Live!
Fela KutiI think this music would be absolutely terrific live. I will probably add this to my collection in time as I think it is a grower (I already have some Fela Kuti music).
I think this music would be absolutely terrific live. I will probably add this to my collection in time as I think it is a grower (I already have some Fela Kuti music).
No, sorry, I really don't like Young's vocal style. I kind of get the songs, and can situate them in the early 1970s (having been there as a kid), but I really don't like this musical style.
I dislike country music, and while I can appreciate the clarity and rhythm of the singing, I wouldn't add this to my streaming library and nor am I likely to play this again. Not to my taste.
Bonkers lyrics, choogling guitar, a sprinkling of glitter - what's not to love? The album where Tyrannosaurus Rex goes electric, becomes T. Rex and which brings a clutch of top notch pop-rock LPs, dominating the charts for a couple of years with some stellar singles.
Technically proficient and well-produced AOR music. I find this rather unengaging. Money for Nothing came at just the right moment with the advent of digital music, MTV and the like. A smash album.
A nice enough album. Has the feel of a label product.
I think this is a workmanlike concept album - it may have made more sense had the projected TV play been made. I don't see why critics seem to laud the quality of the lyrics, which seem rather so-so to me.
Not familiar withe the band, but enjoyed playing this.
I liked this album - once it got into its groove after the title track which I didn't care for. The version streamed had a bunch of bonus tracks that didn't add much. Still, a good album, though I prefer There's a Riot Goin' On.
This is another album which passed me by at the time of release, but which really matches my tastes. I love it.
I have never liked this band. I've played this album a couple of times today and I still don't! Maybe it's a generational thing as I developed my taste in the aftermath of punk and in the post-punk era.
The first of the four great Stones albums, this is really great stuff. Favourite track - Sympathy for the Devil, but really the Stones are on form throughout.
I'd never listened to QOTSA before, though I kind of knew what to expect after Josh Homme's collaborations with Iggy Pop (Post Pop Depression and the live album). I think this is a pretty strong album, particularly given this is a debut album.
This is a splendid debut album, exciting and challenging.
I think this is a horrible album. I played it several times and it just set my teeth on edge. I just dislike folk rock.
This is pretty good fun, with some stand-out tracks.
This album has The Birthday Party as they lift their game substantially. I've been playing this since release and it's a favourite album.
Highly polished complex pop/rock music. Unfortunately, it's too smooth and just passes me by. Inoffensive.
There's not much left to be said for this album. A total classic, it was one of the, if not *the*, album which set out the possibilities of the recording studio. The songs are top notch. It would be churlish to rate this at anything less than 5. But... I personally find some of the more music hall styles songs rather mawkish. Maybe I've just been exposed to this album for too many decades!
Over the years, the Pixies have grown on me, and this is rather a standout album with great sound, though of course their 'loud-quiet-loud' sonf structure can grate a bit.
Here backed by The Attractions, Costello's second studio album. One of the Stiff Records roster, Costello emerged on the back of the pub rock and then punk explosion and on into the post-punk era and then onwards into major league start status, all of the back of exceptional song craft. This is a fine album, stand out tracks for me are '(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea' and 'Pump It Up', but the whole album is great.
I don't think this album has aged well. I generally like electronic music (including ambient, techno etc), but this one leaves me a bit cold. I have a couple of more recent collaborative Graham Massey albums that I very much prefer. Having played this half a dozen times, it has grown on me. But not that much. No particular stand out tracks for me.
Well, this is a decent enough album, great dance music, but I'm not sure I rate it particularly highly.
I didn't much like The Beastie Boys back in the day, and having listened to this album several times my opinion has not changed. Essentially this is three whiny ranty kids bellyaching over nicely produced beats, and enlivened by some nice samples. I found myself enjoying the samples more than the Beastie Boys. Now to go and listen to some Led Zeppelin! I'd be quite happy not to listen to this album again.
This album strikes me as distinctly average. Critics apparently praised the songwriting, but it comes across to me as rather contrived. I didn't find this a very exciting album, though it must have been good at the time to have an album focussed on 'English-ness'.
When this album came out in 1985, I thought it sounded like posh hotel lounge bar music (except for the first track ('Faron Young'). I've played it a number of times over the years (mostly because of critical acclaim), but I'm afraid my opinion has not changed after three plays this morning. Maybe I just don't get it.
I think this album was one of the early UK punk albums. It's interesting the way T.V. Smith's vocals are so clear, if a little mannered - at a time when (at least according to my memory) many of their contemporaries produced a full-n onslaught. The album is full of good songs. 'One Chord Wonders' is great, though maybe comes across as a bit self-absorbed. the real standout song is 'Gary Gilmore's Eyes', though I think that wasn't on the original album release (it's on the expanded edition available via Qobuz). A really fun listen.
Some albums are slow growers. For me, this is one of those. I bought this album shortly after release, but it was never an instant favourite. However it has grown on me over the years.
This is the last Pink Floyd album I bought and for me really marked the beginning of the end for them as a band. I bought it at release and liked it, but with passage of time I came to think it's pretty dull stuff with continued navel gazing about pressures of upbringing and success. Not something I listen to very often.
Oh gosh, this album is the antithesis of all that I like about popular music. To my ears this is just horrible. I've played the album three times and it is so bland, smooth and unengaging with uninteresting autobiographical lyrics. This is music for people who don't want to listen, but to have it as background music. I hope never to listen to this again.
I hadn't come across Elliott Smith before being presented with this album by the 1001 albums website. On first play, it came across as a pleasant enough record. On second play, it still came across as a pleasant enough record. After three plays I concluded this was a reasonable output for a 'singer/songwriter', and that I'd leave it at that. 3/5
It's an R.E.M album. It's OK. Played several times, it's a bit of a grower I think.
This is a fantastic album, every track is a winner, though standouts include 'Do The Strand' and 'In Every Home...' Sadly this was the last Roxy Music album with the great Brian Eno.
Another album by The Temptations - the second in the 36 albums so far. I've played it three or four times this morning. This is a pleasant enough record to listen to, but I'm not very clear what elevates this to the 1001 records list. Perhaps if I knew more about soul music I'd see some significance that escapes me. 3/5
I dislike country-inflected rock and pop, and I don't care for Neil Young's voice (sorry!). So this album sits well outside my usual envelope of taste. the only track on the album I knew before I played it was 'Heart of Gold', and that irritates me. I did like 'The Needle and the Damage Done". 2/5
Another album new to me! Nice to hear the garage band influences here (I can hear The Beatles in at least one song) though to my ears this doesn't quite convince. So, a good listen, but not an album I'll come back to. 3/5
Horrible.
Well, this is a pretty smooth album of songs. It's inoffensive. I think the standout track is 'Without You'. The low point is 'Coconut'. Overall, I prefer my music to be a bit edgier than this. 3/5
More bland Americana, country-inflected singer-songwriter stuff. 2/5
At last a bit more diversity, this time Femi Kuti. On my first play, the album is an enjoyable listen. But not much more than that. 2/5
I've played this three times now, and I can't say I found this particularly engaging. I think I prefer Costello's earlier material. 2/5
Oh, this is a great album - not one that's new to me. It's short, but its 11 tracks are great, mostly just Drake and his guitar. Quite a melancholy album.
This one of those albums where the UK version differs markedly from the US version - I played the UK version. This is the first album where Jagger-Richards were the writers of all the songs, and it foreshadows the four truly great Stones albums. The lyrical themes tend towards casual and vindictive sexism at times, which to modern ears isn't so great. Still, it's a good album with many strong songs. 3/5
Oh I dislike country rock. This album was torture for me to listen to, it just sets my teeth on edge. 1/5
This a really exceptional debut album. I don't think there's a duff track here, the music and vocals are great. This is an album that has been in my collection for many years, and this was an opportunity to revisit it. 5/5
I like this album, it's got a cracking swing to it. On the downside, I've got no idea what the songs are about - when I searched for lyrics, they weren't available translated. Maybe the album liner notes would clarify, but I streamed the album. But still, just playing the album made me feel great. 4/5
This album comes across as country-inflected sophisti-pop for the grown up market. Not really to my taste, and I don't understand why it's considered one of the 1001 albums. Nice voice. 2/5
Not really sure why this album is here, nor why it seems so highly regarded by the critics. Played, but it just seems to noodle on. Inoffensive. 2/5
This is like Spinal Tap. Without the humour.
This is a very average album that seems to recycle all sorts of hard rock tropes. It all sounds very derivative. I doubt I will play this again. 3/5
This is a pretty average album, somewhat self-focussed. I hadn't realised before that there was a partner album by Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band - I've played it and it's much more interesting than the John Lennon album! 3/5
This album was new to me, and I played through it three times. I am left underwhelmed by this identikit 'new wave' type album that never really distinguishes itself. The songs are all very similar, and on the whole none are particularly engaging (to me, at least). Inoffensive.
This was an album new to me: I played it four times. I really quite enjoyed the record, though I felt it overstayed its welcome at nearly an hour.
Oh god no, not another Neil Young album! This is far from my taste, sorry.
This is a terrific album that I've had in my collection since release. It's a soundtrack to an imaginary film, and was the first of Adamson's solo album, many of which have a cinematic feel. Adamson of was the bass player in Magazine and the Bad Seeds. The whole album is great, but I particularly liked "On the Wrong Side of Relaxation" with Diamanda Galas' vocals and two of the CD bonus tracks - "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Man With The Golden Arm". But really, the whole thing makes for an enjoyable listen.
I'm afraid that I never particularly cared for the Cocteau Twins' music, even at the time of original release. I have revisited their albums periodically over the years but I still find their music a bit over-produced and excessively dreamy for my taste. This album is no exception. After listening to it three times, I don't see any stand-out tracks (or, to be fair, any absolute dogs). Inoffensive. 3/5
Well, this is a rather dull album, perhaps Presley's first move towards the cabaret circuit following his spell in the army. I didn't care much for this album, though I've always loved 'Fever', and I can't see why it's one of the 1001 albums I should listen to! 2/5
I'm reasonably familiar with Yes, though it's a band that I really don't like. I find the tracks on this album complex (presumably technically proficient), but rather unengaging. It's not an album I particularly enjoyed - I don't really go for progressive rock on the whole. 3/5
Nice enough, but it just sort of noodles along. I imagine this could be a significant jazz album, but as I'm not a jazz aficionado that passes me by. 3/5
Considering the speed with which this album was written and recorded, it's stuffed with attitude and great tracks. It's also one of the albums which kicked off the UK punk boom. One of my favourite LPs.
I'm familiar with Maggie May, but not the album as a whole. On listening to this for the first time, I do think that Maggie May is the stand-out track. The album comes across like a gang of mates holding a roistering and boozy session down the local. It's quite far removed from Stewart's later more ballad-y output. I liked this. Maybe 3/3.
Yoicks, a barrage of shouty metal. Quite exhilarating but it doesn't make for a high quality album. 2/2
Smooth sounding classic jazz album (at least to my ears), much of this is quite familiar. I'm guessing this was pretty unusual stuff 65 years ago. I really quite like this, but I doubt it's something I'd play frequently.
This is a great album, kind of spare sounding. It's an album I didn't pick up on at the time of release, probably got it 20 years too late - but I have the expanded version, (though I don't think the extra tracks add much)! Favourite track is probably Nosferatu Man.
This seems to me to be a Chic record in all but name. I has all the high quality classic disco production skills that one would expect. But despite all that, this record leaves me completely cold. It has no significance for me at all - back in the day if I went clubbing, it wouldn't be at the kind of clubs that played this sort of 'disco music'. I'm giving this 2/5 because of the production. I see from the Wikipedia review that Sister Sledge didn't have sight of the songs before being presented with them on the day of recording, which seems astonishing to me.
I think Frank Zappa was rather over-rated. And this album exemplifies this. While it may have been able to stir the pot on release, I don't think it has lasted well in the decades since its release.
I think this is a pretty good album - it reminds me of the Last Poets brought to the 1990s and the vocals remind me a bit of Gil Scott Heron. As with many hip hop albums, there's a tendency of the tracks to sound pretty same-y, to my ears at least, and I think the subject matter of the tracks comes over a bit dated now.
Believe it or not, in March 2024, this is the first time I have (knowingly) heard Taylor Swift's music. And having played it, I suspect I'll probably never do so again! I think I'm not in the target demographic, and I found the record a bit dull and mainstream. Having said that, Swift is massively successful, so this stuff chimes with many people.
In my view this is the last great mid-period Pink Floyd album, and one that ranks up there with Dark Side of the Moon, before the more misanthropic tendencies crept in. From Animals onwards I think there was something of a downward creep. High point for me is Shine On You Crazy Diamond, but really the whole album is great. And I can still remember guying the vinyl version and loving the sleeve and packaging.
I don't like this style of singing. It was OK I guess, but none of the songs really struck a chord with me, and I thought they were all pretty similar throughout the album.
The SAHB always sound like they'd have been better live than on record. This album is OK, though I think some of the lyrics (Gang Bang is particularly vile) sound a bit poor to modern ears. The Jacques Brel cover is very good.
It's been many years since I last played this album, probably back in the day when I had a vinyl copy (long since sold). The Wikipedia page calls this one of the greatest albums ever. Well, I think it's good but not some kind of masterpiece. Many reviews I see fit this into the psychodrama of the end of The Beatles. It's a good selection of songs.
This is the first time I've (knowingly) listened to a Wilco record, and I've played this three times now. The main impression I have is an album of pretty samey songs which are pretty dull. This isn't an album that challenges the listener, it's all rather smooth pop that in my view doesn't really distinguish itself. So I'd say it'd pretty average. I don't perceive a stand-out track here, but then again nothing's particularly awful.
Well this was an energising record to play, and I enjoyed it. But I don't get why an early 1980s hardcore punk record is so extraordinary that it gets into this list. Maybe I'm missing some impact this record had...
I do like The Doors and I'd rate their debut album very highly. This album isn't as good as that, being very much more of the same, and something of a return to the style after The Soft Parade.
Well, first off, it's good to have a non English language record. I'm not good enough at French to follow this, so I used a lyrics translation site to read the lyrics as I played this record. This album has a really lush sound which, coupled with Gainsbourg's terrific semi-spoken, semi-sung vocal style is top-notch. The album tells a story where the narrator knocks a young (under-age) girl off her bike and then engages his desire for her. You might not expect such content in a modern record, but I guess it's in keeping with Gainsbourg's somewhat louche persona. Weirdly, Melody wants to see the skies of Sunderland and heads off to her doom. Sunderland? Does that have significance in French?
I never really listened to Janis Joplin much before this. This is a great album, except for "Me and Bobbie McGee", where my dislike of country music trumps my liking for Joplin's voice. I wonder what the album would have been like had Joplin lived to properly complete it. And I wonder what her career would have been like.
This album is Springsteen's jump to major league stardom, and the title track is a classic stadium track. Springsteen worked really hard at making this album as strong as it is. The title track is the most recognisable and is very anthemic, though Springsteen's music isn't generally to my taste. I love the cover.
This is an astonishingly boring record.
I think this album marks the beginning of a heavier blues rock style of music, and Cream were one of the early 'supergroups'. I don't think this style of music has stood the test of time, but I do think it was quite an influential album.
I didn't find this a particularly exciting or engaging album to listen to.
I've never been a particular fan of Prince, and I've never playing this record before. On first listen, I was quite pleasantly surprised. However, as the album proceeds, I think there are some weaker tracks there - in fact, the last track 'Adore' is really pretty awful. Overall, this might have been a stronger album has a bit stricter quality control been applied.
In the early 1980s, ABC burst onto the UK music scene with a wildly refreshing cleanly produced pop music. ABC didn't sit well with my tastes at the time (severe post-punk) with its combination of polished pop and occasionally really trite lyrics. In retrospect, the album is quite an achievement of pop production though quite where it should sit in the firmament of the greatest albums I'm not sure. It's difficult to pick out the best tracks - the whole album seems to me at the same level.
I new of William Orbit as a producer for other artists' records, but I'd not listened to any of his own albums before. On my first play, I thought this was nice enough, but not particularly outstanding.
Recorded towards the end of his storied career, this is a cracking album by Muddy Waters - rousing Chicago electric blues by the master (and produced by Johnny Winter, whose backing yelps are audible). Every track is great. Excellent stuff.
This is a classic mid-70s guitar album. Every track is excellent. And look at Verlaine's hands in Mapplethorpe's cover photo!
Well, this is a pleasant album to listen to, though it doesn't grab my attention and noodles away quite soothingly in the background. The back story to the recording (in the wikipedia article) is interesting.
Oh this is a rather dull album.
Well, I think this isn't one of Bowie's best albums, though I do like 'Fame'.
This album seems to have something of a complicated history, with several versions having been released over the years - I think I played the 1992 Rykodisk edition, minus the bonus track. I was familiar with two of the songs ("Holocaust" and "Kanga Roo" through their covers by This Mortal Coil. I like the cover of "Femme Fatale". On first listen, I thought this album OK. On second listen, I liked several tracks, but not the whole album. I listened to the album a third time, and I felt it sounded a bit patchy and unfinished.
Well this is fun to listen to, but it's not something that appeals to me for repeated plays!
The first great Bowie album, this is chock full of excellent songs - it's where he demonstrated serious songwriting talent. Big Warhol/Factory/VU influence here in some of the songs.
While I hadn't played this album before, I was familiar with the title track. After listening to the album several times, I reckon that School's Out (the track) is fantastic, but that the rest of the album doesn't quite match it.
Lovely voice, but I get the feeling I being lectured, even gently. Not really to my taste.
I haven't played this in years since I lost interest in this style of music. I'm really not keen, though I get the point of the album, and Collins' drumming is great. A pleasant enough set of songs to listen to.
This is a rather dull album of country inflected rock, with insipid lyrics.
This record displays the band's influences openly, to the point the whole record comes over as a selection of pastiches. It ends up sounding a bit bland.
I've never really liked Pet Shop Boys - I think it's the rather emotionless feel to Neil Tennant's vocals. This is probably the best PSB album I've played, but I doubt it's one I'll play often.
So far on this site I've had several R.E.M. albums, about 3% of the albums to date! Anyway, R.E.M. is one of those bands I never really cared for back then. Didn't particularly hate them either. After having R.E.M. pushed at my via this list, I think I like them a bit better, but not enough to rush out an buy a copy. It's a pretty consistent album, Sidewinder and Everybody Hurts stand out for me.
I had high hopes for this album, as I have The XX's first two albums in my library. Unfortunately I found this album pretty un-memorable - nothing stood out as good (or as bad) over three listens. I think that's more than enough. I would rank this average, and I thought the previous albums were better.
I didn't really like Scritti Politti when this album was released, and I still find the excessively smooth production, lightweight pop stylings and Green Gartside's vocals a bit too much. But maybe over the years my dislike of this album has moderated. I can see why this is considered an album one ought to listen to, though I really can't give it a strong rating.
I'm baffled as to why this album was chosen, since The Marble Index and Desertshore are far better albums. I'd agree with Nico that the flute isn't great, but I think the sparse sound (presumably due to the absence of the drums and guitars wanted by Nico) is really great. Probably my favourite track is 'It Was A Pleasure Then'.
This is a nice album of quality pop songs, but not an essential album. I guess it's best seen as a development of The Beatles as pop song writers and performers. Some of these songs are really solid efforts.
I've never really taken to U2. I don't actively dislike them, it's just that they've always seemed to be rather an anthemic stadium rock style of music, even when they were a young and upcoming band. I didn't think anything here really stood out.
One of the four key Beatles albums. I can appreciate the importance of this record, but I don't really play The Beatles much, not really my thing.
I'd played albums by Sigur Ros before, so I knew what to expect - an album of lush dreamy music, somewhat proggy in feel. Lyrics mostly in Icelandic. this one of the rare non-English language album in this selection of albums, for which I'm pleased. However I thought the tracks were all a bit same-y, except for the occasional one where the singer's tone grated somewhat.
OK, well I'd not heard of this record before! I found it dull and boring with the same kind of vocal delivery throughout this excessively long album.
When I think back glorious singles like Billie Jean and Thriller, and the albums of the time, I think Bad is just not up there. It really suffers from the production values of the time, making it all sound rather samey and bland to my ears. It was a massive seller at the time, so I guess popularity counts for something.
In my opinion this is one of the truly great albums to come out of the New York punk scene. Originally bought a UK version back in the 1970s with slightly different track listing, after reading a ridiculously dismissive review in a HiFi magazine. It's a really fine debut album, and I think every track is great, but particularly Frankie Teardrop and Ghost Rider. More recent re-releases of this album include Keep Your Dreams. All excellent stuff and pretty infuential on later synth bands.
The music's good but not to my taste. But it's not really a live album if Wikipedia's comment that only about 40% is actually live recording is true (how do they measure that?).
I'd never played a Creedence Clearwater Revival album before, and I listened the first time with some apprehension that it might be another country-tinged rock album so beloved of this list. I found it quite varied in its apparent influences. Country, yes at times, but rock'n'roll, soul, blues, R'nB and all sorts. It was a very enjoyable LP to listen to. It's quite short, less than 30 minutes in the original release version. The stand out track for me is Bad Moon Rising, largely because it's the only CCR song I was familiar with (it was on the American Werewolf in London soundtrack). But the album as a whole enjoyable. Would I play it a again? Well, maybe.
This music rather passed me by at the time (I was aware of it, but never engaged with it). This is a pretty fine album, though it's really a bit long and rather overstays its welcome!.
I thought the opening Intro quite amusing. The second track (The Lost Ones) is pretty tedious cliched rapping. The vocals on the third track, Ex-Factor are just painful to listen to as is the fourth track, To Zion. This isn't looking good for this album. And it keeps on going. And I kind of lost the desire to listen to more of this. But I did play the whole thing and I frankly cannot see why this made it into this list of albums one must hear.
The album where Johnny Rotten stepped beyond the confines of punk, Sex Pistols and his stage name, reverted to his real name and released a stonking post-punk album. Next stop the mighty Metal Box! Lydon, Wobble and Levene on top form.
I was completely unaware of Sault, and this album. When I saw the brief Wikipedia description, I wasn't expecting a strong album. However...for the most part this is a good album, though I do wonder if it's possible to consider the impact and influence of a 2020 release in 2024.
Hmm...I'm not sure how to approach reviewing this record. First off, it's the kind of mainstream music that really leaves me a bit cold, and secondly (as a consequence) I have never really listened to Billy Joel except for a few hit singles that were quite inescapable. That said, as I play through this record, it seems like pretty inoffensive stuff, and there are elements there I quite like and it's pretty skillfully put together.
After being one of the leading bands in the UK punk explosion, and after two great punk albums, this double album marked a significant change for The Clash as they moved beyond the confines of the punk format, yielding an excellent set of songs strongly influenced by other musical styles and by observation of disparate ethnic/social groups in London. The album is chock full of great tracks from the title track that opens the album onwards, through Guns of Brixton, and I don't think there's a dud track. This album was in my view the peak achievement of the band, the follow-up, Sandinista was just a bit too bloated as a triple album. The album's cover is excellent, with the perfectly framed shot of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar - the fuzziness adds to the energy, and the typographical homage to the first Presley LP.
My first impression of this album (which I've not listened to since its release) are of a nice smooth and well-delivered soul album. I'm not massively grabbed by this - it's a bit too easy listening for my taste. Kiwanuka's voice is great, but I wish there was a bit more passion there.