341
Albums Rated
3.43
Average Rating
31%
Complete
748 albums remaining
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1950s
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Rater Style ?
60
5-Star Albums
12
1-Star Albums
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You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haunted Dancehall | 5 | 2.37 | +2.63 |
| Vulnicura | 5 | 2.79 | +2.21 |
| Among The Living | 5 | 2.85 | +2.15 |
| Music Has The Right To Children | 5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
| Bug | 5 | 2.92 | +2.08 |
| Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes | 5 | 2.94 | +2.06 |
| Deserter's Songs | 5 | 3.02 | +1.98 |
| Meat Puppets II | 5 | 3.02 | +1.98 |
| Scum | 4 | 2.08 | +1.92 |
| Autobahn | 5 | 3.09 | +1.91 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is This It | 1 | 3.82 | -2.82 |
| American Idiot | 1 | 3.77 | -2.77 |
| Parachutes | 1 | 3.46 | -2.46 |
| A Rush Of Blood To The Head | 1 | 3.44 | -2.44 |
| Channel Orange | 1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
| In The Wee Small Hours | 1 | 3.28 | -2.28 |
| White Ladder | 1 | 3.08 | -2.08 |
| Want One | 1 | 2.91 | -1.91 |
| Arc Of A Diver | 1 | 2.88 | -1.88 |
| Nick Of Time | 1 | 2.83 | -1.83 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 5 | 4.4 |
| R.E.M. | 3 | 4.67 |
| Radiohead | 3 | 4.67 |
| Sonic Youth | 2 | 5 |
| Miles Davis | 2 | 5 |
| Nirvana | 2 | 5 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 2 | 5 |
| The Clash | 2 | 5 |
| Bob Dylan | 4 | 4.25 |
| David Bowie | 5 | 4 |
Least Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Coldplay | 2 | 1 |
| Green Day | 2 | 1.5 |
| Frank Sinatra | 2 | 1.5 |
| Bruce Springsteen | 4 | 2.25 |
Controversial Artists
Artists you rate inconsistently
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Arcade Fire | 5, 2, 4 |
5-Star Albums (60)
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Popular Reviews
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
This album is a gem. It's perhaps one of the most influencial indus albums, and it's well diserve. It has an insane combination of agressive rhythms, layers of noise, melodies and experimentation. I love the very dense and cold sound of the record. Not my favourite NIN, but a 5 nonetheless!
2 likes
TLC
2/5
Not my jam. There are interesting bits of R'n'B in it, the background music is pretty OK, but R'n'B is really a genre I struggle to enjoy. I don't hate it, but I really don't like it either.
2 likes
Mariah Carey
1/5
That was painful. I feel like I spent an hour drowning in a field of marshmallows with unicorns farting rainbows all around me and believe it or not, but farting unicorns sound exactly like Mariah Carey does on this record.
1 likes
TV On The Radio
5/5
I knew them by name but I never really listen to them. Oh boy this is good! I loved their blend of pop and experimental music, it's quirky, it's weird, it's entertaining, it has really nice voice harmonies, there is a good work on textures and atmospheres, some tracks make me want to dance. That's the kind of albums that makes me stay on this journey.
texture atmosphere voice harmonies quirky weird
1 likes
Dinosaur Jr.
5/5
This is a strong album from Dinosaur Jr. displaying everything that makes their sound unique: the noisy guitars in which you can drown, that come in contrast with nonchalant vocals from J Mascis and his insane solos. These guys seems to be totally laid back but they're actually technically quite good, but with no show off, they're just doing it casually. More than 35 years later, it does not sound out-dated.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (12)
All Ratings
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Pretty solid blues rock from the late '60s. It's understandable how it became a classic, it's well-written and the melodies easily get stuck in your head. I love the guitar parts, full of licks (the blues influence is strong there), and how their create a discussion with the lead singer.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Great folk-pop album, great voice and great song-writting. It's too rare nowadays to have pop music with such meaningful lyrics. The stripped down songs are the best (hell, Behind the Wall shows that she doesn't need additional instruments), the others are a bit too overproduced (welcome to the '80s I guess).
DJ Shadow
4/5
Great album; stumbled across it almost 20 years ago and I'm still hooked in the first seconds. The composition and ambiance work on this album are noteworthy, it takes you to a journey with ups and downs, and I find the whole pretty coherent. There are obvious bangers (Stem/Long Stem for starters) and chiller parts that lean to trip-hop (and that the main clue that gives away the age of the record, you hear that you can smell the mid-'90s). The composition makes me think of progressive stuff I usually encounter in rock-related genres. And I can't imagine the work required to chisel such a record. Great work!
The Police
3/5
The mix of new wave and reggae is interesting, the bass guitar is omnipresent and very melodic; when the lead guitar is not playing dull reggae riffs it's actually interesting even though it sometimes a bit too low in the mix to my taste.
The way Sting sings with Carribean-like inflexion is quite annoying, that's probably the worst part of their "white reggae" (with the cultural appropriation issue it draws; the title itself makes me uncomfortable).
Whatever its flaws, it's clearly good quality pop music.
Beatles
4/5
I'm much more into their studio years than their early pop-rock years, but it still freaking fun to listen to. And it's full of short, catchy songs full of energy, nothing longer than 3', 30' in total; nice and sweet album to listen to. The music itself is not (yet) revolutionary but it's damn good nonetheless -- and actually not so obvious either; the sound of Harrison's 12-strings Rickenbacker is already something. The songwritting is good, and the interaction between McCartney & Lennon is playing well, their voices layered and intertwined for a great result.
Solomon Burke
3/5
I was not familiar at all with Solomon Burke before (only heard one of his songs in the closing scene of one of the seasons of the Wire), and while it's not my jam, it spend a nice time listening to it. He has a great voice, and the music supporting his voice is pretty nice and keeps the promise of the title: a pretty nice blend of rock and soul. Some guitar parts are actually pretty good! The way chorus are used is also interesting, in particular how they create a dialogue in Won't You Give Him.
The Smiths
3/5
I'm not super familiar with the Smiths but it's good quality pop/post-punk/indie rock from the '80s. Morrissey can sing that's for sure (even though sometimes he is whining a bit too much), and Marr knows how to play even though there is no technical demonstrations (no solo, nothing particularly fancy but it's well written and interpreted and the melodies are all potential earworms). The production of the album is a bit too dated, you instantly know you're listening to an album from the '80s. All in all it's ok but not so memorable for me.
And Morrissey is a racist prick now, it doesn't help
Leonard Cohen
3/5
It's much more enjoyable than what I feared at first. Leonard Cohen was part of my musical environment when I was growing up, and I must say that his drawling voice, slow and quiet music made me indifferent when it was not boring me to death. But I'm more familiar with his later work, and it seems that his earlier work is much more appealing (basic folk with nothing more than his voice and guitar, no fancy arrangements) and his voice a bit more dynamic than when he was getting older (less crooner, more folk singer). I even enjoyed some of it; it's simple, stripped down folk, guitar and voice going well together. There is far too much mouth harp though, it ruins part of the songs that would have been much better without it (or with a simple drumming pattern, or anything else really).
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
Pretty nice and full energy big band album, mostly instrumental. The sound is clear, each instrument at its place and the solos are really good throughout the record. The kind of jazz that makes you in a good mood
The Coral
3/5
This is pretty decent for a "The" band from the early '00s. The psychedelic side of the band is nice and they provide a good update of the genre. Singer voice is great, his inflections sometimes reminds me of Ryan Kattner of Man Man, and it definitely plays a role in the "sea shanty" feeling of some of the songs. When they mix their sound with ska/reggae, it's a bit more dull though (at least they don't sing with a fake Jamaican accent like Sting).
Beastie Boys
4/5
I was more familiar with the "Ill" records, but Paul's Boutique is another Beastie Boys masterpiece. The samples are particularly insane, once you start to pay attention to the music behind the voices. Their flow is still the same (and either you like it or you abhor it; I'm in the first category), the music is a bit more funky with less obvious "rock" part, really a good album. Although perhaps a tiny bit too long since it's very dense.
Dire Straits
3/5
Knopfler is a great guitar player and it shows in Dire Straits debut album, very precise and bluesy. And he's good in a good way, meaning that he is not a neck-wanker, he lets the music breathes. The upbeat songs are the really nice, the rest of the album is a bit too chill for me and turns almost boring unfortunately. The production is maybe a bit too clean too
Coldplay
1/5
It's the first time I give a go to the full album; as everybody on the Western world I was forced to hear a bunch of tracks from this record, and I never like them. The rest of the album is no better. It's mellow overproduced pop-rock with plaintive vocals. I can get why it appeals to a large audience -- it is designed to -- but there is nothing close to interesting in their music. Some people told me that they were not yet full commercial shitty pop-rock at that time; I'm afraid of what they did after that if it's going down the hill from here: this is already a torture. I could have definitely die without this album. And I would gladly give 0 star if possible.
The Only Ones
3/5
Kind of laid back punk; starting to listen to the record I was expecting something more pop oriented, but there are nice pieces of rock and punk in it. Some good guitar parts and the bass is really present, round and clear. The best songs are the fastest ones, the slower ones are more forgettable and the broken voice of the singer sounds better when he's not too drawling.
Pretenders
3/5
Efficient pop-punk album from the late '70s. Nice punkish guitar parts, efficient and "round" bass, good vocals. Hynde voice is great but a bit too present in the mix, and I have a preference for her singing when it's faster and harsher, more "punk". Actually applies to the album as a whole, tracks like The Wait are much better than more cheasier tracks.
A bit too long for the genre, it could have been easily cut in half. Also because it sounds sometimes a bit schyzophrenic between the punk and pop sides of the album.
Yes
3/5
I remember listening to some Yes about 20 years ago, an acquaintance introducing them to me somehow. That was probably my first contact with prog and assimilated genres, and it probably opened my horizon to a whole new music territory. That being said, few years later I started to listen heavily to the Floyds (and prog metal, and post-rock, and...), and I realised now that I never came back to Yes. And listen to them again, I guess I see why. There are some efforts put in the way tracks are built, but they lack some coherence compared to the Floyds. They also lack some grit, sometimes it's a bit too dull. And perhaps the voice is far too present for the genre. It's good, don't get me wrong, but there are more interesting things, prog-wise, to listen to.
Hugh Masekela
5/5
I did not know Hugh Masekela before. Glad I discovered this artist! Great jazz, very funky, not a bit boring: even the chill tracks have insane trumpet parts. First time I'm going to give 5 stars to an album I did not know before, and it's worth it!
Beck
3/5
I'm not a huge fan of Beck; it's kind of lay-back music is a bit too lay back for me... and in many cases he seems as bored as I could be will singing. Trying to get past this, the album is actually pretty good, the way songs are built with samples and instruments is nice and the most dynamic songs even caught me shaking my head. So yeah, still not a huge fan, but not that bad.
Dinosaur Jr.
5/5
This is a strong album from Dinosaur Jr. displaying everything that makes their sound unique: the noisy guitars in which you can drown, that come in contrast with nonchalant vocals from J Mascis and his insane solos. These guys seems to be totally laid back but they're actually technically quite good, but with no show off, they're just doing it casually. More than 35 years later, it does not sound out-dated.
Mercury Rev
5/5
I was not really familiar with Mercury Rev, knew the name of the band but not much more than this. And that was actually pretty good! Their songs are at the crossroads between a precious indie rock, with post- or prog-rock leanings, well carved melodies and a hint of shoegazing. Sometimes sounds like an updated version of the Floyds. I'll probably give this another spin(s).
The Zombies
4/5
Kind of Beatles variant, but less obvious and/or pop. It still tastes strongly like the '60s. It's well and subtly orchestrated, with a little psychdelic twist. Pretty nice to listen to.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
I was not familiar with her work before listening to this record. When she's leaning on the folk-side of the Force, it's really nice; but there is a more "pop" side of her work that I don't like as much. Great voice though.
AC/DC
3/5
Although I listen to a good load of heavy music and music with saturation, I've never been a huge fan of hard rock and/or heavy metal (especially NWOBHM and the likes), mostly because I can't keep up, it's too high power for me. I enjoy a song once in a while, but a whole record is hard to swallow for me. It exhausts me. So yeah, this is 5 stars hard rock, it's full of absolute classic and it's hard not to have feet taping in unison with the music, but it's too much. I'd rather listen to some good ol'punk: it's high energy all the same but in most cases they have the decency to keep under 30 min (hell, under 20 min even)
Manu Chao
3/5
One good thing here is that it's refreshing to hear another language than English in the 1001 albums selections, the list being awfuly biased. I love Mano Negra and if they don't belong to the list, they should. It was really good alternative rock, and of course Chao was a key component of the band. I discovered them as a young teenager, and I was actually pretty disapointed by Chao change of sounds when Clandestino was released years after. Latino rythms are not really my cup of tea; it was nice when mixed with rock with Mano Negra but much less appealing to my ears deprieved of the rock side here. So, 20+ years later, I was reluctant to listen to this record (I was about to give it one star and be done with it), but it came as a nice surprise: I'm still not a huge fan of the latino side of the album, but it's diverse, the music is pretty simple but nicely arranged, and it has this kind of dicey quality that makes it interesting (and reminds me of this patchwork aspect of Mano Negra).
It won't be in heavy rotation but giving a new listen to this record was actually not that bad and I can hear its qualities.
Minutemen
3/5
Interesting album, full of ideas and nice pieces. The album is maybe too full of... everything, but that's also what gives it its peculiar sound and appeal, its collage quality, sometimes it almost sounds as if listening to a sampling album, before samples became a thing.
Public Enemy
4/5
This is a really strong hip hop album, a masterpiece of its kind, and that was important for the history of the genre. I own this record for years and that's an album I come back to from time to time. The flow is flawless, the beats are strong. But these beats are also slightly repetitive, that keep it from being perfect.
5/5
Hell of an album. Absolute classic.
Beyoncé
2/5
The genre in which Beyoncé is evolving is really not my cup of tea, and I'm pretty disarmed to assess the quality of such an album. I gave it a try anyway and: (1) it's really not my jam, (2) I was surprised by the music that is not always some boring/simple rhythms, there are actually pieces of electronic music in the background that are not so obvious (and that makes it interesting), (3) I respect Beyoncé's fights and the way she uses mainstream music to push her agenda (she talks about feminism, racism, sexuality in ways that are not really customary in pop music).
Not as bad as I feared, not my jam, but there are things to get out of it.
The Divine Comedy
2/5
This is way too theatrical and orchestral, in a bad way. Maybe it's ironic? Anyway, it sounds pretentious and vain. And kinda boring.
4/5
I was not expecting a second Yes album so close to the last one, and I was not thrilled (I had a better memory of the band than what I heard a few days ago). But... this one is so much better. It has the grit and the epic side that was lacking to the Yes Album. There are jazz/technical parts, but they are not overwhelming. It's intense but they kept it short (below 40 min) which is also great to avoid an overdose. This is the kind of prog I like.
R.E.M.
5/5
For years I was a bit surprised to hear many people from a variety of (rock and metal) subgenres citing REM as a reference, as I knew them mostly for their big hits. Then I started to dig a bit, and was amazed by what I heard. Document is a good example of why people revere REM. It's well written, it's coherent, it's 5 stars rock with a nice twist, Stripe voice is great, and we can hear their influence in many bands to come (hard to come with a more proto-grunge song than Strange for example). I love the way they chose stripped down sound in the midst of the '80s craze for overblown sound. This is solid.
Public Enemy
4/5
It Takes a Nation... was a great album and is often praised as their most notable record, but Fear of a Black Planet is very strong too, perhaps even stronger. The political message is really strong, it has a more experimental music background, guitar parts that are great, and it does not suffer from the unnerving gimmicks from It Takes a Nation. This is the golden age of hip hop at its apex.
Laibach
3/5
Martial drums, guttural voice, orchestral arrangement, industrial and noisy bits here and there. It is easy to hear how this could have been ground breaking and influencial when it came out. It is also easy to get tired of their commitment to totalitarian imagery that they could have tune down from time to time.
Joanna Newsom
4/5
This is a pretty interesting album of carefully chiseled modern(-ish) folk with a baroque twist. The omnipresence of the harp is unusual but really nice, the orchestration is nice and not too overwhelming (i.e. it does not sound too cheesy), the voice is special, sometimes a bit on the edge, reminding me of Björk (with who she shares also a baroque/avant-garde liking). This album was recorded by Albini, which is also a seal of good quality!
Machito
4/5
Nice jazz with afro-caribbean bits in it. Not my favourite flavor of jazz, but stil pretty pleasant to listen to.
David Bowie
4/5
THAT is what I call a swansong. This album is close to perfect and shows well what Bowie could do, even close to the end. I like the fact that it is very jazzy, the electronic bits were less a novelty in his career but still enjoyable. I find the opening track a bit irritating though.
Arcade Fire
5/5
I remember when this came out, I remember the first time I listened to Rebellion (Lies), it really is a Proust madeleine. This kind of albums introduced me to a part of indie music I still love today. There is kind of too much of everything: too much instruments, too much people singing at the same time, mostly out of tune but it has its intrinsic quality. You can feel the collective listening to the album, and they tend to swap instruments from time to time which is also nice. It carries some nostalgia in the sound itself, even more so years after its release.
Mariah Carey
1/5
That was painful. I feel like I spent an hour drowning in a field of marshmallows with unicorns farting rainbows all around me and believe it or not, but farting unicorns sound exactly like Mariah Carey does on this record.
The Stone Roses
3/5
I knew them by name but I could not really remember anything I've listen from them. This is OK but not memorable, the album is far too long and lacks coherence. Which is also kind of its strength, exploring different paths in almost opposite directions. Some paths were worth taken, some much less. It's more a 2.5 for me but I'm in a good mood, let's round it to 3.
ZZ Top
4/5
This is some solid blues rock here. Very enjoyable and entertaining. Nothing particularly ground-breaking, but nothing pompous or overblown. They're good but not particularly showing off, and they take their time to play.
The Temptations
4/5
It's funky, it's pretty laidback, it has some great tunes. The second side of the album is a bit duller and more R&B than the groovy funk on the first side; if it has consistently stayed on the first side direction, it could have won 5 stars.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2/5
I forgot it almost as quickly as I listened to it. I did not have the time to rate it right away, and now I'm having hard times saying anything about it. I vaguely remember that some songs were entertaining, some others bored me. Sorry Tom Petty.
Donovan
3/5
It smells like the 60s, it has this simple and enjoyable taste of a time when everything seemed brighter and simpler. It's not a masterpiece but it's genuine, and I'd be actually quite happy if today's pop has this sort of qualities.
On top of that, it seems that the guy stayed true to himself through the years.
TV On The Radio
5/5
I knew them by name but I never really listen to them. Oh boy this is good! I loved their blend of pop and experimental music, it's quirky, it's weird, it's entertaining, it has really nice voice harmonies, there is a good work on textures and atmospheres, some tracks make me want to dance. That's the kind of albums that makes me stay on this journey.
texture atmosphere voice harmonies quirky weird
Fairport Convention
4/5
I never heard about them before; this is a pretty solid rock folk album. Sandy Denny's voice is amazing, the music is pretty classic but there are nice surprises. In the middle of the album, the long and almost progressive version of A Sailor's Voice took me by surprise and is really good. I'm not too fond of the Dylan's covers though.
The Police
2/5
It's not as bad as Reggatta de Blanc but it's quite uneven: Synchronicity I and II are pretty good, the known singles are also OK, Mother (so disliked by many) is actually more interesting from a musical point of view than many other songs on this album that are bland. A small half is OK, the rest is barely average.
Metallica
5/5
When I was 18 to 20, I was going every saturday to music shops in my hometown, spending whole afternoons listening to music, and buying more or less random stuff, partly because I was eager to build my musical culture. Master of Puppets is one of these albums I knew about but never listen to, and that I decided to buy. I loved the stark, raw and stripped down sound (especially compared to what I was listening to at that time -- way too much symphonic metal). It's fast but not overly technical, it's kind of harsh but every track is actually pretty long and takes it time to develop. I did not listen to this album for quite some time and I still love it to the bone. I've never dug too much what they did afterward, but this album is gold.
The Black Crowes
2/5
That's close to perfect music when you don't intend to listen to music. So you'll also forget it as fast as the last tune ends. Also without checking the info on the album I would have bet that it was from the 70s (even the cover is misleading), and it really sounds like they did no effort to update this sound and make it more "modern" somehow (there's a good load of revivals where the sound from an era is used as an inspiration but with a modern twist). It would probably have more value if really from the 70s. It's not bad per se, but should it be among the 1001 albums I should listen before I die? Not sure.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Sorry, I'm still not a fan of Cohen. And with time flying by, it seems to me that he became a caricature of himself. His slow, drowling voice may be soothing to some, it is irritating to me. And I've never been a huge fan of slow music; there are very few exceptions, but Cohen is not of them. I still find it pretty boring.
Sonic Youth
5/5
Hell yeah! That's funny to have The Black Crowes and Sonic Youth almost in a row with two albums released the same year. One is boring and replaying over and over ideas that were already 20 years old, the other one is abrasive, creative, full of ideas, sometimes not exactly knowing where it is going but at least trying to go somewhere and not treading water. For the record, I listen to lots of stuff that were inspired by Sonic Youth, and even though I'm not overly familiar with their work, it feels like home because the way they make cry their instruments, full of noise and dissonance, is very familiar to me.
Steely Dan
2/5
I like prog rock. I can appreciate funk. I love jazz. And yet, while mixing these genres, Steely Dan succeeded to make this album deeply blunt and boring.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
Really good folk rock here. The title is well found though (in the litteral sense in French, rehash), as it is not particularly original. But nice to listen to.
Sonic Youth
5/5
Another major album from Sonic Youth! Once again, I'm not overly familiar with their work but it's a real pleasure to dig into their discography thanks to 10001albums. Daydream Nation is more raw than Goo, really abrasive, there is a punk urgency to their sound, but paradoxically they take their time to develop their songs. Noise is everywhere, they are always on the verge of sound chaos. And what an intro! Great album.
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
I knew them by name and now I know I would have been happy if it stayed that way. It's actually pretty boring to listen too. It's well arranged, they can sing, but I'm bored to death and it's far too mellow for me. I was about to rate it with 2 stars, but it was saved by the Chain that is rather entertaining, and by the end of the last track that builds nicely some tension.
Tito Puente
3/5
Latino music in general is not really my cup of tea, and I'm apparently not a fan of mambo. The record is saved by a great brass section and some jazzy bits that are pretty nice.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Pretty good laid back hip hop. I like how samples are used, I love the rythm overall of the album that is an invitation to chill. And the production is also pretty good with a nice and round sound. The contrast compared to gangsta rap of the same period is striking.
Van Morrison
2/5
I'm a bit taken aback by the production, it is said he did it by himself, and it shows (not in a good way), sometimes the sound is muddy, sometimes, instruments are too far away or too saturated (once again, not in a good way). It sometimes leans to kind of jamming sessions (and again, not in a good way). Note that I love DIY, I love saturation and improvisation, but it somehow succeeds in spoiling these. I also feel like it lacks coherence, going in different directions in a uncoordinated fashion. The country bits are a bit boring too. It's kind of frustrating because it seems to me that this album has potential, but wasted... and while listening to it I read about Van Morrison and I am even less inclined to give it a good rating.
Brian Eno
4/5
This was interesting. I mostly know Eno for his ambient work, and this album is more diverse (exploring more different genres). It's interesting also to hear how much ahead he is of his time: bits of the album sound like post-punk when it was just emerging. What makes its strength (the diversity) is also sometimes a weakness, and even though the album is pretty short, some parts sound not as interesting to me. Actually it could be only side B and I would be very happy (OK, we'd need to swap Energy Fools the Magician and Here He Comes). Side A is a 2.5 for me, side B a good 5.
The Killers
3/5
This is good quality pop. To me, it has the grit bands like Coldplay are lacking. Perhaps it's the vocals? The sound is globally not that clean; sure there are crystalline arpeggio but also its load of saturated guitars. The first half is pretty high enery, the second half is much more boring though.
Fela Kuti
5/5
This is good. So good! I love jazz, and this takes it to a new dimension. The rythm section is insane, and it really puts you in a sort of trance. It's hard to refrain to get up and dance listening to this record. Amazing
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
Can you die several times of boredom? I naively thought that you couldn't. Thank you for Clapton and friends to help me push the boundaries of the Unknown. OK, let's aknowledge the fact that Clapton gave here an almost Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Licks in only 75 minutes.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
This is a pretty decent pop-rock album. It's kind of dated (some tracks more than others, You Learn is terrible from this point of view), it's clearly pop music, but it is saved by the intensity of Morissette's voice and grit. I love the angry Alanis, the mellow one not so much. Thankfully she's more angry than mellow!
Jane's Addiction
3/5
I knew the name, but never cared to listen to them (too many things to listen to and it's already hard to catch up with new releases to lose too much time in oldies). I was expecting... more? better? They have a stellar reputation, I guess I can understand what makes them interesting when it came out but... Farell's voice is pretty annoying, Navarro is shredding too much for the genre, and it sometimes lacks coherence. The slower/quieter songs are better. This is OK, but far for memorable.
Radiohead
5/5
It's funny because I don't have a very good memory of Radiohead from this period. I'm a kid from the '90s so Creep is part of the background noise I grew up with and loved, but starting with Kid A, I felt like I was losing my balance, the music was off/odd, it was a bit too strange for me; more likely I was not yet ready for it. I listened to Kid A not so long ago and loved it and was surprised how easy it was to listen to and how great it was (compared to my old memories). I remember well when Hail to the Thief came out (partly because of the huge "fuck you!" they addressed to the music industry and greedy artists like Metallica, releasing the album for a "pay what you want" price) and I remember having a hard time wrapping my head around their music. And now, years later (and a reasonable number of strange music listen to in the mileage -- Igorrr, amiright?), I feel at home. It's a great album: it's diverse yet coherent, the electronic bits are well used and the other instruments still find their place in the mix, Thom Yorke voice is of course still great, it's kinda entertaining in its bizarre way.
Pere Ubu
4/5
This is what punk should always sounds like.
The Doors
4/5
Great blend of blues and psychedelic rock. I mostly knew The Doors with a best-of I owned as a teenager, and I don't know so well their full records. It was pretty pleasant to listen to. The characteristic sound of the organ feels less present than in other of The Doors tracks I had in mind and it therefore sounds a bit less dated than other of their releases.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
It's not exactly my cup of tea, but she has an incredible voice and the music is pleasant to listen to. Probably won't listen to it again willingly, but happy to have heard it at least once.
The Young Rascals
3/5
This is clearly dated (from the first note you know you're going to listen to an album from the '60s), this is well played, but a bit unoriginal and lacking coherence. It was not unpleasant, but not really memorable
Hole
5/5
What an album! It's full of rage, of energy, of melody. Listening to it almost 30 years after its released, it stands out as one of the best albums of the genre and the period.
Aerosmith
3/5
Pretty decent '70s rock album, it has everything you could expect from an album from this time. Good listen overall.
Elliott Smith
4/5
Once again I knew the name and perhaps one or two songs but never listen to a whole album from him. This is a very good indie, lo-fi, guitar/voice album. All songs are carefuly carved, it feels like he's playing on the couch close to you. No fuss, nothing to fancy, but it works well. Sad and sometimes insanely beautiful.
Neil Young
4/5
Another solid album from Neil Young. I always like how he navigates between stripped down folk and more "high voltage" rock, even though the former is more present than the later. Southern Man is a banger!
Love
2/5
The first part is boring second (or third) rate '60s psychedelic rock, but the long track on face B is worth listening. Would have been better with no singing though, just them jamming is pretty good. It's a 2.5 for me, could have been 3 thanks to She Comes in Colors but downgraded to 2 because of the singing on the same track (and the rest of the album that is far from really good).
Pentangle
3/5
That was... interesting. Almost felt like listening to medieval stuff; you can smell a certain fragance of folk from the '60s in this record. I like the stripped down aspect of the album, and most of the songs are not boring. The voice is great. The overall is a bit strange, but not uninteresting.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
There are some great tunes on it (I mean, Kashmir!) but it's slightly too long and they may have kept it shorter for a more impactful record. Undisputable classic nonetheless
Nina Simone
4/5
I'm generally not up for vocal jazz but this album is great, not dull a single second, impactful in its themes, and what a voice!
Air
3/5
It's not bad but I found it pretty boring. I already knew the album as it was a big hit in France when it was released, and of course some of the titles were huge success. There are nice ideas in the record, there are entertaining bits, I understand what they did with the atmosphere, but it's not my jam, too chill for me. And perhaps it's me but it sounds pretty dated. Based on my own feelings, I'd put 2 stars, but objectively it deserves better.
Super Furry Animals
2/5
Pretty annoying pop-rock trying to be innovative mixing different bits (in both sense) but failing to produce anything much interesting to listen to. Sometimes it's even painful when they take out brass instruments and mellow singing. There are few interesting parts, but not enough to grab my attention. And it's long and sometimes pompous.
Gang Of Four
5/5
The influence of the Gang and this album is undeniable, and well deserve. It's cold but fun in a twisted way. Some songs are so entertaining; I couldn't help but nod in rhythm while listening to the album.
Meat Puppets
5/5
Oof, that was great. So many great ideas put coherently together within only 30 minutes of music. I can see why it has to be on this list and the influence it might have had on generations of musicians. It's also actually the first time I listen to the original versions of Plateau, Oh Me and Lake of Fire; that was fun.
4/5
This is arguably hell of a record. Whatever U2 became, they were able, in the '80s, to release albums that were commercial success with really interesting music, ambiant sounds, a bit of experimentation, far from the easy and obvious stadium pop-rock other produced at the same time. After a few seconds I was already far, far away, taken back to old memories with this unforgettable riff. The album is a bit too long though and the second part of the album has less obvious hits than the first part.
David Bowie
5/5
This album is a total no-brainer to rate. Every single bit of this is great, even the less-known songs are amazing.
Nas
4/5
This hits hard. The flow is insane, even as a non-native speaker I can hear how well the lyrics are crafted, the background music is really good, with jazzy bits and is less annoying that the "blips" and "wheeez" of his older brothers from NYC.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
I can appreciate Gaye's great voice even though the genre is not particularly my favourite and this kind of albums always sound a bit dated to me. The age particularly show in the arrangements; some songs have great background music to go with Gaye's voice, some others are a bit dull and boring with too many strings and mellow melodies. When the brass come or the rhythm kicks in, it's another story!
Marilyn Manson
4/5
So the guy is a scum (a real one; for a very long time I just thought he was acting like one (as an agitator) but that he was a decent guy, as some interviews -- for example in Bowling for Columbine -- could let think) but the trilogy started with Antichrist is huge. Antichrist is not my favourite (I like the peculiar atmosphere of Mechanical Animals and I like even better Holy Woods) but it lays ground for the said trilogy. It has many bangers and despite the length of the album, it's pretty much an 'all killer, no filler' type of record. It hits hard with these rhythms so characteristic of industrial music, it has all these punkish riffs, and Manson's way of singing may be annoying but I kinda want to scream with him. I didn't listen to this for ages, and it takes me back to my teenage years, full of anger and despair and happy to find some relief in (what I found to be, at the time) dark, agressive music.
Bob Dylan
5/5
This is objectively a monument. And compared to other Dylan's albums I've listen to, there is not too much harmonica to spoil the songs.
Talking Heads
3/5
The post-punk bits are nice but it kind of lacks the "dark side" of post-punk, it's sometimes a bit too sweat, as a '60s pop album. Interesting but not overwhelmingly good
Culture Club
2/5
I give it a second star because of gender-bending Boy George infuriating bigots. Apart from that, it's pretty dull '80s pop.
The Incredible String Band
2/5
"A fish on a dish is that what you wish". OK, I think I really needed to listen this album to find at last my most profound need. Or perhaps it just shows how good 'shrooms were back in the day. There are also deep universal truths as "amoebas are very small".
OK, enough laugh. The album is really dated, the usage of middle-eastern or asian instruments is really typical of this period. It has a characteristic folk sound, and that's not my favourite flavor of folk. The way the singer sings is also pretty annoying. It may have been influencial, but I found it pretty difficult to listen to.
Björk
5/5
I felt in love with Homogenic a long time ago, but I'm not very regular to follow Björk's work & career. But I'm generally happy to hear something from her: her universe is very distinctive and personal, and I like the way she intertwins her peculiar vocals with the music. Vunicura is a solid album, perhaps calmer than Homogenic but all the ingredients I like in her music are there. And it was refreshing to listen to her after a serie of pretty "meh" records... I even listen to it twice.
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Pretty good album, perhaps their better, the music is strong, but I still don't know if I like or despite Corgan's voice.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
This is a good blues album, played by a bunch of English white guys.
Doves
3/5
The album does not survive the first impression given by the magnificent intro, mixing shoegaze & trip-hop bits. It's not bad either, but I was hooked by these first 3 minutes and was let down too fast. I read that many compare them to Coldplay and I globally disagree: the music is better built, there's no gimmicks as putting keyboards everywhere and sad voices. There are regularly interesting bits (hints of shoegaze, sometimes lots of reverb on the voice, bits of electronic music). But it feels like it could have been better, more inventive, more thrilling that it is. 3 minutes after listening to the album I was excited, 30 minutes later I was nostalgic for all this album could have been.
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
Few songs are vaguely nice, the majority is simple boring pop-rock when it's not worse than that with archetypical american gimmicks. I would have die happy without listening to this record.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
It's good britpop I guess? OK to listen too, but not really my cup of tea. For a band of the genre the music is not too pompous and stays pleasant but I won't go back to it.
Supergrass
3/5
The first half is really good pop-punk, high energy and entertaining. The second half is unfortunately much more boring sweet pop. The first half would have been a 4 or more, but the second half? meh.
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
This album is a gem. It's perhaps one of the most influencial indus albums, and it's well diserve. It has an insane combination of agressive rhythms, layers of noise, melodies and experimentation. I love the very dense and cold sound of the record. Not my favourite NIN, but a 5 nonetheless!
Bob Dylan
4/5
Although I like the early Dylan, this album that marks the transition to a more electric sound is really nice too. It's cleaverly added to the spine of the songs that still keep a folk base.
Throwing Muses
4/5
I was more familiar with their recent work and this was a good discovery. They were really more post-punk at the time, I also see a Siouxsie feeling in this album and it was overall nice to listen too. I prefer their most recent work (I love Purgatory/Paradise!) but this is first-class music anyway
Miles Davis
5/5
This is a killer. Definitely cool, insanely good. The truth is, anything Davis did deserves 5 stars.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
This is an honest blues rock album. On top of its musical qualities, it is not too long so it stays fresh and enjoyable.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
I'm not a huge fan of reggae but this is clearly a good album. I love the raw sound; the lyrics are meaningful and impactful.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
A good old Led Zeppelin classic. Better not to focus too much on the lyrics that are stupid at best, unsettling and disgusting at worst. Great riffing, great drumming, great bass lines, and well, Plant's vocals are what they are you know -- sometimes I find them powerful, sometimes irritating.
Mott The Hoople
3/5
Decent glam rock. The first track is super entertaining, the rest is pretty OK. They sound as second knifes though; should I really listen to them before I die? Well now is too late to answer this question.
Steely Dan
3/5
This is a much more enjoyable album to listen to than Aja that was pretencious, overblown and boring. It is however pretty innocuous, but I can well imagine drinking a cold beer or mojito on the beach with the sun setting in the background and a nice breeze from the ocean listening to this record.
Adele
3/5
I was ready to hate it at worst or be indifferent about it at best. I live in a tight enough music bubble that I never ever heard a song from her (or none that I could identify as being from her) and I was expecting way worst seing her popularity. And... I must say she's got a great voice (and pretty well-used) and the music backing her is decent. I can't say I'll listen to her again willingly, but it was not unpleasant.
Beatles
4/5
This is when it starts to be really interesting. You can hear that they start to explore new ways, to experiment, and move from the nice but not so interesting (from a music point of view) sound of their first years. And it will get even more interesting than this from now on.
Apart from that, WTF with the last song? Seems that Lennon regretted it afterwards, but still.
Keith Jarrett
5/5
Another great jazz album discovered thanks to 1001albums. The story is amazing, the result even more so; this is truly a mindblowing example of chaos turned into art. I love how the circumstances turned something that would have been a (probably) great concert to an absolutely unique work of art.
I've never heard of this album, least heard it. I'm glad I've done it now, and I know I'll come back to it.
Frank Zappa
5/5
I love the energy, and I love this kind of all-over-the-place sound, going in all directions at once, with instruments and sounds colliding to create music out of this seemingly random chaos.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
I didn't listen to this in more than 20 years. I still know what to expect next at the end of each title, so I guess I listened to it quite a few times back in the day. So, I was happy to bring back memory, but re-listening to this album, it strucks me how repetitive it is. I have no issue with repetition — I generally love it — but when it's the music, not the lyrics. And it gets annoying. Apart from that, the music itself is diverse and there are not two similar tracks. An instrumental version of this album would deserve another star.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
This is OK rock'n'roll, entertaining, a bit dated of course, hard to really evaluate the novelty with today's ears.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Nice funk album, very entertaining. Some songs are a bit too cheesy though, but that was overall nice to listen to.
Wilco
3/5
I loved the intro, that made me expect something else... in the end I am not so disappointed, it's a decent alt/soft rock album. A bit too long though, and a few songs are a bit too cheesy to my taste.
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
South american/latino music is generally not my cup of tea. But even though, that was nice to listen to, especially thanks to the more up-beat songs.
Depeche Mode
4/5
I knew of course the hits of this album, but the other songs are pretty good too. It's dark and catchy, sufficently diversed to not be boring. It's a good 4.5 stars for me
Stan Getz
3/5
Funny to have the daughter and two albums later her father. I'd no idea where the first track -- very famous -- came from. Once again, it's not really my cup of tea but the jazz bits make it pleasant to listen to anyway.
Joy Division
5/5
Oh yeah, this is a great album. Fun fact is my better half offered it to me mostly because of the cover (it's adapted from the very first detection of a pulsar, in '67, by Jocelyn Bell Burnell -- yeah, we're nerds). I vaguely knew them, and felt in love with their cold and yet dancing music. I love how overwhelming the bass sound is. Songs as New Dawn Fades are close to perfection.
The Fall
3/5
I'm vaguely familiar with The Fall & Mark E Smith. I get why they are important, this album is nice but it's not my favourite flavor of post-punk.
Coldplay
1/5
I was almost going to give it 2 stars and then I read on Wikipedia that its success was linked to Radiohead going too far in their experimental side. Come on! That's an insult to intelligence.
TLC
2/5
Not my jam. There are interesting bits of R'n'B in it, the background music is pretty OK, but R'n'B is really a genre I struggle to enjoy. I don't hate it, but I really don't like it either.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Still not a fan of Cohen, but I heard this album so often when I was a kid... still, it has almost all the flaws I find in Cohen's music, but it has So Long Marianne, so it got an extra point. Also, I had to check but yes, the gothic band Sisters of Mercy are called like that as a reference to the Cohen's song.
The Who
4/5
A bit long, a bit overblown, but hey, isn't it a rock opera? Shouldn't it be too much by definition?
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
I had no idea where *this* song came from. I loved the fiddle on the first song, but then it turned quickly boring. There are maybe two or three songs that can be rescued and are not too bad, with nice brass section.
Peter Frampton
2/5
Halfway through the first song I'm already yawning. This is pretty boring and innocuous pop rock from the '70s. Apart from the fact that it was a hit in the US in the late '70s, I really don't see what's so good in this album that I should listen to it before I die.
Anthrax
5/5
I'm somehow much more familiar with Slayer and early Metallica than with Anthrax, that I always saw as second fiddle in the genre. Glad 1001albums changes this situation. I love Reign in Blood and Master of Puppets, and Among The Living deserves its rightful place at their side. Everything is really good: strong rhythm section, fast and precise guitar riffs, good singing (although I find it sometimes a bit too prominent). Really enjoyed this time Among the Living.
Gorillaz
5/5
This is a bit sentimental as I listened to this album a lot when it came out, but of course it's a great record. It's very diverse, it shows all Albarn is capable of, it has 5 stars guests, it can go from son cubano to trip hop to abrasive rock. It's a mess, but a beautiful one. This introduced me to trip hop back in the day and seriously broaden my musical horizon.
The Temptations
4/5
Really groovy, feel good and fun. The music is flawless, nice guitar riffs, solid rhythm section, and great brass section!
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I'm pretty sure I can recycle what I said for Exile: good blues album from a bunch of white guy.
M.I.A.
4/5
I had no idea what I was going to listen to, but as soon as it started I recognized the voice of the iconic songs of Slumdog Millionaire. Her flow is precise and a bit agressive but I quite like it, the background music is pretty nice too, regularly evolving in electroclash territory.
The Who
3/5
Another (almost) rock opera from the Who. It's shorter (as the project was aborted) but apart from some nice highlights (synthesizer in the first track, the classic Behind Blue Eyes) it sounds a bit too much as (boring) classic rock.
Nick Drake
3/5
This is really quiet, carefully chiseled folk. There are nice guitar parts, but it globally lacks of dynamics, for both the melodies and the voice. And I find the voice particularly dull, it lacks power, grit, something to make it more interesting.
Meat Loaf
4/5
This is great, very theatrical and solid, rock record. High quality compositions and a great voice. I was not so familiar with Meat Loaf before listening to this, and that was a pleasant listen.
Bobby Womack
3/5
Great voice. Not really into this kind of R'n'B. If You Think You Lonely Now is kinda creepy.
Morrissey
2/5
I love when artists release solo work that helps us realise that they actually not so interesting without the right people around them, whatever they think of themselves. Morrissey minus Marr? Meh.
Oh, and last time I checked he was still a racist prick.
Pixies
5/5
I know this album for a long time, as my older brother was listening to this in the middle of the '90s. I remember having mix feelings about Pixies because I found it too experimental and dissonant. Apart from Where Is My Mind, I did not listen for this entire album for more than 20 years. And guess what? In the meantime I've been listening to a shitload of noisy and dissonant music, so now I love it, of course. And all hail to Kim Deal, she's hell of a bass player and the vocal harmonies between her voice and Francis' are great.
The Doors
4/5
It might be my favourite from the Doors: it has not the gimmicks of psychedelic rock of their beginnings (with too much organ), it's not bloated as their more orchestrated work (the Soft Parade), some songs are probably the most bluesy/stripped down tunes of their repertoire. And it ends with Riders on the Storm.
The Go-Go's
5/5
I never heard of them, I'm glad to listen to this record. It's really entertaining quality pop punk/post-punk. Good riffs, a bit of surf on top of it, good vocals (in the genre), strong vocal harmonies/backing vocals. At first I was going to give it a 4 and it actually gets better, there are stronger tunes in the middle of the album and even some darker melodies at some point.
Brian Eno
4/5
It's easy to get why this album was so influencial with its samples, loops and collages. I can't imagine how it sounded when it was released; nowadays it's probably much easier to listen to such a record, since many other artists built their sound from it. It may be experimental, but it's pretty easy to listen to because there is always a strong structure and melodies (OK, more or less) present to not lose you.
Iggy Pop
5/5
Hell yeah this is a strong classic. Any albums having both Lust for Life AND The Passenger would qualify.
Nitin Sawhney
2/5
The trip hop bits are OK, it's nice to hear another language than English, but it lacks some coherence, sometimes it's a bit bloated, and sometimes it sounds too much as cheap R'n'B. Or worst, like Immigrant that sounds like a Disney musical. A bit more of coherence and a bit less of bad bits, it might have got 3 stars.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
I knew they existed but never really paid attention to them. To be honest I thought they were a dub band (I mean, who put 'soundsystem' in their name apart from dub bands?). I actually find this kind of mix between electronica and rock entertaining. I wouldn't listen to it all day long, but it's fun. I'm not too fond of the voice that reminds me a bit too much of early '00 rock revival bands.
Kanye West
2/5
The guy is a scumbag, but that's more or less all I know from him, I've lost interest/lost track with mainstream hip hop a long time ago. Is it any good? I don't particularly like his flow (there is no particular edge, it's a bit too smooth/dull to my taste), the background music is not too bad but a bit bloated. We can clearly hear that lots of efforts were put in the production, but I'm not really convinced and it's hard to claim that is pure genius. It wasn't really bad overall, but not that good either.
Boards of Canada
5/5
I love this kind of ambient music, I love the sound of old synthesizers. I love how this kind of music is painting sound-/landscapes and to immerse myself in those.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
This is good R&B/soul, well written, well interpreted, but it's a bit too long to my taste even though I can understand that if you're into the genre it's probably the best almost-2 hours you can spend. I'd put a 3.5 if I could, but let's round it to 4.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
I generally love Simon & Garfunkel, but this album is a bit disappointing: very short and really too much fillers for such a short album. It is saved by its hits, but I was expecting better from them.
Amy Winehouse
2/5
She did have a voice, but even if it was pretty powerful, I never really liked her inflexions, the timbre, something is off for me. Musically, I like jazz but I always prefer when it's instrumental. And when the beats start, to give the background jazz music a modern twist, I find it pretty annoying. I never really got all the fuss around Winehouse, and listening to this album did not convinced me that I am missing something.
The Strokes
1/5
Isn't it the worst out of the naughties? I really disliked this pseudo-garage rock revival at that time, and it didn't age well either. It sill a music performed by a bunch of poseurs who painfuly recycle old ideas while being nonchalant to pass for the coolest kids in town.
Bee Gees
2/5
As almost everybody, I knew mostly the Bee Gees for their disco era and had no idea they had such a diverse career. So, this is a not so bad soft-rock album, sometimes very Beatle-esque. The fact that it is only ballads makes it a bit boring though, it lacks of dynamic and might have been better with punchier songs. Once again, I wonder however why this appears in this list. It might be a 2.5, but I rate it 2 because it has no real significance.
Billy Bragg
2/5
This is an honest alt-country/folk album. The story behind the album is nice, it is well interpreted, but I'm not really sensitive to this specific genre, it lacks edges, and I honestly find it a bit boring.
Doves
3/5
Decent indie rock from the early naughties. It has some dream-pop/shoegazy quality on some songs that makes it a bit more interesting that the average indie rock album from this period.
Lauryn Hill
4/5
Funny thing is that I was convinced that Kill Me Softly was on this record. My mistake. Apart from that, that's a really good rap/R&B album with strong backup instrumental, nice collaborations and Hill's voice that is impressive. Although I really like her flow, so I wouldn't have complained with more rap and less melodic singing. The album is a bit long, and the interludes are a bit much.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Surprisingly enjoyable for a genre I don't really care about. Good interpretation, the laid-back songs are not boring, and there are some slightly more upbeat songs that are quite nice.
The Soft Boys
4/5
I did not know them before listening to the album. And I had to doublecheck the release date; it sounds more modern than when it was released! It's an interesting mix of post-punk/indie rock that prefigures what will come next in the decade. There are lots of good ideas, the songs are catchy and entertaining; that's a nice discovery.
Missy Elliott
3/5
It's a pretty chill rap album. It wouldn't be so memorable if wasn't for the fact that it was one of the albums playing a role to assess women rappers position in the mainstream.
Napalm Death
4/5
OK it's not the easiest album to listen to, but the truth is it's an impressive album: despite the apparent chaos, it's far from a mess (actually you can't play at this speed and being messy, else it would only be a maelstrom), it's actually pretty diverse (all things considered), and you should definitely read the lyrics (yeah, I won't lie, it's hard to hear them). Face A and B are quite different (basically performed by different musicians) and I prefer the sound of the first side, but they're honestly both strong. And it's the right length to avoid to be bored. It's so refreshing, it's hard to think that this album is closed to 40 years old!
Nirvana
5/5
This album is insanely popular, but deserves it. All killers no fillers.
Iron Maiden
4/5
Iron Maiden always sounds a little bit too much to me; too much arpeggios, too much theatrical singing/screaming, too much galloping drums, and not enough room to breathe. But it's the accumulation of these that makes it too much, individually this album is full of great songs and it's without a doubt a classic in the genre.
The Magnetic Fields
2/5
When I was 14 we bet with some friends that 3 of us could tell 1000 jokes in 24h. We succeeded, but let me tell you than about 95% of the jokes were pure rubbish and mostly bad situational jokes.
This album is the equivalent of this stupid 14 year old bet, done by a professional musician.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
I knew them by name but never listened to their music. It reminds me of other indie acts from the late '90s/early '00s I like. I like the atmosphere of this kind of indie bands. It's simple but well carved compositions, not pretentious, just good music.
The Offspring
4/5
I'm not fully objective on this one since it's an important record for me, discovered at the beginning of my teenage years, that started to open me to rock, punk, metal. The truth is it's not a bad album, it's even a really good one in its own genre. And it is sufficiently diversed, with faster songs (most of them), some more down tempo, some almost surf (What happened to you?), some almost metal (the Smash riff). It's production is much rougher than what they did afterwards and I kinda like it better that way.
Van Halen
2/5
The guy could surely play the guitar, they discovered a synthesizer can make some music, and they wrote a huge hit. The rest is very dated and overhyped hard rock with the worst of its tropes.
R.E.M.
4/5
An excellent debut album, maybe not as strong as the few others to be released in the decade, but still great.
The Monkees
2/5
In an alternate universe, a band from the '60s started to play joyful pop/rock, but they were on the other side of the Pond, took another animal as a band name, and never took an experimental turn making their music remotely interesting. I prefer to stay in my very own universe with our bugs.
Marvin Gaye
2/5
So we had a high point with What's Going On? and now a pretty low point with this one. Nothing much to save on this record, it's dull and writing a WHOLE DAMN album on this subject?! If You Think You Lonely Now from Womack was already too much and painful to listen to, a whole album is yet another story.
Kraftwerk
5/5
The fact that this turns 50 this year is mind-boggling; they were ahead of their time and produced a really ground-braking record.
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
I love jazz, but I always struggle with jazz with singers. Don't get me wrong, Ella Fitzgerald has a great voice, but the music is serving her voice (which is totally understandable) but what I like the most in jazz is the music itself. Not as a background. And it also tends to be smoother than other subgenres, and I like my jazz with edges. So, it's OK but I'm not too fond of it. Also, it's way too long. A shorter version would have get probably 4 stars, but gosh, that was too much for me.
Funkadelic
5/5
I never heard them before and this is hell of a record. The title track itself deserve a 5! It's full of funk, rock, experimentation, it's all over the place at some point, they don't hesitate to jam but without losing the listener. Great album, great discovery.
Depeche Mode
4/5
You can hear that they start to find the sound that define them so well and that will be mature with their next release, Violator. It's not as good as their sound is still a work in progress, but it's going in the right (and dark) direction.
Sinead O'Connor
5/5
Wow. I knew her by name mostly, but never really listened something from her. This is very powerful. Her voice is amazing, the music is simple but moving and goes perfectly with her singing. It somehow reminds me of Tori Amos (and now I guess I am aware of one of Amos' influences). Great discovery.
Madness
3/5
This is pretty OK; I like the atmosphere of the album, that is a mixture of joy (it's ska after all) and nostalgia/melancholy. It's pretty diverse too. But if I can see its qualities, I'm not really fond of the result and if the production is good, it sounds a bit dated nonetheless.
The Notorious B.I.G.
2/5
I lost count on the m*therfuckers and the gunshots. It might be the best of gangsta rap, but also somehow its worst.
Talking Heads
3/5
It's interesting to hear the direction they started to take with this album, after a debut album that was more raw. Somehow about half the songs were a bit irritating to me, but some were real gems, even though the album seems to be pretty coherent.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
3/5
White boys hip-hop. It's not bad actually, the music is a nice blend of rock and laid back jazz/funk. Not sure it is such an essential record though.
The Beach Boys
2/5
This kind of music feels like unicorns puking rainbows. It's funny and colourful at first sight, but it's always the same (a fuckin' rainbow!) and when you look into the details, it's pretty gross (I'm 99% sure they were all sexual harassers). And it's not even one of their most known records; it once again makes me wonder why we have this and some much more interesting/meaningful records are not here (I mean, apart from the fact the list was done by a group of old American white dudes).
Dire Straits
2/5
I could almost copy/paste my review from their S/T. Knopfler: good guitarist. Overall: a bit boring. On top of that, the 80s production is really a pain.
Duran Duran
4/5
Very enjoyable synth pop from the 80s. The bass slaps!
Violent Femmes
5/5
Everybody needs some accoustic punk!
Green Day
1/5
I guess it's supposed to be something like their most mature album to date when it was released? All I can hear is that irritating crisp/bright guitar sound so typical of pop punk of that era and these dull melodies. Oh and now they're grown up so they even use accoustic guitars and have freakin' ballads. And of course pseudo-political lyrics. I hated it when it came out, I still hate it.
U2
4/5
Another hell of an album from U2. They were really something at the beginning of the 80s. And War is more consistent than Joshua Tree (another huge hit from the 80s).
The Cure
4/5
Really good album; everything is in the atmospheres and the layers of guitars and effects. It's a bit long though.
The White Stripes
3/5
This album sounds more blues than garage (compared to what they have done before). It has pretty solid songs (great drumming, good melodies) but also some fillers that make the album a bit too long to be really enjoyable.
R.E.M.
5/5
Did I already say that REM is a great band? Maybe I did. That's one of the few huge mainstream bands that I don't find overrated; actually I ignored them for too long because they were mainstream and thought there was nothing interesting to get out of them. Every time I listen to one of their records from their golden age, I realize how wrong I was. It's less stripped down and raw than Documents but the arrangements are subtle and everything is great, from the well-carved melodies to Stripe distinctive voice.
Nick Drake
2/5
As soon as he started to sing I recognize his voice (I knew he existed but never heard anything from him before starting this journey with 1001albums). The music is great, the voice is dull AF. A second album from him is too much in this list.
Charles Mingus
5/5
I know better other more accessible albums from Mingus, but this one is really great. Totally crazy. It's full of the things I love in other genres of music: full of contrasts, dissonance, experimentation, and just enough melodies to keep you afloat.
Grateful Dead
4/5
These guys can jam.
Garbage
4/5
Good pop album taking inspiration from indie rock, shoegaze, electronics... Sufficiently diverse and efficient, well served by Manson voice. It succeeds in not being too tawdry to be enjoyable despite its mainstream leanings.
Peter Gabriel
2/5
I'm not saying it's a bad album, but everything sounds too 80s: the music, the instruments, the production... It screams that it belongs to this period. And I'm not really fond of the gimmicks of that time. Some songs are good, some are also far too mellow (the 80s production doesn't help).
Rufus Wainwright
1/5
Ugh. Fun fact: you can sing along "this is boring AF" on any song of the album if you ever want to turn it to a 2!
Deerhunter
3/5
I'm torn with this one. On the paper, it has many things that appeal to me. I have a soft spot for this kind of indie music, a bit shoegazy, a bit all over the place. But the first half of the album bored me, and then Desire Lines started and sent me in a whole other dimension. Then it's a roller-coaster, some songs are good, some utterly boring. Not sure to see why this album belongs to this list.
Christine and the Queens
3/5
I'm not a huge fan of pop and of music from the 80s (the production being generally awful) but Chris has a great voice, even though there's a 80s influence, it kinda keeps the best of it (it's pretty minimalistic overall). I probably won't listen to it willingly again, but that was not so bad.
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
I used to hate this album, when it was released I couldn't bare listening to it. I not a fan of latino rhythms, and hearing these old men singing was not really moving me. More than 20 years later, I thankfully grew up, and though I'm still not a huge fan of the genre, I can appreciate the music. It's laid back, well executed, and you can here the sun pouring through every note.
Nirvana
5/5
That's an easy one. Everything is close to perfect with this album: it's an excellent live record, full of surprises (very good covers), it's nice to hear an electric band unplugged (and it's probably the first prominent example of the genre), Cobain voice is poingant. I'll never get tired of this.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
2/5
What a nice example of cultural appropriation!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
I've just read a review saying that "It's like they heard the White Stripes and decided they could do the same, [... and] dialled the oddest, most manic bits up to 11." but in a bad way. I can't disagree, but in a good way. It's fun, we're hit by a huge wall of noise while listening to this record, it's not revolutionary but it's 4 stars indie garage pop punk (or whatever). Much better than most of the insufferable garage bands of the time. Yeah Yeah Yeah (Yeahs).
Louis Prima
4/5
That was a lot of fun. I realized that I knew at least a couple of songs, of course the obvious "I"m just a gigolo" but also "Buona Sera", thanks to Treme TV series. Not necessarily my favourite subgenre of jazz, but I spent a good time listening to it.
Joan Armatrading
4/5
This is really good, and I never heard of her before. It's really nice & smooth folk rock/pop with a jazz/R'n'B twist. Great voice, nice compositions, some very seventies sounds, nothing too mellow or cheesy.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
After a misleading intro, a great album full of surprise and ideas. Not really easy listening, but so much to unpack. Hard not to see how influencial it has been.
Lou Reed
5/5
Interesting to have The Velvet Underground followed by Transformer. Great record by Lou Reed, another major album. Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side deserve by themselves 5 stars.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Still not a huge fan of reggae, still a great album.
Supertramp
3/5
The best known songs are honestly pretty entertaining. The rest occilates between a not-so-bad pop version of prog rock, and boring and overblown prog.
Bob Dylan
4/5
It's unarguably a classic, although the mouth harp is sometimes a bit annoying.
Deep Purple
4/5
I must say that I've never listened to Machine Head before today. I knew Smoke on the Water, and that was it. It's a solid album, much more diverse than what I imagined.
Barry Adamson
3/5
I don't really care about the weird back story of this album (score for a non-existing movie), what I hear is weird instrumental and somber music with an interesting atmosphere. Of course the result is pretty cinematographic, but as many instrumental albums. It's hard to put your finger on the genre(s), which makes it also interesting. A bit anecdotical, far for the best instrumental album I ever heard, but decent nonetheless.
Cheap Trick
2/5
I might not have been in the right mood to listen to this record, but it really feels like an anecdotical live album from a dad rock band in the seventies. Nothing is particularly good or outstanding -- it's not really bad either, but I don't see the point of such an album here. Everyone seems pretty happy (band and crowd) in this record, but that was boring to listen to.
Green Day
2/5
In the late nineties/early naughties I was young and weak and I listened to some pop punk for a short time (actually Blink-182 and The Offspring, that's it) before turning to the most metallic side of things. I'm comfortable with my tastes at that time, but the truth is I never quite like the sound of guitars in this genre, too bright, with too many major keys. I never listened to Dookie before because this phase was too short for me to dive in the glorious history of pop punk, but it has all the same qualities (pretty fun and easy to listen to) and defaults (this horrible guitar sound, all songs could be the same) of other albums of the genre.
David Bowie
3/5
I'm less of a fan of the R'n'B phase of Bowie. The album is good nonetheless and the most knows tracks are real bangers (Young Americans, Across the Universe, Fame).
Miles Davis
5/5
This is indubitably a masterpiece, with an impressive balance between experimentation and melodies, complexity and simplicity. This a music for the brain and the soul. The result is stunning, and you're carried away as soon as the iconic trumpet phrase of So What starts.
Country Joe & The Fish
2/5
Yet another folk-psych album. A couple of songs were not that bad, but as a whole it is far from being memorable. I feel like we already ran into a couple of those albums in the list, and I don't really see the point of multiplying this kind of entries.
Janis Joplin
5/5
This is a great album, very bluesy, with distinctive elements from that time (Hammond organ, but wisely used), and her voice. What a voice! All killers no fillers, and the highlights of the album are just stellar. Move Over, by itself, deserves more than 5 stars.
Frank Ocean
1/5
All this orange made me think of the first Boris Heavy Rocks. It has nothing in common. When he's willing to make an effort, the guy has a voice, but most of the time he sings in a pretty boring way. The music behind has some interesting bits, but I'm a bit lost with this kind of post-modern mashups where everything blends and nothing stands out.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
I am experienced, indeed.
Cream
2/5
I'm a bit torn; I've listened to it twice (first time some time ago, and second time today) mostly because I had a not-so-good memory of the album but wanted to check it out another time before rating it. I think I was ready to give it one star, but after a second listen, it's not that bad. Just a huge rip off of blues by a bunch of white dudes and some psychedelia on top of it.
Van Halen
3/5
I was ready to hate it, but it's not that bad. Oh sure, Eddy was already a neck wanker in these early days, but it's still pretty raw on the edges and fun(nier) to listen to.
Lupe Fiasco
4/5
It started as a pretty laid back/chill hip hop album; the guy knows how to rap, the backing instrumentals are solid and diverse. And then The Instrumental slapped me hard; I loved the music and the flow hits right on target. This is my personal highlight, but it's a really good album overall. Lyrics are well carved and meaningful, still up-to-date. I've never heard of the guy before, glad it changed.
Norah Jones
4/5
For a long time I couldn't listen to this album. I found it boring, way too calm to my taste. Then I saw her live 15 years ago, and it started to change my impression of her and her music. Sure, it's very calm, but the music is actually nice and she's a great singer. I'm not a huge fan, but I don't run away from it anymore.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Not really my jam, but a pretty good album nonetheless. Really funky, with touches of soul. It's well balanced between chill titles and more entertaining ones. Living for the City is the highlight of this album.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Enjoyable blues rock album. This is pretty enjoyable and diverse enough not to be bored.
4/5
I've discovered Muse with their first two records as a teenager, and these partly opened me to new things -- it was the most "indie", non-metal thing I listened to at this time. When this album was released I already lost interest in Muse, they lost their indie/fragile side and became a hit machine. It was nonetheless the last album from them I really listened to. And years after, the verdict is that it is still a pretty solid album, full of epic hits, and designed for stadiums. It's too much, but it's kind of its signature. The production work on this is really impressive, I feel like it's at the crossroads between rock, electronic music, with some indie touches here and there. Definitely post-modern. Definitely entertaining.
Drive-By Truckers
2/5
It's not objectively bad but it's a) way too long b) of no clear significance justifying its presence in this list. If you want to listen to this kind of southern rock, you're probably way better with good old stuff from the seventies.
Janelle Monáe
5/5
When I saw the cover my first thought was "ugh, an R&B album" (not exactly my favourite genre). I launched the album nonetheless. I rapidely understood my mistake. Comes Cold War, and I'm totally won over. Comes Come Alive, and I know I'll relisten to this. It's very diverse (too diverse?) but it's full of (good) ideas, she's clearly not afraid of exploring uncharted territories and of unholly alliance between genres.
Blondie
4/5
That was fun. There are the obvious hits, but apart from them, the record in pretty nice, very entertaining and not one second boring.
B.B. King
4/5
Nice blues album, pretty decent live record. I'm always questioning the existence of live album or compilation in this list, but there is a nice energy to this live and it's worth it.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
I've just finished to listen to it and... I can't really remember it. It was OK as background, it sounded familiar, but nothing too memorable for me. Really not my jam.
Fairport Convention
4/5
The mix of traditional folk music with more modern instrument is well done, and the voice fits perfectly, she really has an amazing voice (I already wrote it in another review, I didn't change my mind).
The Teardrop Explodes
3/5
Decent post-punk, but not really memorable.
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
It felt like a strange, orchestral mashup of the Beatles and Pink Floyd, but stripped of the originality of both. Not that bad, but a bit too long for what it offers.
Arcade Fire
2/5
Their sound is recognizable, and although I liked Funeral, I'm a bit frustrated with this one. Their music seems to have lost part of its candor, while not really renewing itself.
Steve Winwood
1/5
That's one yacht/soft/dad rock album too much in this list. Seriously, there's tons of music (and genres) out there that are not on the list but let's stuff ourselves with dozens of borring yacht rock albums!
Dolly Parton
3/5
I'm not a huge fan of country -- to say the least -- but it was nice to listen to; she knows how to write songs and sing them, and the background music is simple yet efficient.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
OK for background music. That's what I thought for most of the album, also regretting the quasi absence of Hayes' voice. The whole thing is saved by Do Your Thing, this 20' long track that is by far the most interesting part of this record. Whereas the rest of the album fails to generate cinematic images, we are here really transported on a journey. Do Your Thing is a 5, the rest is a mere 2.
Talking Heads
4/5
This is an impressive piece of work. The rhythm section is solid and really the backbone of the album; the polyrhythms and the apparently Kuti inspiration are worth listening to. It efficiently blends different genres and inspirations (their post-punk roots, afrofunk, electronic music) for something completely new. I love the fact that Byrne said that they were "human samplers", and how they created loops to build the music. If I sometimes question the existence of some records in this list, this one indubitably belongs here.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
Too bad their lyrics suck this much. Musically, it starts with a strong hit, Paint It Black is still one of their best song. It continues with interesting instrumentals, experimentations, interesting sounds from a wide range of instruments. When I think of experimentation from this era, their rival comes directly in my mind but I don't think of the Stones, and that was my mistake. But everything is tainted by their awful, offending lyrics. Might have been 4 of 5 stars.
The Auteurs
3/5
It sounds like a blend of britpop with an indie twist (a bit typical from the indie US sound of this time, quite heavy and noisy and fuzzy). While the mix is interesting, nothing particularly stands out (maybe Early Years in the end, with some punk grit in it).
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
There are two sides of this album, as it is often the case with Young: side A, the electric tracks, side B, the folk/country ones. The electric titles are really good, with the good amount of distortion, nice instrumentals, and two of them are lenghty, but in a good way, letting enough time for the song to unfold. This side is a solid 4 or even a 5. And there's the calmer, folk/country songs, that are much less interesting and much more boring. The two sides are reasonably well intertwined, but if I love the electric Young & Crazy Horse, I'm much less sensitive to their unplugged side.
The Yardbirds
3/5
This album is a bit all over the place, with some rip off of blues, some psychedelic bits, some good riffin'. Feels more like a collection of songs put together than a real album.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
I knew Kiwanuka for his earlier work (Home Again) which was much more folk/indie rock. This album is much more diverse from a musical point of view, alternating between soul, jazz, indie rock, a vintage feeling with a modern sound (probably due to the production of Danger Mouse). All in all it's a pleasant and solid album.
Eagles
2/5
I actually knew only the title track, that is not that bad but too well worn. The rest of the album is lenghty dad rock. This album by itself is a good justification of punk rock; I would gladly have smashed their disc with my Dr Martens out of boredom.
5/5
A few years before that the Beatles were just a bunch of white British guys doing covers of rhythm & blues hits; in a couple of years they turned out to be at the forefront of music, experimenting, creating, expending music horizons. This album is arguably not perfect, but it's packed with ideas and sounds and as the second part of their discography, decades of music unfold from this.
Kings of Leon
2/5
Boring revival rock from the early '00. It has everything you can hate from this kind of bands: unnerving voice, clichés riffs, the mandatory (power) balad.
Slipknot
2/5
It seems to me that Slipknot were always kind of a joke in the metal community; when I was a teenager and they released their first records, they were the group young ones were listening to to show they were angry and had a rebelious mind, and in many cases they were moving rapidely from this phase. To put it nicely, they were a gate to a whole universe of music, no more, no less. With time they developed more and more their 'pop' side, and it particularly shows here, behind the blast beats. They kind of are a caricature of a heavy band who wants to fill stadium and please the crowd. Their music here is actually pretty easy to listen to: lots of melodies and melodic singing, lots of groove, and just the right amount of growl and blast beats to show they're still in the game. If it was me and a Slipknot album had to appear in this list, I would have chosen one of their two first albums, with which they came to prominence for the influence they might have on a generation of young metalheads. This album is too far from their rawer roots and too crowd-pleasing to be of real interest.
Tears For Fears
2/5
Listening to the opening track, it seems that it would be hard to record something that smells more of the 80s than that. The production, the drums sound, the eerie guitars, the clichés synth lines, the additional saxophone because why not... Some songs, with less artifice, could actually be enjoyable post-punk tracks! I get why this appears in this list, it's highly representative of a given time in history, and it's not intrinsically bad, but as dad rock from the 70s needed punk, this kind of pop from the 80s needed grunge to get some fresh air.
The Band
2/5
Somewhat a mixture of clichéd americana and clichéd 60s rock with organ (I was gonna write "Hammond organ" but apparently it's a Lowrey). It's not bad, but it feels so generic American rock from this period that it's boring.
Ray Charles
4/5
Oh yeah, after a series of meh albums, it's cool to hear some good quality big band/blues. The first half is upbeat and really entertaining, the second half is more laid back but rather pleasant and not boring at all.
Frank Sinatra
1/5
Ugh. Sorry not sorry, but music can hardly be more boring than that. 50 minutes of a guy slowly singing about heartbreak with a boring background music. I could have die without it.
Beatles
5/5
There not much to say apart from that it's a great album all the way through. There might be too many Beatles albums in this list, but this one deserves its place here.
The Smashing Pumpkins
2/5
I don't know if it's a work of art or a bloating piece of crap. There are a bench of interesting things from a musical point of view (but hey, if you deliver two hours of music that might be expected?), but it's way too long, way too pompous, the production is not really good and doesn't really do justice to the instruments (but it probably helps to hide Corgan's voice), and Corgan's voice is... well, Corgan's. Keep the good songs, make it a regular album, and it might be good. But this? Ugh.
Elliott Smith
3/5
Good indie rock, but the voice is the weakness here. It misses power, and it's a bit too dull. It's OK overall, but not really unforgettable.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
I tend to find Neil Young a bit boring when he's playing acoustic, but I generally like what he does when saturated. This is no exception, and compared to many of his albums where there is a mix of both, here I'm more than happy. He is not revolutionizing rock music, but it's an honest, down to earth album with solid tunes and good riffs.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
2/5
This is a bit off-putting to say the least. This album is full of psychedelia and ideas, a bit too much over the place (I didn't expect to hear rain and someone nailing something?), and the voice is a bit too dull (or the guy was maybe too high). It might actually require several listenings to really make my mind, but I'm not intrigued enough to do so.
Frank Black
3/5
The least we can say is that Black Francis was cheap on this one. It's all over the place and (too much) full of ideas. It changes genre in every song or so, sometimes sounding like the Pixies, sometimes almost like country, sometimes almost like soft rock or jazzy... It's sometimes brilliant, it's sometimes a bit WTF -- but let's say he's trying -- he lost me more than a couple of times but then I'm hooked again. Cut the thing in half, and it would have been a banger. Still worth the listen.
Isaac Hayes
5/5
I didn't know soul could be progressive/psychedelic. Now I know, and it has made my life a bit better.
Queen
5/5
Who can argue against this album? Even the car song is not that bad (the lyrics are what they are, but musically it's pretty OK; not the best for sure, but my guess is that 95% of the bands would be happy to write this song). It goes on all directions, mixing so many genres, but it's consistantly brilliant, and really groundbreaking for the time.
Dirty Projectors
3/5
I'm a bit torn by this one. With this kind of experimental pop it's sometimes hard to distinguish between genius and intellectual self-gratification. Sometimes I wanted to smash my headphones, sometimes I was enjoying what I was listening to. Might require another listen to fully make my mind.
Various Artists
2/5
It's not really my cup of tea, to say the least; I tend to despise Christmas songs. The artists are good nonetheless, so at least there is that.
Def Leppard
2/5
Metal is probably the genre I listen to the most, but I've always been bored by heavy metal and the likes. This is an honest album of the genre -- I guess? -- but nothing too memorable for me.
MGMT
4/5
The couple of titles I knew from this album are really entertaining and a good modern version of some psych/pop. It did not really revolutionize music, but it's pretty OK, and between the obvious bangers the album is solid.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Not even my favourite albums of the Floyds, but still perfect.
Aerosmith
3/5
I could probably copy/paste my latest Def Leppard review and that would work well too here. Maybe better than Def Leppard though, with less of the 80s nonesense.
Raekwon
3/5
Once you go beyond the lyrics (that are still part of the genre, I give you that) it's a pretty solid hip hop album from the mid 90s; it's well executed, the flow is right, the background music is really good. Not a huge fan of gangsta rap, but clearly a good record.
Scott Walker
2/5
The guy has a great voice, the intro is pretty OK with its western/Morricone influence, then the first half of the album is pretty boring with dull background music. The second half is a bit more upbeat and better.
Radiohead
4/5
This is a great album from Radiohead, in the continuity of the work started with OK Computer and their move from more traditional/mainstream rock to experimental rock/electronica. Not their best IMHO, maybe a bit too low key, somehow less catchy than Kid A (from the same recording sessions) but still great.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
Not to bad live album, quite bluesy, they take the time to let the songs live and grow.
White Denim
4/5
I did not know the band and it's a nice surprise. Modern pyschedelia with a hint of rock, jazz, pop... Well balanced, not too long, that was pleasant.
Ramones
5/5
This is an intemporal punk record. Whatever happened after that doesn't really matter, it's a landmark and a corner stone of modern rock music.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
Their blend of psychedelic rock and folk was actually better than expected, and some tracks were really enjoyable (Only Dreaming Now is really good). Probably not the best album from this period, but a pleasant listen.
Pixies
4/5
I love the dynamics on the record, you can feel that they are refining their sound after a really good first album. And of course it's a prominent record of the late 80s, its influence can be hear in lots of albums of the early 90s. It concludes perfectly with Gouge Away.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
Hell of an album. One of the first jazz albums I bought -- a bit randomly -- and I still love it.
Songhoy Blues
5/5
Finally some non-Western music! A really interesting afrobeat album, with good guitar parts, pretty upbeat, well written. More of this, please!
John Lee Hooker
4/5
He is a legend, the music is good but not outstanding. A little too smooth on the edges I guess.
Little Richard
5/5
I mostly listen to rock music and its derivative (well, loads of metal or associated acts too) and he's one of the father of all the things I love. It's fast, fun, he puts his guts in his music. And it's hard to resist the urge to dance listening to this.
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
Pretty decent and enjoyable for an album of this genre and this period. It's entertaining, the music is solid and it has enough punk energy in it not to fall into cheesy pseudo rebel rock.
Wu-Tang Clan
4/5
Classic. The production is top notch (even with limited equipment) and the sound so distinctive (and even though I like the early Public Enemy records, I far prefer the production RZA pushed here), strong lyrics and flows. The interludes are a bit much but that's unfortunately pretty classic.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Thank you for reminding me that I should own this record at some point.
Beatles
4/5
I already said it, I'm more into their late albums than their first ones, for all the experimentation paths they took. But these early albums are all solid (really tight, they know their business) & fun pop-rock albums, classic for an ear from our era, but I can understand the thrill it might have been to hear them at the time.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but she has such a voice and the music is really good too.
The Kinks
3/5
I read several reviews comparing them to the Beatles, so here I go: they are like the Beatles, but cleaner, with less experimentation, crazyness and electricity (I mean, even on their early records the Beatles are wilder than the Kinks). It's not bad (it's even pretty good) but it doesn't work so well for me.
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Really entertaining funk/soul/pop, and not just fun (track 2 is something). Perfect to brighten the day.
Richard Thompson
4/5
One of these folk albums that do not look like much but hook you anyway.
Iron Maiden
4/5
This was much more fun than what I was expecting. I'm not a huge fan of heavy metal in general (though I do listen to a lot of metal, but not this particular subgenre), but this has a row energy and some punk roots that makes it much more fun.
Tom Tom Club
4/5
A quirky, strange, dancing and fun album. Some funk, some rock, lots of sillyness, lyrics in French that could be songs for kids. It's a mess, but it works. I can see the influence they might have on a series of bizarre bands since then.
Wilco
2/5
I vaguely knew they existed, never bothered to listen to them and... I was probably fine this way. This is pretty bland, very standard and forgettable indie rock.
The Smiths
3/5
The music is OK for what it is and what is represents from this period of time. It's good, especially the guitar parts and the overall atmosphere, but a bit too dated (this kind of sound, cold and with lots of (too much of?) reverb is so 80s). OK but not overly memorable.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
I know Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, but I actually know pretty badly their music. Happy to report that it holds its reputation; this is great stuff. I was a bit taken aback by the first tracks, very row (almost spoken word) but then it somehow clicked. Great atmosphere, great music in the back.
The Waterboys
3/5
There's a limited amout of fiddle you can support on an album. My limit is pretty high, but they're over 9000.
That being said, it's an honest (Irish) folk rock album, but it's just a bit too much. I guess I could enjoy it with a pint in a pub, but no really more than that.
The Kinks
3/5
*check notes* hmm, OK *copy/paste previous Kinks review*
There you go.
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
The interesting thing with 1001albums is that there are artists that are way too represented in the selection, so you can stop bothering about reviews and just copy/paste what you wrote previously. I still don't like this kind of generic, very American pop-rock.
Beck
2/5
I never got why Beck is so popular. He did a couple of good songs, but apart from that... This is a pretty boring pop rock album, nothing stands out, nothing is enjoyable here.
GZA
4/5
This album as lots of good points: amazing flow from GZA, a cinematic progression -- you can feel that the album was carefully built --, and a lofi but really catchy production.
David Gray
1/5
It started OK with an electronica adjacent track. Well, it could have been better without the singer. And then it's generic boring pop music. I can't believe this made it to this list. THe guy is claiming that he paved the way for this kind of yawning music in the following years, which is another good reason to loathe this record.
Incubus
3/5
They played an honest alt-rock with heavy guitars and lots of samples at a time when this kind of things was pretty popular. It was -- and is -- relatively pleasant to listen to, it was also a bit refreshing to listen to them back in the day, perhaps because their music was much more positive than the bulk of the nu metal scene. The voice of the singer always annoyed me a bit -- it didn't change.
3/5
It's a decent album, but the sound is honestly not good (there's no room for breathing, I really dislike this kind of claustrophobic production), the music is OK but far too hyped, the brothers are assholes -- who think they are revolutionized music whereas they just found a way of pleasing a large audience without reinventing anything (doesn't mean the music is not good, but give a break, it's not mindblowing), and only Corgan sings worst than Liam. Blur was better!
The Clash
5/5
Funny how The Clash S/T followed Oasis WTSMG. Both, English bands. Not the same time. Maybe the same ambition? I can't say, but what I do know is that behind its simpler and (rougher) edges, The Clash S/T is way more revolutionary and exciting that the britpop lads were. It's efficient, it has something to say, it's entertaining. It's not perfect, but who cares? That's the spirit.
Jethro Tull
5/5
This is a bit all over the place, but in a good way. It starts with an epic song, somewhere between hard and prog rock. It has some simple/nice folk songs (with Anderson's voice weirdly making me think of Ben Harper). There's the flute, everywhere. Flutes are underrated. This weird assembly of genres is still working, decades later, and their music is still pretty exciting.
Bonnie Raitt
1/5
There's not much to save from this album. This is pretty standard/boring pop rock from the 80s (which does not really improve it).
Skepta
4/5
That was surprisingly good! I'm not really familiar with this subgenre of hip hop, but I liked the pretty minimalist background music and the flow. I love Bob Vylan, now I understand better their hip hop side.
The Clash
5/5
This album is more punk in the spirit that in the sound. It's not full of quick and angry songs eructed in fast-forward. It has a lot of energy, influences, things to say, directions to explore; it's everywhere in the same time but also right here, right now. It's chaotic in its own way, and that's the spirit.
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
At first this album didn't trigger anything particular for me; it's OK I guess, but no more. Then The Art of Peer Pressure started, and I really liked everything from this: the atmosphere, the flow, the storytelling... And it goes on: overall it's not memorable but here and there there are really interesting songs. More of this would have been better.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
I was not really familiar with Costello, and it migth have been good when it was released, but all I could hear here is an outdated version of rock'n'roll. Nothing really exciting, nothing really standing out -- maybe one or two titles at best.
Faith No More
4/5
I must admit I don't know well FNM discography despite their fame (and influence) in the metal community. This, released in the late 80s, is clearly a huge influence for the nu-metal scene of the mid-90s. It has a interesting blend of hard rock/metal from the 80s, some proto-grunge, funk and hip hop (not always the best part to be honest). Patton has a interesting vocal range, even though his way of singing is sometimes irritating, sounding almost like Billy Corgan. It didn't strike me as annoying in his other projects (Fantomas or Tomahawk). Some part (especially the rap ones) have not aged too well unfortunately.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
Nice and chill album. I can get why it is so popular and the influence it had over the years. It's a bit too chill for me to be truly exciting but I guess that's the spirit.
The Pogues
5/5
That's an absolutely great album! It's very entertaining while having also a message to convey, it's folk and it's punk and you can sing their song with a pint of ale in one hand dancing on the counter and the musician are great.
Arcade Fire
4/5
That was surprisingly good. I loved Funeral back in the day, and didn't really give a lot of attention to their other records. Neon Bible was a bit painful to listen to. This is another story; the album is somewhat more coherent than Funeral, the songs tighter, the atmosphere nice, enough tension throughout the whole album to keep my attention up. The downside is that it sounds less "indie" and more "pop" and clean, but that's pretty OK due to the overall quality.
Haircut 100
2/5
When it's not leaning into "white dude funk", it's leaning into Steely Dan insipid yacht rock. With a voice à la new wave.
Cocteau Twins
4/5
Really good and foundational album for all kind of dreamy/etheral music. Even though it's "dreamy", it's far from boring, with nice compositions and a voice that lifts you to another dimension.
OutKast
3/5
Of course I knew Hey Ya! from this album, but not the rest. I know other projects that Andre did or contributed to, so I was expecting to prefer his part than Big Boi's one... And that was actually the contrary. The first part is really good, solid beats, solid flow, not boring one second. The Andre 3000 part is way more chill. Too chill, there are not so many songs that keep you awake in the midst of all this mellow, down tempo songs. Could have been way better, imho.
Snoop Dogg
3/5
Ha, that's a tough one. I acknowledge the quality of the flow & music, and I understand its importance, as it was one of the albums popularizing the West Coast sound. Listening to my share of US hip-hop in the late 90s/early 00s, this particularly resonnates. Now I guess I'm lucky not to be a native speaker, because I don't always listen carefuly to the lyrics. And this is a whole other story. I guess it's also a snapshot of history, and history is not always glorious or worth remembering.
Johnny Cash
5/5
As many people from my generation (or so I guess), I discovered Cash first with the biopic Walk the Line, and then with the American Recordings -- especially being a metalhead who listened to nu-metal in the late 90s/early 00s, seeing the name "Rick Rubin" draws attention. This series of recordings is excellent from start to finish, really powerful, and is a wonderful testimony of Cash's talent and the extent of his love to music -- the cover diversity is striking. This last recording (at least the last released while he was still alive) is particularly moving, his voice getting deeper and showing more emotion, and the themes being also touching. Hurt is of course a hit in its own category, but it's well deserved; he really made the song his own with this amazing cover, instilling his life and sorrows in every note. The American Recordings all deserve 5 stars, and this one could probably go with 6 or 7 stars.
Elvis Presley
3/5
I guess I can understand why Elvis was big back in the day, but 65 years later, it's not that exciting anymore. The songs are OK, but nothing particularly memorable. The only good thing with this one is that I checked out Fever, realised that the version I knew was not even the original one, and long story short, it's a classic story of rip off by white musicians of music made by Black people in the US (OK, to be fair that's the whole story of the beginnings of rock'n'roll).
Blur
4/5
This is as good as britpop can get I guess. It's an honest record, there are not stuck in repeating the same song over and over again, which also implies highs and lows. It's a bit too long too, they might have opted for a tighter album. It's honestly a 3.5 but I already rated an Oasis record 3 stars.
Elastica
4/5
It feels like the illegitimate child of Sonic Youth and The Ramones playing britpop. And it's way better that what I was expecting. The britpop tropes are not too heavy, the guitar sound is dirty just has it needs to be, it's actually way better than 99% of britpop.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Some days I am wondering why I am suffering going through this list, listening to one bland album after another. And sometimes you're listening to something you should have known, but never really listened to. Stevie Wonder is a good example of this; already my third Wonder albums in this list, and they are consistently good.
ABBA
3/5
This is quintessential pop, with all that implies, good and bad: efficient, overheard, too mellow, entertaining, too predictible. Easy to love I guess, hard to totally hate.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
First of all, this is pretty refreshing every time we get something that is not from the UK, the US or the Western world in general. Well, this is a collaboration, but it clearly is out of the global trend of this list and that's a first reason to enjoy it. Apart from that, this is actually pretty good. The guy is a really good guitar player, skillful, and he plays with his soul.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
Before this list I never heard of Ali Farka Touré, and after a second album from him, I understand why he is part of this. This is a really good, natural, convergence of blues and West African music.
Hot Chip
3/5
There is a couple of tunes that are really enjoyable and entertaining (it starts pretty well actually), but 2/3 of the album is boring. And I'm convinced it would have been better as an instrumental album, the voice tends to spoil titles that start well. Not too bad, but there are probably better stuff in synthwave to dig into though. It's a 2.5 but I'm in a good mood.
Sade
2/5
On the album review page, among the 100 reviews that you can read by default, there are more than 50 occurences of "smooth". That sums it up.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Yet another "smooth" album. I'd rather prefer when he has something to say.
John Martyn
2/5
I'm all in for experimental stuff, but this is clearly preprod jam rushes. I hope the album will be good 🤞
The Byrds
3/5
I wasn't so familiar with the Byrds. They sound like something in-between the Beatles and Bob Dylan, with more... jangle?
Wild Beasts
4/5
This is actually pretty good; a good mix of influences somewhere between indie rock with electronics bits and beats. I get that the voice can be irritating, but it fits well the atmosphere of the album.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I get Springsteen is an important figure of American pop-rock, but do we need so many of his records here? Well at least this is probably one of his most prominent album, so it makes a little sense. Reading about the album, I changed my mind a bit about his music (at least he has something to say that is not the caricature that is made of him). I was a little less bored than when listening the two previous entries we already have, but it still generic American pop-rock.
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
Aaaaand back to Boring Bruce. Remember what I said earlier?
The interesting thing with 1001albums is that there are artists that are way too represented in the selection, so you can stop bothering about reviews and just copy/paste what you wrote previously. I still don't like this kind of generic, very American pop-rock.
Radiohead
5/5
After a series of not-so-memorable albums, this is a treat. I already wrote the story here, but younger me lost track with Radiohead starting here. I couldn't get the direction they were taking. Older me re-discovered them some time ago with this record (giving a second chance to albums/bands is something I sometimes do) and was surprised by what I heard, far from the memory I had. I love every bit of this album now, how they mix genres, try new paths, broke their identity to start anew.
Prefab Sprout
2/5
I wanted to write something about it but it's so bland that I kind of instantly forget it once I was done listening to it. It wasn't so bad to get a 1, but once again, I could have died happily without it.
Joe Ely
3/5
I'm not a fan of country -- to say the least -- but this is surprisingly OK to listen to. Still not my cup of tea, but way better than what I expected.
Sister Sledge
4/5
Of course the title track was a huge success, but the rest of the album is actually very good, very funky and entertaining.
The White Stripes
4/5
Clearly their early records are more enjoyable than the latest ones; more spontaneous, rawer, rougher on the edges, a bit more all over the place. I was never really into the garage revival, but this is good shit nonetheless.
Christina Aguilera
1/5
To be honest, I was ready to give it one star from what I knew from her. Starting to listen the album, it's actually not that bad: she can sing, the background music is pretty diverse (don't get me wrong, it's 100% pop music, but still). So I was ready to give it more stars than that. And then, the album never finishes. I started to be lost in this; double albums are really something great when you're a fan of the artist; when it's not the case, it's a never ending story and it's really hard to stay in a good disposition. Sorry, Christina.
The Monks
4/5
That is a good example of why this list is interesting, whatever the many fillers and repetitive albums we can find. It's quirky, living in an undefined space between experimental music, proto-punk, art-rock. It didn't change my life but that was a nice discovery.
Billy Bragg
3/5
This is, what, punk folk with a hints of pop? From the first sentence you can get where the guy is from and you can guess what these songs will be talking about. It might be a bit too long though, and some songs are a little bit overproduced; it sounds better when it's rougher.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
I don't remember how and when, but at some point in time I heard Hey, Hey, My, My (or the other one) and started to be obsessed with it. This is basically what made me discover Young. So I have a special love for this record. Apart from that, it's actually pretty standard Young: the folk songs are a bit too low-key and I generally fail to keep interested in this part... and then there are the electric ones, that are really good. As far as I'm concern, we could chop off 50% of Young production and it would be near perfect. But well, life is like a Young album: you have to swallow some shit at some point, everything is not unicorns & rainbows.
David Bowie
3/5
There are a bunch a good songs on this album, and as much as I love Bowie, let's be honest, we don't need his full discography on this list. There are so many good music out there, it's a shame to have tens of records from one artist and none from others.
The Sabres Of Paradise
5/5
I was not familiar with this project but Weatherall and Warp are known from me and I respect the work of the artist and the label. I was not disapointed, it's a really good electronic music record, with a good blend of sounds and influences. Will definitely listen to it again.
Motörhead
3/5
It starts well -- hard not to opening with Ace of Spades but it kind of lose its momentum. It's kind of the problem with these albums (bestof, live): they are great if you love the band, but as an introduction or for someone who is not fully committed to it, it's too long and things starts to blur and just be one long moment. There's still lots of energy to it and we can hear that they were a band made for the stage.
James Brown
4/5
I love to be contradicted from one album to the next. This live album is the opposite of the last one: it's still live, but it's a good and reasonable collection of songs, not packed from hours of live. The energy is conveyed much better, stay strong all along and it's really enjoyable.
The Cure
4/5
This is a really solid post-punk album with a goth twist. The overall is pretty low key, very calm and ambiant. This works quite well and the atmosphere is really distinctive.
Bob Dylan
4/5
I feel like after 3 or 4 albums from Dylan we get it. Yes, Dylan is a great songwritter, but do we need his full discography here?
Sometimes this list feels like it was done by a lazy ass who want to look clever: "let's stack 10 albums of Dylan, 10 of Springsteen, the whole Beatles discography" and so on, so you can have like 200 records pretty easily with a small bunch of artists without sweating too much. I'd have prefer to have a greater diversity and only 1 or 2 significant albums from these people. (I'll copy this for future review if you don't mind.)
Kings of Leon
2/5
TL;DR: Imagine Coldplay with less whinning. You get it? There you go!
Long version: OK, so the first song is pretty catchy, but then you can easily hear here and there gimmicks of "indie" (as in "fuck it we're mainstream and signed on a big ass major company") rock from this time. Like fucking Coldplay. With less whinning. Sometimes they can be pretty OK actually, with a good rhythm section (and a bass lines as the backbone of some of the songs), and a serious post-punk feeling (the bass once again, and some guitar parts). I was going to be indulgent, then they decided that it was a good idea to have the 17 song. Yeah, romanticizing anything with an underage girl is so fun!
Tori Amos
5/5
That's such a no-brainer, this album is excellent from start to finish. I discovered Amos at a time when I was mostly listening to metal and she is one of the artists who opened my musical horizons. The piano/voice dynamics works perfectly, she really can sing, she's a great storyteller... Everything is powerful in this record, even sung in a low voice with a mezzo piano. That is an album I still come to regularly to this day, and one of my two favourites from her. Thanks to this list I have a better understanding of her influences, but it does not diminish the quality of her work.
Sabu
4/5
This is a pleasant change from most of this list. Not my favourite (sub)genre -- I like jazz, much less latino rhythms -- but still enjoyable, in particular thanks to a very solid rhythm section. The call & response bits are nice, the overall is pretty refreshing despite its age.
U2
2/5
Please excuse me, but The Beatles in the mid-60s were reinventing themselves, U2 are just turning themselves into a grey blob with this album. Their early work has an interesting edge, something to convey. The phoenix rising from their ashes is a worldwide phenomena, but bland (no texture, no taste, nothing).