you to dusty gunslinger days.

I liked this one alright, Janis Joplin's vocals and energy are definitely the highlight.

Obviously great vocals, and a nice sound that is reminiscent at times of some of the best Motown tracks.

Thoroughly enjoyed this- maybe not as much as some of the indie rock/alt rock albums that would come after, but it's easy to see the influence this had on them.

Phenomenal. Never get tired of listening to this one.

An enjoyable listen, but the more upbeat music is a bit odd coming from Elliott. I think I prefer his more brooding style from the earlier albums.

Enjoyable listen, but not one that had melodies that will stick with me the way some of his other works do.

Love Arcade Fire, this one doesn't quite grip me the same way as Funeral but still really enjoy it.

Pretty odd, I did like a couple of the tracks but didn't love the album overall.

Super interesting and unique sound. Probably the closest thing I've heard to Tom Waits.

This was alright, nothing really grabbed me.

One of my favorite bands, and a fantastic album.

Not a huge country/country-rock fan, but I thought this one was pretty enjoyable.

Well I'm a sucker for English folk rock apparently, as I really enjoyed this. Vocals were the highlight for me (lyrics were great too, but a lot of the credit there goes to Bob Dylan).

I've always sort of dismissed the Byrds as another 60s manufactured Beatles-wannabe band, that happened to have a couple decent songs. This album surprised me with its more experimental sounds.

Maybe not my absolute favorite Stones album, but still undeniably a great record.

Fun album with some real bangers.

Not bad, a few good tracks but nothing super memorable outside of maybe Waterloo Sunset.

While I prefer the albums he produced later (when he lived in the bass range much more than he does here), this one still has some of the same lyrical power and a couple really, really good songs.

It was short, but still felt repetitive. The sort of songs I would only listen to if I was playing Tony Hawk.

Not my favorite genre, but it is impressive how effortlessly it can evoke a certain mood and sense of place.

Great psychedelic rock. I knew Somebody to Love and White Rabbit of course, but the rest of the album had some other good tracks with a nice sound.

A great singer, but overall I thought the album was just alright.

I love the Black Keys' sound, and really enjoyed this album throughout.

Wasn't a huge fan of this.

I never really got into Alice In Chains, and I'm not sure why. Really enjoyed this one.

Love the sound on this album. Definitely transports you to the era of funk, but with some tracks that are timeless.

Prefer Wutang, but this was pretty good.

This was a new one to me, and I quite enjoyed it. "Everybody's Talkin" and "That's the Bag I'm In" were the highlights for me.

I can appreciate the political drive behind the lyrics, but they favor message over music to an extreme. Nothing here that other groups (before and after) didn't do better.

It's different, I liked the flow of it overall.

Steely Dan is one of those groups that I know are masterful artists and extremely musically gifted, etc., but that I just don't ever seek out to listen to in favor of other bands. I liked this album well enough, there were a few tracks that stood out as really good, but again nothing I'm probably going to think to come back to later.

So many classic hits on this one- "Fight for your Right", "Paul Revere", "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" are all ones I would hear blasting from dorm rooms in college (two decades after this album was released). Lyrics that would be juvenile or cringey from other artists just seem funny and charming coming from the Beastie Boys.

Enjoyed this listen, good background music.

Fun little indie rock album.

I was excited to get this album because I have such fond memories of listening to these songs back when it released (many of which I still hear quite frequently). For the first half of the album, I was not disappointed. So many huge hits on here- "Scar Tissue", "Otherside", and "Californication" are obvious highlights. Easy 5/5. But then the second half just kind of drags, you start to notice the poor mix quality (I'm listening to it now on with a much better sound setup than when I was jamming out to it in college), and there's no memorable songs to be had. Drags the whole experience down, but I still have to give it a 4/5 for the bangers on the front end along with the nostalgia kick.

Classic pop rock album, lots of well-known hits here. It's easy listening, and probably just as likely to be heard in boomer-directed advertisements as on the radio these days. Can't deny the catchiness of songs like "Just What I Needed", "My Best Friend's Girl", and "You're All I've Got Tonight".

Was not at all familiar with this group, but I thought this album was pretty catchy. "Grounds for Divorce" was my favorite track on this one.

Not a big fan of electronica, including of the hip-hop variety. This was still a pleasant enough listen, but not one I'm likely to want to return to.

Yeah this was alright, but didn't capture the same magic of the first couple Pixies albums in my opinion.

Classic 90s alt-rock/alt-folk album. Plenty of solid tracks on here.

Really enjoy this album and group, a couple timeless classics on there that I listen to regularly.

Classic voice, but only a couple songs from this album really stood out.

This was an interesting listen for me. The vocals sort of grated on me in the beginning, but grew me on me as the album went on. The instrumentation was pretty interesting though, seems like something out of time. "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" has a haunting, dark feel to it that was pretty captivating. Overall, not an album I would probably return to often but one I'm glad I experienced.

This was OK, I thought the mix of heavy/punk metal and funk made for an interesting sound. Just didn't have any songs that stuck out to me as very memorable.

This wasn't bad, by any means- I enjoyed the beats, and the flow of the MCs. I just don't think there is anything on the album that particularly elevates it above a lot of other hip-hop albums.

While it's not my favorite Beastie Boys album, and the second half starts to drag, it does have a couple legitimate bangers. "Sabotage" is on my short list of greatest hype songs of all time.

Outside of the title track (which I've heard countless times) I don't think I've heard most of the songs on this album more than once or twice before, if at all. There's some good stuff here, but it all has been (rightly, IMO) overshadowed by the iconic first song.

I liked this one ok, some catchy riffs on I Will Dare and Unsatisfied.

He's the king for a reason, and his influence is obviously felt throughout the whole history of rock music. But when it comes to this album, outside a couple tracks there's nothing here that really makes it a stand out.

Not my favorite style music, but a fun listen regardless. Shining Star is one of pervasive hits that pops up everywhere, and the album as a whole has a pretty nice upbeat energy that makes it easy to listen to.

Great album, not the best Springsteen ever produced but still powerful.

As a child of the 90s, when I think "80s music" the thing that always pops into my head is androgynous, brightly-clad singers in retro-futuristic clothing spouting nonsensical lyrics while backed by synthesizers. While this project has shown me plenty of great 80s counter-examples, this album is maybe the embodiment of that mental image. Some catchy songs, though.

Solid punk rock music with some seriously bleak and disturbing lyrics. There were long stretches of this album where I couldn't actually make out what was being said, and that might be for the better. Still an intriguing listen, and one that I suspect would grow on me with repeated listens (and that scares me a little).

Buckley is one of the great "what-ifs" in music for me. As it is, the one album he did make before his death is very solid. His voice is the star, but the instrumentation throughout the album isn't bad either. There's a definite haunting/melancholic feel that pervades the whole thing.

I enjoyed this one well enough, though didn't find a whole lot here to love outside the first track.

An iconic soundtrack that influenced a whole genre of movie soundtracks, and gets referenced still in popular music today. Such a great funky, soulful sound.

Any song or album automatically sounds iconic when it's got Elvis' voice on it. This particular one lacks any of his especially memorable tracks (save maybe "In the Ghetto") but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Overly long with a plot that would be impossible to understand without the Wikipedia page, this was still way more enjoyable than I expected. Pinball Wizard also has one of my favorite guitar intros in all of rock history. Have to give credit to what The Who was able to pull off here, warts and all.

Never has my 3 years of high school French felt so useless.

A pleasant, if unremarkable, listen. The most interesting part is that (aside from 1-2 tracks) this album could have been made in almost any decade. I actually was thinking it was a late 90s/early 00s album at first, then started wondering if it was from the 60s. Turns out it came out in '89.

Just listening to this without context, I thought it was just OK- a cool funky beat with some nice saxophone instrumentation, but gets overly long and repetitive. ... but after reading the Wikipedia page and understanding the real-life consequences of this album (led to the Nigerian head-of-state sending an army to attack Fela Kuti's compound and murdering his mother), it takes on some extra weight. Puts into perspective the serious risks this guy took (and the price he paid) compared to the American musicians putting out anti-war protest songs in the 60s.

Bring the Pain is solid, the rest was meh.

Not an artist I was that familiar with, but I liked this album. Reminded me of late-stage Beatles with a bit of Dylan sprinkled in.

Look, Mariah undeniably has a great voice and that's on display here. And if one of these tracks popped up while I was shopping, or on hold for some company's customer service, I'd be fine with it. But listening to 1 hour straight of what felt like essentially the same song was more than I could take.

Not much to say here. Beautiful album by one of my favorite bands.

About the most classic of classic rock. While the sound would be built on by artists to come later, this album still holds its own with a couple particularly iconic tracks.

As someone who generally favors the 80s U2 albums, I actually really enjoyed this listen. Pretty impressive that they undertook such a shift from their previous sound and still managed to produce some absolute classics like "One" and "Mysterious Ways".

Apropos album title- some nice jazzy instrumentals interspersed with melancholic singing. Not bad.

I've heard several of these tracks countless times, and many are among my favorite songs from this era. I don't know that I had ever listened to this album straight through, though, and it was surprising at times. The synth sounds on "Save the Life of My Child", and the cohesion of the Side A tracks compared to the relative disjointedness of Side B was unexpected.

This one was just alright. Reminiscent of some sounds the Beatles had already done (better) on Sgt Pepper, nothing that really stuck out as particularly memorable.

Pretty on-the-nose name for an album. My reaction can probably best be summarized as "yep, that's what jazz samba sounds like". Pleasant enough as background music, but not something I'm going to seek out.

Loved this, just pure unfiltered rock energy from start to finish.

Every once in a while I get reminded that I should probably listen to Muse more than I do. This album served as the most recent such reminder.

Classic thrash metal. Not my typical genre of choice, though I do appreciate the energy.

Really, really liked this one. A couple big hits (Heart of Glass the most well-known) but I enjoyed the other tracks as well.

This is a great album that I haven't listened to in a long time. A couple tracks (most notably Take Me Out) got a good bit of radio play during my college days, but the rest of this album is really solid too.

Solid set of tracks, but I feel that including a compilation album here is sort of cheating.

This was decent, gets a bit repetitive but I liked "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain".

I liked this one more than the other Fela Kuti album on here. Good background music, still not the sort of thing I'm going to seek out to listen to in the future.

One of, if not the, best rock albums of this century. That includes probably the most recognizable guitar riff of the last 30 years in Seven Nation Army. "Ball and Biscuit" is also a personal favorite.

Great album to showcase the best vocalist of the last 20 years. The range and power of Adele's voice is amazing, and I love the raw emotion and vulnerability in the lyrics on several of these tracks.

As far as I can tell, "post-punk" basically means 80s-era bands throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Some of it works beautifully, some it is trash, but most of it (like this album) oscillates between "weirdly compelling" and "unpleasant to the ears".

Love this album. So many absolute monster hits, and perfectly captures the 90s punk aesthetic. I was too young to appreciate it when it first came out, but when I started listening to punk rock about 5 years after this (around the time Green Day had a resurgence) it still loomed large.

I've often heard Pavement (and this album specifically) listed as one of the biggest influences of some of the 90s/00s indie bands I really like. I can see where those influences lie, and there's a couple songs on here I do really like, but the album as a whole is just too uneven with a couple legitimately awful tracks.

I'm not the biggest fan of extended "jam band" live albums, but I have to admit I did like this one pretty well. My main issue with it is that it just... keeps... going, and I'm not sure what the destination is.

I love Pink Floyd, and while this is not my favorite of their albums from this period, that's an extremely high bar to clear. Sure, this one drags a little in the middle and is not nearly as tight as their best albums (an 80 minute runtime will do that). But it still contains some of my absolute favorite music ever created, including not one but two of the best guitar solos of all time on a single track (Comfortably Numb).

This was alright. I know Elvis Costello is very influential (and is going to pop up a lot in this list) but this album felt like it was all over the place and honestly just didn't do a lot for me.

I wish I could appreciate jazz more, but it rarely does a whole lot for me. This album was more of the same- enjoyable as background music, and this one has some unique sounds that got my attention, but just not my favorite style.

I enjoyed this one pretty well, doesn't have the super iconic tracks like some of the later metal albums it inspired, but I can see where those were influenced by this one.

I liked this better than most jazz albums, but I still have a hard time fully getting into it.

Over 130 albums into this project, and finally I get my first Beatles album. This is a great one to start with, as it shows them early in the process of maturing from mostly covers to fully original songwriting. And it starts with probably the most iconic and recognizable single chord to kick off any album, ever.

Not my cup of tea.

Listening to this I can see the neon lights on Fremont Street and hear the slot machines dinging in the background. I don't listen to much swing, but this was really fun.

This one just doesn't do much for me.

I think 'Ye has always been better as a producer/artist than an MC, and that is true on his debut album here too. I do like some of the tracks that he explores spirituality (which was so different from anything else in the rap genre at the time), but overall this album doesn't rate as one of my favorites.

This was a fun listen. I've not listened to a lot of prog-rock outside of Pink Floyd and Rush has always been right at the periphery of my musical tastes. Lots of good stuff on this one though.

Very familiar with this album, as it was on a frequent rotation for me back in my college days. "Do You Realize??" is one of my favorite indie rock tracks ever (was pleasantly surprised when it popped up in the latest GotG movie).

A couple interesting tracks, but just OK for me overall.

A couple pretty catchy songs, but overall felt this was just another relatively forgettable "new wave" album.

Not as rich as some of their later albums, but still a great listen. Does a good job of capturing the manic, upbeat energy I associate with early Beatlemania.

Fantastic album, southern rock at its finest.

Catchy tunes throughout, with some rather sinister lyrics that make it more memorable than a lot of similar albums.

Apparently Ministry is in a similar echelon of \"industrial rock\"/thrash metal with NIN and Rammstein, but I'm way less familiar with their music compared to those other groups. Still, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

I'm not a fan of shoegaze, and this only helped confirm that opinion. I honestly thought the stream had glitched at a couple points. Distortion can be artfully done, but its use here just felt antagonistic. Giving this 2* only because the latter half could be decent background music if you're feeling particularly melancholic.

Really liked this one- great beat and bass-lines with a real jazz feel mixed with some of the smoothest flows from any hip-hop album I've heard. The lyrics seem a bit dated now at times, but honestly that kind of adds to the charm.

Another fantastic album by CCR. Enjoyed it from start to finish, very tight and no filler whatsoever.

The last album I got before this one was a CCR record, and in the course of reading about that one I stumbled on this quote from John Fogerty: "I didn't like the idea of those acid-rock, 45-minute guitar solos. I thought music should get to the point a little more quickly than that." Pretty funny then that I got this album the next day, which is probably the purest form of what he was criticizing. While I can understand the appeal, and there's some interesting stuff on here, I'm with Fogerty on this one.

This was alright, the unique feel from the horns at least helped distinguish it from other like-sounding new wave albums.

I liked this one, very 90s hip-hop feel to it.

Solid album- has a couple of my favorite Dylan tunes, though unlike a few of his top-shelf albums it does have some tracks that just don't land for me.

This one was good, outside of the title track I didn't recognize most of these songs but I liked them.

Had never heard of these guys before, but this was a fun one.

One of the all-time greats! Absolutely love this album, especially the guitar work on the title track.

I liked it, it's like a window into another time.

I have to credit the staying power of a couple of these songs- as I write this, nearly 40 years after this album came out, the current #1 movie in the box office features "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" quite prominently. But outside that and "Shout", I found the rest of the album to be pretty average.

Great album, I loved the first half of it especially. Eddie's guitar is definitely the star of the show.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as their other album in the list, it just didn't have any songs that grabbed me like that one did.

Meh, this just doesn't do anything for me. Detroit Rock City is a decent song, but the rest of it is just... nothing special.

Wow, this took me off-guard. Had never heard any of this before, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I've never been all that big on Meat Loaf (the dish or the musician), but there are some stone-cold classics on here. These rock ballads with a great vocalist are the sort of music that just never gets made anymore, and I think that's too bad.

I know this is a seminal album for hip-hop, and it does have a nice laid-back, R&B-feel to it. Plus I like the message and emotion behind the lyrics throughout. There's just not a lot of songs here that really stick in my brain the way some others do.

Ghostface does a good job creating some interesting stories, and is very talented lyrically. I just feel like the gansta rap thing had kind of run its course by this point, and this one starts to wear out its welcome partway through.

Great singer, wonderful energy, really solid album.

Pretty solid, but not spectacular, 90s alt rock album. Really enjoyed the first couple songs on this one, but there wasn't enough in the back half to make me rate it that highly.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I was going to, really pleasant vibe and good background music.

I had no idea what to expect from this, and was pleasantly surprised. Probably not something I would listen to on repeat, but it had some nice grooves to it.

I'm familiar with a couple of the Byrds' big hits from the mid-60s, but had not heard most of this album before. I thought it was very solid, though the random acid-trip breaks in the middle of a couple songs wear a little thin.

Great album with a couple massive hits. "Papa was a Rolling Stone" is one of my favorite songs to ever come out of Motown.

I guess we had to get a Sinatra album eventually. I didn't hate it, it has a definite charm to it- but I'm sure glad this isn't where popular music peaked.

Not my favorite songs by the Beastie Boys, but the production with the layered samples and how well they work together is pretty astounding. This is one of the few albums on the list that I think truly could not be made today, just based on the licensing costs it would incur alone.

Quintessential 90s alt rock. Lots of nostalgia here, and the sound still holds up even if the album might get a bit long.

A charming, pleasant listen.

I've always preferred CSN to any of the solo efforts from that trio, and this one didn't change my mind. Still had some pretty interesting tracks though, so I didn't hate it, but not one that rises to the top for me.

A couple solid classics here on a good, tight funk/soul album.

The title track really stands out here, I love the sound and underlying story. But not much else on this album really gets me that excited.

Apt name for this album, some old-school rock with an R&B/soul feel to it. Enjoyed this one.

Listening to this is like being stuck on Space Mountain, in the dark, right before the ride is about to actually start. The music (effectively) sets a tone, and gets you ready for *something*, anything, to happen, but it never does.

Great, lean album with no filler.

A solid, but unspectacular, entry on this list. There's a lot of 90's/00's indie groups (whom I really like) that clearly took some inspiration from these guys, but I don't get quite as much from this one.

Another great golden age hip-hop album. This one looms larger than most, with some monster hits that have stood the test of time.

I liked this one, I of course knew "Son of a Preacher Man" which is a great song, but most of the rest was new to me.

I liked this one a good bit more than I expected to. Nothing about the genre in general (or Bjork in particular) appeals to my musical tastes, but somehow this album just kind of works. It's full of melancholy, beautiful in places, and vulnerable.

A decent golden age hip-hop album, but not one that really stands out for me.

Had never heard of these guys before, but this was a pretty solid album.

Nostalgia does a lot of the heavy lifting here, but I was the prime age to enjoy this when it came out and I still do.

A band that I had heard of but never made it a point to listen to. I really liked this one though, the guitar harmonics are really beautiful and I like the simplicity of the production. This is one I'll probably return to.

Captures that same raw, bluesy energy from the Beatles earliest albums. I like the original songs on here ("Strychnine" and "The Witch" stand out particularly) but most of it is treading old ground with well-covered songs from the time.

Had no idea what to expect from this one, but I ended up enjoying it well enough. It's like a mix of Skynard (who gets referenced more than their fair share) and Tom Petty with some extra social commentary thrown in for fun. It's not the best southern rock I've heard, but it's far from the worst. I just wish it wasn't 90 minutes long.

There's a lot of heavy metal out there that I like, but the only thing that distinguishes this one is the so-over-the-top-it-has-to-be-parody-right Satanic lyrics. It's almost funny in its ridiculousness, but the fact that it spawned a whole subgenre of music that is responsible for some legitimately awful stuff is enough to keep from just dismissing it out of hand.

Well I'm a sucker for 00s-10s indie folk, so this one is right up my alley. The lyrics, the instrumentals, and the harmonies are just so good.

Pure 80s pop bliss. So many of these have stood the test of time, and are an essential part of any soundtrack for any media set in that decade.

Starts out on a really solid note with "Rise Above", with a couple other bangers scattered throughout ("TV Party", "Six Pack") but the back half starts to get a little grating and repetitive (even with the short runtime).

I think I like Eno better when he's producing for other artists. There just wasn't much here that captured my attention.

Classic old-school hip-hop.

I've never been a huge fan of Prince, but I can't deny his talent in producing massively popular pop songs. There's some classics on here, but did it really have to be a double album? The back half really drags in my opinion.

I was first introduced to RATM from watching The Matrix a few years after this albums came out, and hearing "Wake Up" for the first time probably marked the beginning of my foray into this genre. Lots to like on here, and bonus points for one of the more affecting album covers I've seen.

Pretty run-of-the-mill early 00s album that has a few nice beats but nothing special.

Awesome album from one of the best singer-songwriters of all time.

Björk is one of those artists that I'm glad exists, simply because I think you need people like this to come along and challenge musical conventions every once in a while. I admire her creativity and boldness in that regard. Unfortunately for me as the listener, it turns out a lot of those conventions exist for a reason, as this weird, confusing, disjointed album shows.

Solid album from a fantastic singer.

Early 80s new wave synth-pop is just not my jam, but I liked this one better than I expected. I knew some of the bigger hits from it, but I think the standout track for me was The Chauffeur.

I love Radiohead, but this is my least favorite of their albums on this list. Still a good listen, just not to the level of their better efforts.

Didn't love it, some catchy sections here and there but overall I thought it was pretty boring.

"Xtina" has great talent, obviously, and I remember this one being when she started to really break out of the teeny-bop image. It has several good pop songs, maybe even a couple great ones ("Beautiful" and "Fighter" still get tons of play 20 years later). But man, going through this list has made me realize how much the invention of the CD caused serious runtime bloat to albums. This one is about 8 songs too long.

Much, much better than the last Kate Bush album on here.

Not quite to the level of his work on White Stripes, but still a lot to like here.

This was OK, got a little repetitive after a while with nothing really that memorable.

Not terrible, but IMO doesn't stand up well to most of the other hip-hop albums on this list from that same era.

I liked this one just OK, not sure baroque pop is to my taste.

It's very different, and I didn't hate it. Didn't love it either.

A very, very popular album from my youth. Still holds up really well.

Classic UK punk rock, pretty fun.

Oh, more British punk rock. I liked this one, especially "Noise, Noise, Noise".

Didn't know this one, but there's a lot of well-known songs on here that have been covered extensively. Impressive collection of songs.

Some absolute classics on this one, probably the peak of 90's "Britpop" and one that I listened to a *lot* in high school and beyond. Anyway, here's Wonderwall.

This was fine, just unremarkable.

I liked this more than I expected to, late stage 80s (really early 90s) synth-pop.

Not bad, a little morose but I enjoyed it.

Good music, great energy, all around a classic.

A fun, upbeat album. Really liked the sound on this one.

I liked the soulful sound on this one. Had a hard time connecting to any of the lyrics, which I guess is to be expected as it says pretty explicitly that it's not "for me". Oh well, still a pretty interesting listen.

I can see where later Britpop bands get their inspiration from here, but this one just doesn't have the same appeal (or hit songs) that those others have going for them.

I think this one would probably grow on me with time, as it is I liked it fine but didn't find anything particular memorable that elevates it above a lot of other 90's indie rock.

I get the appeal, it's definitely got a beat and you can dance to it. The repetitiveness just gets to me, and that's why I can never get into techno. Still, I have to give this one props for having a couple huge hits that got way more airplay than I'd expect from this type of album back in the 90s.

This was an impressive listen, a mish-mash of different genres and influences from all over the place, but it all somehow comes together and just works.

It's fine as background music, it's just not really to my taste.

Sounds a bit like Springsteen if he just took a sleeping pill.

Beautiful album with some of my favorite folk/folk rock songs of all time.

The only jazz album I really listen to on a regular basis. Just an all-time great.

Great sound, with some really catchy songs. One of the "new wave" bands that really transcended the sounds of the day.

This is enjoyable, just not particularly memorable outside a couple of tracks that have filtered down through the years and still got regular airplay. Not enough here to get me overly excited about it.

I like the raw, early grunge sound. Outside of "Blister in the Sun" though, none of the tracks really stood out as particularly memorable.

Love this album, one where the legacy speaks for itself but it's such a great listen too.

Just an all-around pleasure to listen to, so soothing to listen to and an interesting contrast to something like Kind of Blue where the brass tend to command attention.

I expected to hate this one, and while it still wouldn't rate high on a list of albums I'd be listening to on purpose, I have to acknowledge there's some real artistry here. Plus the way this music was just showing up *everywhere* in the early 00s says something about its mass appeal (as background for car ads if nothing else).

It's fun to hear something with this much raw, punk energy from such an early album. Really liked this one.

Decent classic Brit rock from a band I knew little about, "Feelin' Alright" was the only one I was already familiar with.

Iconic, immediately transports you to a very distinct time and place.

Love their sound, and what an impressive debut album. I hadn't heard much of these outside "Sultans of Swing" but I really enjoyed it.

I didn't expect to like this one. The lyrics are cringey in places and sexist/overly hedonistic throughout, and it lacks some of the fire behind the more "conscious" rap. But Snoop's flow and Dre's production still makes it a fun listen in places.

Wow, this list-maker really likes Elvis Costello. Like his other entries here, this was a solid if unspectacular album.

As "prog-rock concept" albums go, this one wasn't too bad. Several of the songs here are really good, I just felt it stretched on for far too long.

Several classics here from a bygone era.

I should probably listen to more of the Kinks, as I do like their music. But all I could think of listening to this was "We have Sgt Pepper at home. Sgt Pepper at home:"

What a performance by one of the best singers of all time. While I think his Folsom live album is a touch better, this one still has a ton to offer. The energy coming off both Cash and the audience is electric, and a couple of the new songs here (San Quentin and especially Boy Named Sue) are instance classics.

I was first introduced to Gillian Welch through the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, and been a fan ever since. This is probably my favorite album of hers.

Apparently I'm very up and down on Bowie, with this one being in the down column. A couple decent tracks but no real standouts here for me.

Experimental, nonsensical, glam rock don't usually work for me but here it's not too bad.

Love the raw power throughout, with some really nice guitar sound on songs like Gimme Danger.

Enjoyed it, but it just doesn't connect nearly as strongly with me as Songs in the Key of Life.

I haven't been a big fan of most of the "world music" in this list, but this one hits a little different. A real guitar-driven, bluesy feel but with some African flair mixed in. Not bad for a few guys from (literally) Timbuktu.

This is good as debut albums go, though it's probably my least favorite of the 90s/00s Foo Fighters albums.

This was fine, nothing particularly special in mind.

A classic Southern rock album, though honestly side A feels a bit weak compared to the bangers on side B.

Another pleasant Stevie Wonder listen.

A great Neil Young album. Doesn't quite rise to the level of Harvest for me, but that's a really high bar to clear from one of greatest songwriters of all time.

"Court and Spark", "Free Man in Paris", "Help Me" are the highlights here. Joni Mitchell can be a little hit or miss for me, but this album is firmly in the "hit" column.

I like the concept of the album, taking unheard Woody Guthrie songs and putting them to Billy Bragg/Wilco music. A couple tracks here really stood out (California Stars, Way Down Yonder in the Minor Key) but overall it didn't blow me away.

One of best things to come out of the 90s grunge/skate-punk era. Already was well-acquainted with the bigger hits from this ("Come Out and Play" and "Self-Esteem" are a couple of my favorite 90s songs) but really liked the whole albums from start to finish.

As someone who doesn't listen to a ton of jazz, I've been a little surprised during this list with how many of the jazz tracks I recognize. This one might have the second-most (to Kind of Blue) that fall into that category, which is pretty impressive in its own right.

Can't argue with the talent and massive influence that Elvis had, and obviously he had some songs that have some great staying power. But as an *album*, I just didn't find anything here that wowed me.

More new wave that I don't hate but don't find that interesting either.

One of the best 70s blues/Southern rock albums, and it came out in '90. Really enjoy this one.

Now we're talking, absolutely monster hip-hop album. The skits/interludes do grate on me a little but not as much as a lot of others. Andre 3000 is probably my favorite MC of all time, and his flow shines all over this one. B.O.B., Ms. Jackson, So Fresh So Clean, the hits just keep coming.

I went back and forth while listening to this one, from hating the lead singer's voice, to appreciating the guitar work, to rolling my eyes at the lyrics, to then really liking the songs on the back half.

Not bad, not my favorite metal album either though.

I really like this album, though maybe more for the other albums it inspired through the 90s alt-rock craze.

Had absolutely no idea what to expect with this, but I really liked it.

K-dot is my favorite current hip-hop guy, and I love the blend of politically and morally complex lyrics with some incredibly catchy beats. This is a good debut, but not my favorite of his.

Wasn't at all familiar with this group, but I enjoyed it. Has a sound very reminiscent of a lot of early 2010s indie rock groups.

A stone-cold classic. Near-perfect album all the way through, loved it.

Lyrics are as childish and, in places, repulsive as I remember. But they are undeniably catchy, and so over the top that they cross over into being enjoyable again.

It has its moments, but doesn't feel as groundbreaking as the heavy acts that came before, or as rich as some that would come on its heels.

I know this is a classic hip-hop album that I'm "supposed" to find incredibly groundbreaking but I've just never loved it. It's got a couple tracks I really like but the rest are pretty meh for me.

I like Beck, but his later stuff has never really landed with me. This one is fine, just a little too bland for my taste.

Went into this one blind- had never heard of Little Simz or this album. I won't say I was blown away, but I thought the production on this was well done, and the beats on a couple tracks were quite catchy.

Alright, this one has some absolute classics on it no question, and if it was just Side A&B I'd probably give it 5 stars. But did it really need to be a double album? Sides C&D just don't land quite the same way with me.

Subtle this is not. Wasn't a huge fan.

My car that I've been driving since 2010 still has a 6 CD disc changer in it, which is rarely used anymore but every once in a while the mood strikes me and I'll flip off my phone and over to that. This album has been in slot 2 for almost that whole time, and I'll still gladly listen to it all the way through with no skips.

At least in terms of pure songwriting, this album is what I would consider to be the GOAT. I know it was hugely influential in a lot of other ways musically, but honestly just the lyrics on songs like "Like a Rolling Stone", "Ballad of a Thin Man", "Highway 61 Revisited", and "Desolation Row" would be enough to make this an easy 5 stars.

If I'm rating purely on musical artistry or creativity, then sure this might warrant at least 3 stars. But these are my ratings, based (in large part, at least) on how much I *like* the music, and on that basis this one's a dud.

Starts out with a bang on Immigrant Song, but the rest of the album is not up to the standards of LZ's other albums. That's probably an unfair benchmark, but it's hard not to judge this one on the basis of those. Still, a solid album regardless.

Did not care for this one at first, though by the back half it started to grow on me.

These guys are a nice contrast to the darker, "tough-guy" style that permeates a lot of the other rap albums from this era. Upbeat, fun, with some smooth flow and interesting lyrics.

Good stuff, it's remarkable to me that he was putting this together in the midst of all the chaos of the Beatles break-up. My only complaint is the length, I could see this being a double album but triple, really??

It's hard to argue against this as the GOAT. Has probably the best opening 1-2 punch of any album ever, amazing guitar work and production throughout, and the side B medley is maybe my favorite multi-track stretch of songs that's ever been made. Oh and the most iconic album cover ever created. Just all-around incredible.

If I could go back to the 90s, and park my car somewhere that I could pick up multiple college radio stations on the AM dial (some of them with a good deal of static), switched to a new one every minute or so whether the current song was done or not, and captured it all with a handheld cassette recorder, I imagine it would sound a lot like this.

I can see where existing fans might have been confused or put out by this one, and I don't personally enjoy it nearly as much as Pet Sounds, but it's got some interesting stuff. I especially like the last few tracks.

A little too understated next to some of their other albums, I just didn't get much enjoyment from this one.

Well acquainted with this one, and one I've always liked for the combination of Jim's vocals/lyrics as well as the really unique addition of the organ that gives a fullness to the sound. There are just a couple tracks here that I don't really care for, which is the only thing keeping this from a 5 star album.

Didn't know these guys beforehand, but I enjoyed this one pretty well. Felt like a proto-emo/screamo type album.

Didn't expect to like this one as much as I did. Some really good songs on here.

Great overall, can't say I loved every single track but it does have a couple of my favorites of his.

Love this album. I'm not a huge fan of most of Coldplay's output after this, but this has some of the best pop/rock songs from this decade. The Scientist, Green Eyes, and Amsterdam are some of my absolute favorite songs.

Hadn't heard this one before, and I liked it. Very tight album with a very 80s sound that I will probably return to.

Something about Ice Cube's energy and delivery that just really sells his music for me. Didn't love every track, but overall I thought it was solid.

Nice, quick, energetic album.

Not my usual style of music- it was a pleasant enough listen I guess but just not to my taste.

Awesome album, Janis's vocals are just on another level and really pull you into every song.

A couple tracks on here were frequent listens for me back in high school, though the album as a whole doesn't quite live up to the promise of those songs.

I like punk, and I like angry music, but it's got to have some variety and *some* level of musicality. This one had one or two tracks I thought were good, the rest was pretty meh.

Classic funk record, what's not to like?

I am a huge, unabashed fan of Tom Waits. There's at least 4-5 of his albums that I would think easily deserve a place on this list. That said, this isn't one that I hold in quite as high of regard.

Another classic Dylan album. For me the second half of this double album doesn't quite live up to the promise of the first, but it's a great one nonetheless.

I know this is a seminal hip-hop record, and it's got a couple really good tracks, but overall I've never quite gotten the hype for it.

Doesn't do much for me.

Not bad, not particularly memorable either though.

Another very enjoyable entry from this group.

Great record with a couple of my favorite U2 songs.

Objectively this is probably the best post-Beatles album any of them came out with, but man does the sanctimony and derision rub me the wrong way on so many of these songs.

Here's another Tom Waits album that is not in my regular rotation, but which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Nothing says "hanging out in Starbucks in the early 00s" quite like this album.

Love Hendrix, really like this album even if it's lacking many of his more iconic tracks.

Another fantastic Dylan album. Tangled up in Blue and Shelter from the Storm are two of my favorite Dylan tunes, which help elevate this album to 5 stars in my mind.

One of the greatest live rock performances ever captured, and to have it happen when these guys were at their peak right just a few months before it would all come to a tragic end gives it some extra weight.

While I was admittedly a fan of some of their imitators/successors in my younger years, Korn never held any real appeal for me. This album has energy and style to it, for sure, but just doesn't really resonate with me the way it might have as a teenager.

Decent but lacks the really gripping songs that I love from YHF.

Been waiting for this one. :) Part of my regular rotation, one of my favorite Radiohead albums (sits just below OK Computer in my book).

This was fine, nothing to get excited about.

Really impressive for a debut album, though outside of "Reelin' in the Years" the other songs aren't particularly memorable for me.

Nice blues album by a real blues legend.

Me at 0:10: oh nice, it's the theme from The Exorcist, that's super catchy Me at 12:00: still going huh? OK he's doing some slightly different stuff at least Me at 26:00: well that was long but not terrible and it's over now- oh, nope, there's a part 2 Me at 37:50: oh hey, the demon from The Exorcist actually makes a cameo Me at 49:10: well that was very different. Did I like it? I'm not sure

A little darker/more depressing than I expected, but didn't hate it.

One of the best folk rock albums out there. I'm a sucker for good vocal harmonies, and this is full of them.

A favorite of mine going back to my college days. Such a rich-sounding album with some really fascinating themes throughout. Also, mind-boggling when you look at the credits and realize Sufjan Stevens did basically everything on here (instruments, vocals, engineering, production) himself.

Judging the album by the cover, I thought I was going to hate this but it was actually pretty enjoyable. Early punk with added saxophone makes for a compelling combo.

Lots of rage, lots of energy, only moderately enjoyable for me.

One that might grow on me with time, as I like a lot of their indie rock contemporaries but never really took the time to get into Deerhunter. Didn't blow me away, but I might return to this one.

Pretty much what I expect from a Bob Marley album- chill, upbeat, and makes me wish I was sitting on a beach instead of in front of my computer.

A solid album, but it's hard to avoid comparing it to their Black Album, and by that comparison it just feels woefully average.

I know live albums aren't always going to be great for sound quality, but I thought this one was especially poor. That and the fact I don't really care that much for Motorhead made it a pretty subpar listen.

I still don't really get the hype around the Dead, *but* I enjoyed this album so much more than the live one I got earlier in this list. This has some actual, tight songs with rich instrumentation and catchy riffs. I could get into this, but as I understand it this was the pinnacle of their studio albums so I still don't think I'll ever really get into them as a band.

This was a pretty wild trip. I went from bopping along happily, to laughing out loud, to cringing in discomfort, back to bopping (sometimes all on the same track).

"But all my words come back to me, in shades of mediocrity. Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me." Call it what you will, mawkish, overly sentimental, whatever. S&G's lyrics and harmonies have a way of pulling at my emotions that almost no other music does. Here's another of their albums full of incredibly well-written, meticulously performed classics.

Another day, another Beatles masterpiece. This was the start of when they stopped worrying about being able to reproduce their music live and just focused on innovation in the studio, and as someone who wasn't alive to see them perform live anyway, I'm very happy for it.

Just because the name lampshades the fact it's going to put me to sleep doesn't mean I'm going to enjoy it any more.

Typical electro-pop fare, not sure why it made the list to be honest.

Not a group I've listened to much, I liked this one OK there just aren't any tracks that really stood out.

I know it was influential to a lot of early 90s alt-rock groups that I really like, but this one never resonated that much with me.

This is about as quintessential 90s as you can get. Has a couple weaker tracks, but several monster hits that still get regular airplay.

I like Public Enemy, Chuck D is one of my favorite MCs, but this one doesn't quite live up to their earlier efforts.

Great songwriting, even if it doesn't have my favorite songs of his.

An interesting slice of 70s R&B, if not exactly up my alley.

The title track on here is of course as iconic as they come, for good reason. And there's a couple other very very good songs on here- I debated between 4 and 5 stars on this for a while, and went with 4 because while it has a couple incredible songs the album as a whole doesn't quite carry the same weight.

Has its moments, but never rises to the level of some of Neil's other works.

A solid live album, even if live albums aren't generally my thing.

This one took me by surprise, wasn't familiar with this group at all but really enjoyed it.

I know they're influential, but there's a reason many of the groups they influenced made it much bigger: their music was just a lot more fun to listen to.

About the easiest 5 stars there will be on this list. Just a masterpiece, plain and simple, which I enjoyed just as much today as the first time I heard it.

I like this one pretty well, holds up well as a decent 90s female vocalist album. Impressive for a debut album, but unfortunately I got it just a couple weeks after Jagged Little Pill and it pales next to that one.

Surprising and interesting at times, but "surprising" and "interesting" aren't always compliments when it comes to music.

Good debut album, and a harbinger of things to come from this guy. This one has a couple very good tracks that stood the test of time, and a bunch of good-but-not-as-memorable songs that leave me wishing I was listening to one of his later records.

An interesting blend of styles and eras, but not one that really gelled with me.

Still has a lot of vitriol and punch today, so I can only imagine the response to this one when it came out almost 50 years ago. It's not something I find myself wanting to revisit much, but I give it some extra points for its influence on music culture and its staying power.

Prince was a weird dude whose music sometimes astounds me, sometimes makes me cringe, but pretty much always makes an impression.

This is one of those that always comes up on lists like "best produced album ever" or "best one to listen to when testing out new speakers/headphones" and it is in fact impressively produced and performed. I've never gotten super into Steely Dan, something about their music never connected with me on a personal level, but I can respect the skill on display here.

A milestone of garage/grunge rock from my formative years.

Nothing earth-shattering, just a really solid mix of jazz, folk, and pop that makes for a very pleasant package of tunes.

So I get the appeal of Björk, I really do, but her music just isn't to my taste.

Sparse but solid album. Wasn't familiar with her work but I enjoyed the listen.

An album that was interesting mostly because I was surprised the goth rock sound originated this early. That said, I've no particular fondness for goth rock so that isn't exactly a point in its favor.

Boy this one was the source of so much disgust and moral panic when I was a kid. Peeling back the layer of blasphemy and hateful lyrics, there is actually some legitimately interesting sound to this. I think that's more due to Trent Reznor's brilliance as a producer than anything on Manson's end, but it elevates this from pure 1-star filth to at least a noteworthy listen.

Country pop is pretty low on my preferred genres list, but this was tolerable.

Definitely a nice, enjoyable listen, even if it doesn't hit me the same as the seminal records that he would drop a few years later.

A 90s alt-rock standard. Still holds up, IMO.

80s synth-pop, art-rock, whatever you call it, just is not really my jam.

Not bad, better than expected at least.

Quite enjoyed this one, a different type of music than I usually find myself listening to but one I could enjoy occasionally. I know they didn't write it, but I did find their rendition of "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" moving.

Don't often find myself listening to big band/orchestral jazz albums, but here we are. Toe-tappers for sure, and talented musicians throughout, albeit not the type of music I look for often.

Definitely my favorite Prince album, and one filled with some real bangers.

This was very interesting, I think the idea of rock operas always appeal to me more than their actual execution, but I did enjoy this one pretty well.

I liked this one, these are some of my favorite female vocalists and I especially enjoy Emmylou Harris' voice

I do like Aerosmith, and it's kind of entertaining to listen to some of this music that's a window to a not-so-distant past where rock groups could croon lyrics that would never fly today.

While I'm not exactly a synth-pop fan, I have to admit this one's really good. You've got some upbeat bangers like "Personal Jesus" and the more brooding/introspective songs that fill it out nicely, all with a pretty compelling sound behind them. Depeche Mode might "make me a believer" yet.

I hadn't listened to much of this guy before going this list, and now feel inundated. This is probably the best of the bunch, though.

A nice collection of songs, but one that lacks the power and impact of their previous albums.

I guess if you're high in a rave club this is a fine beat to dance to? Just doesn't do anything at all for me. And while we're probably rapidly approaching the point where GenAI can make good music indistinguishable from creative artists, I'm pretty sure computers could already make music this good 20 years ago.

Not my style, and it wore out its welcome with an hour and a half left. Were it a bit shorter I might could justify a second star, but as is I just really, really did not care for this listening experience.

Very good album, with a couple absolute classic Elton numbers (Tiny Dancer being foremost). Might not be quite at the same level as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road but it's great nevertheless.

I feel like a major CCR fanboy right now, as this is their third album I've received, and I'm about to give 5 stars for the third time. But I can't help it, this is just an incredible record from start to finish.

Not bad, but not one that lives up to his other works in my view.

An odd in-betweener album that feels ahead of any alt-rock 80s efforts but not quite a 90s feel.

This was probably the last Ye album I took much interest in, and for me it's nowhere as enjoyable as some of his previous efforts. That said, I give points for some of the legitimate innovation here.

Only really know Nick Drake's music from assorted movie soundtracks, but to his credit they're some of my favorite soundtracks. This album was really solid though- seems like a direct line from him to guys like Elliott Smith.

This one looms large on the punk scene. It's got great energy and I love rawness of it, though if I'm just judging it on its own merits rather than its influence it doesn't land with me the same as some of the later albums it would be a model for.

This was enjoyable enough, but not really breaking any new ground here.

Emmylou Harris is the main draw for me on this one. The songwriting and Parsons' vocals are good too, but there's a part of me that dislikes it simply because I think it helped create the template for a lot of really corny country music that would come later.

Good stuff, a little lighter and more Phil Spector/wall-of-soundy than their later more mature albums. But it's hard not to like the energy pure all-American pop vibes.

Dark and brooding, I like his voice on these later albums but this one doesn't the songs that land quite as well as a few of his earlier efforts.

Much, much better than I expected from the electronica genre label. More of a fusion with alt-rock, and I thought it was pretty enjoyable.

A blend of psychedelia that has a little more variety to it than a lot of its contemporaries. This one was pretty interesting.

I may be a bit biased as a Hokie fan, but I think Metallica is far and away the best thrash metal band ever. The combination here of aggressive speed riffs, adrenaline-inducing drums, great harmonizing, and thematic lyrics is pretty hard to beat. While their Black album will probably always be my favorite (again, some bias from all the times of bouncing in the football stands to Enter Sandman), this one's pretty great too.

Could just as easily be a greatest hits album. I think every song on here gets pretty consistent play on rock stations, and I know it had a huge influence on the industry when it debuted.