1001 Albums Summary

Fun first choice

I had this album when it came out because everyone said Radiohead was so amazing and revolutionary. It was so boring and overrated. Now hearing it again 20 years later, it’s still boring and overrated, but a little better on headphones. The dude cannot sing and there’s much better electronic music out there.

Fun dreamy glam rock

Started very fun, but fell off at the end

Not their best work, but not bad.

It’s Abby Road

A peaceful listen, but not too memorable.

Lots of classic southern rock with blues influences

I really like the dreamy low tempo electronic music

A little weird at times, but overall very groovy and chill

Mind bending

Reminds me of Miseducation, but less memorable

This is one of the 90’s best

Wow that was great! How did I miss this before?

I could go the rest of my life without hearing Under the Bridge or Give It Away again, yet the rest of the album still soars.

Jane’s Addiction is kind of annoying

A breath of fresh air

Much better now that high school is over and the annoying girls who played this all the time are far away. Now it’s very groovy

I didn’t get into this back in the day. He was smooth, but a lot of it is very repetitive. It gets stronger towards the end. It’s not bad overall, but the era has better hip hop too.

The second disk was awesome! I can’t be 100% sure if I heard the artist’s original intent since only later additions were available. Nonetheless, this jumped genre and did reasonably well in all of them

I’m obviously going to love this, but I don’t know that I have 3 1/2 hours to dedicate to it. Agree with others that a best of should not be eligible.

4 instead of 5 because I thought it had it’s oh so quiet and it didn’t

This is completely insane and I can’t begin to know how to rate it

The Cure was around in 1980? I like their later work, but this didn’t really speak to me so much. I enjoyed the penultimate song a lot

Well, it’s not bad, but I don’t see picking this over the original stuff. It’s definitely performed really well and helped introduce this stuff to a new audience.

Pretty and raw, but I don’t think I’m likely to listen again

I remember hearing about this artist back in the day, but never listened to it. It was much better than I was expecting. Haunting and well crafted

This was five stars up until that weird Telephone song. Nonetheless I loved this and have absolutely no idea why. Aw never mind, it’s a five in spite of that

This is so unique and only possible in the 90’s

I enjoyed this well enough. You could have told me that this was U2 in the late 80’s and that would have been pretty believable. Yet, I doubt I will revisit this one too often

That’s tough, I loved this in 7th grade but was way too cool for it in 12th. I guess I’ll just have to try to give it an honest listen 30 years later. It pretty much holds up! The instrumentation is top notch, but the lyrics are dumb and boring. It would be a five if it were in a language I don’t understand.

Not very memorable. Some of the breaks were nice, but I can’t imagine putting this on

Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood, but I had a hard time getting into this

Fun distraction, I could put this on again

No one jams like this. Dolby Atmos sounds so good with this too

Radiohead was deeply overrated at their best. This collection of B sides that even they didn’t like was torturous to slug through. The only listenable track was the instrumental one.

Still so much better than Oasis

A bit of a slog after the title track

Tough to judge, Jay-Z was always pretty funny and without much gimmicky stuff or unimaginative swearing. He picks good tracks to mix, but it does get a little same-ey after a while

This is unique and new to me! I have heard the name, but I don’t think I’ve heard her stuff before.

A couple great tracks but it gets really weird and experimental. Not necessarily a bad thing tho. Tough to digest

That was great, never heard of him before

He was certainly talented, but this is such a product of its time that I cannot help but be a deeply bored child again when I hear it.

This was better than Eminem led me to believe. Elvis was kind of the go-to pop culture joke in the late twentieth century, so it’s kind of weird to give him an honest listen. It was pretty enjoyable really (still hoping to see the original blues men make their appearance tho)

Well that was different. I mostly enjoyed it, but the Flaming Lips did it better

I can’t be sure that I heard the correct version, but I enjoyed it well enough without being blown away by it

This was kind of a mess, but with a few bright spots. I can understand why someone might like it and can see how it inspired the goth sub genre, but it was pretty grating

Summer Breeze is a lovely song (at least the first time it appeared on this album), but the rest was in the best that 70’s soul has to offer

Haunting and absolutely beautiful

Trippy and fun! I probably wasn’t in the right headspace for this, but I can tell he definitely pushed the technology available in 1973 to the max to great effect . Really rocked near the end

This was so much fun! It’s stuff that you know you’ve heard in the background of movies, but really focusing on it lets the storytelling shine through

Well this is what I’m here for! Amazing music that I’d never heard of before! Have to welcome multiverse Beatles into the regular rotation

My streaming service didn’t carry this album, but I was able to cobble together most of it from other albums. Absolutely beautiful, but not Miles Davis

Fun but rather same-y. I’m surprised that they started with their hit.

Best of the Southern rock genre

Megadeth kinda sucks. Metal can be great when it carries a big atmosphere, but this almost sounds AI

Pretty relaxing, but forgettable

Beats are best in genre. Unfortunately the skits are still dumb

So much fun! I appreciate how they inspired Rev Horton Heat

Morrissey is great but this wasn’t his best

Tough follow up album. Enjoyable, but not as memorable

Pretty mellow and enjoyable on a weekend morning

I like jazz, but fusion is a mess. The musicians are talented tho

What a trip, early punk sounds. This was so fun

An unexpected 5 stars! I have heard plenty of Young’s music, but not this album. That was hauntingly beautiful

It’s literally Thriller

I recently discovered these guys too! Good stuff

This album is so fun and would probably be 5 stars if it was just one disk

Crazy how I don’t think I ever heard this beyond the singles before. So complex and beautiful

That was fantastic and shall be added to the rotation

Better than expected after hearing their whiny and shitty later work. They should have kept this energy

Eargasm

One interesting track but mostly boring

I was really surprised to discover that I have not heard this whole album before, but know about half of it very well. The highlights are some of the best songs ever written, but the lows are so stupid “let’s do Julia in the road 100x” that’s it’s so hard to rate. I would rate it 4.5 if I had the option

Pretty good, I love the call and response on this! You definitely need to be in the right mood for it tho

Enjoyable background music, but doesn’t really catch you for the most part. You can tell it wasn’t a cohesive work, but just kind of everything he was working on

He had a lot of gusto

It’s really tough to know if an album this recent will stand the test of time, but this one seems likely. She’s a world class poet

Modern R&B does not appeal to me, but I recognize the talent

That was awesome! If not for the screaming vocals would probably be a five

Hauntingly beautiful lyrics

Not bad, but typical of the era

Sorry, quite boring

That was a pleasant, but very forgettable background sound

First half was incredible! Fell off a bit at the end

Dolly is the greatest American

I was never really into these guys, but they were definitely a big influence. This is 1990s rock in the 1980s

This is the background of a 1990’s coffee shop, pleasant but not memorable

Man, it was really weird to find this album on the list. Like, it’s fine, but more a goofy distraction than anything influential or must-hear

America’s poet

I was expecting much worse based on these reviews. This is pretty ordinary pop from the late 80’s. Not my thing but well done

It grew on me on the second listen. Not bad if you keep an open mind

Not his best work, but the highs are still pretty high

This hit just right! Not normally a genre that I’m into, but I wish I’d given it more attention in the 90’s

Billy Joel owns the 70’s

This whole time, I thought I didn’t like U2. This was really something else

Good, but not as great as Kind of Blue was

Didn’t like it at first but it really grew on me

What a deep reference! I heard these guys in their Alternative Tentacles days. Some of the writing is cringe now, but the rolling bass is lots of fun

I’ve been sick of this album for 40 years, but can’t deny it’s great

Pretty good, it reminded my wife of Pink Floyd

That was something different. Sounded a lot like a precursor to Beck

It had some solid moments (Ice Cream Truck), but the beats were not very memorable. Wu was missing its Tang

One of my wife’s favorite albums and I can see why. Haunting and beautiful. I enjoyed the loving Dylan send-up too

I can see why this one was so controversial. It took a second listen on a good speaker with no distractions to really get into it. It really grew on me tho, and I think it would be a five if her voice matched the project better (she has a bluesy voice). I’m intrigued

These beats were insane and never let up. I normally don’t enjoy the whole “movie dialogue sliced into the track” thing but this DJ excels at at. This has to be an unexpected 5

Not exactly my jam, but I can definitely acknowledge how atmospheric and enchanting it sounds in the right environment

Aside from the Jamaica song was perfect

This was a lot of fun (outside of the last track). It reminded me of a small town local band in the 90’s

OG

As someone who played video games in the 1980’s, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Not my thing, but I’ll grade on a curve since this sound had to be pretty new in 1974

I didn’t like it at first but it grew on me. I’m still not sure why it’s here when there’s so many more impactful broadway recordings and this was nothing new in 2000

Prince does what he wants

Well, I can’t argue the talent, but it got very same-y very quickly

Raw and awesome. Not sure how I missed this in 2003

It’s fine but from the era when R&B started to fall off

I love the blues guitar. No idea that JJ had a backup band before her solar career

Good energy, but I can’t say it did much for me

The more experimental stuff didn’t age well and their self-titled original album was their best in my opinion. Still cannot deny these guys invented a new sound that’s unique

Big band’s last gasp. Really enjoyed it

This was much better than I expected! Full confidence 80’s pop that didn’t hold back

There were a couple good songs, but overall this was kind of a mess

These guys are quickly becoming an unsung hero

My wife said I can’t make a flight club reference, but I may give it five stars anyway

Enjoyable early 90’s rock that didn’t reach the charts so much

This was pretty enjoyable. I respect the effort. Reviews suggest it was not a typical work for her. I did not know the artist previously

Not bad, but doesn’t really grab your attention. This becomes pleasantly background music and you can tell that’s not what they’re going for

Please stop making me listen to Radiohead. They aren’t getting better.

The title track was great but fell off from there

This was so good, I love this sound (surf-punk). It’s like Dead Kennedys were in a good mood. I had not heard these guys before and was slightly expecting a ska band with their name

If this can stay instrumental it might be five stars Welp, not working for Master of Puppets Works well with Wolf song, (but not really a good song) Thing that should not be is boring Fuel is good Spaced off A good idea in theory, but they are really overwhelming the orchestra and May as well not be there Nothing Else Matters works well…but didn’t it already have a symphony? Bell tolls is working pretty good…please don’t sing Roam would work really well if the dude would just STFU, they need a choir next time Second disk picks up a lot One works really well so far Sandman doesn’t work nearly as well as they thought it would, maybe spoke too soon…nah Well, I gotta give an A for effort tho. I think this project would have worked best as a DVD instead of an album because the symphony got drowned out a lot. Still a very fun idea that would have been great in person

The energy never lets up. This is close to best in genre

One of my very first CDs. Aged better than I expected

I love the titular song and can tell it’s a fantastic album but can’t really say I was in the mood for it

Think about you is the only weak spot so far. Rocket Queen too, but everything is is banger. It’s been a while, but this album has held up beyond expectations

At a certain point in the 60’s, it’s hard to tell what is rock and what is R&B. Regardless, this was the golden era for R&B

Great instrumentation, but the singing was noticeably off.

Pretty intense drumming. I enjoyed it

Aside from one cringey song this was flawless

Aw, I grew up with this album. I cannot turn down blusey classic rock

I know they’re supposed to be making fun of each other, but I don’t think they could have ever guessed how unintentionally homoerotic it comes across 30 odd years later. The first half of the album was a solid five, with the iconic rolling bass and whistle sound. It falls off pretty hard when the skits start to about a 2.5, so it’s a 4 on average

This was a lot of fun! Somewhere between Elvis and Sam Cooke

A peaceful and enjoyable album that dragged on a bit too long

I have seen this name, but never heard him before. I do not normally go for this genre, but wow I was floored by how catchy and gripping it was! A little twangy protesty poignant Dylan/American Pie. This is a five star new album

This is what Radiohead would sound like if they were good

Much better than the other CHIC album. The repetition was bugging me at first, until I realized that this is meant to be dance music. I mean, disco is still a synonym for dance club. With that in mind I totally get the groove and it’s a good one.

Not bad, but very background

If you are listening on Apple please turn off the Dolby atmos or it will sound like she’s yelling at you a cappella. Of course the big singles were very overplayed, but if you can get past that…Easy five star but at least two stars are Flea’s

Not what I was expecting. Pretty decent jam band playing a variety of styles well.

Who knew these guys had other songs and that they’re pretty good?

What an interesting album! I wouldn’t exactly call it punk but I don’t know what to call it. They were not shy about experimenting with new sounds and I heard a lot of stuff that would become prominent throughout the 80’s

Okay, but does not hold your attention. Very difficult to get worked up liking or disliking this guy

Her newer stuff isn’t for me, but I really respect Björk as an artist who makes exactly what she wants.

Hail Satan! Once you get past the 80’s metal cheese, it does have a few high points. I really prefer sludgy metal, but you can tell these guys were having fun and didn’t take themselves all that seriously. Definitely had a big influence on the next couple decades

I hadn’t heard this album or any of its songs before. It’s pleasant and peaceful up until the penultimate song. I like his other work more tho

Absolute banger all the way through

This doesn’t sound like 1990. Really growing on me in the second listen. These guys exceeded the one hit wonder reputation

He did his own thing in an instantly recognizable and an unduplicated way.

I was skeptical But it is winning me over. This is a massive talent. I won’t exactly listen to it again because it’s not a genre that works for me, but big respect. I’m sold

What a great surprise! Apparently this was part of Ted Lasso

Great to hear a generational talent just messing around in his home studio all raw and lo-fi

Oh man, I’ve only heard of this because of the Vandals Turns out, TV’s GE smith was no match for this

Well I’ve heard this a million times. What I didn’t know was that they released a handful of rehearsal songs from this in 2019 and it’s haunting to hear today.

The first three tracks were a steamroller! It mellowed out after that but never really let up. I haven’t given Dire Straits much attention before, but I’m realizing that I really should

This album is really funny! It’s odd that now he’s better known for playing a cop, but he had a lot of fun making this

A pleasant listen, I’m glad I heard it

A lot of solid and uplifting moments, but it got too disjointed at times. I’m spoiled by finding Miles first

Pleasant noodling but didn’t really hold my attention

You sure don’t expect to get slut-shamed by Iron Maiden?!

Well crafted industrial music is hard to come by. I guess I should have looked in Switzerland. This was a genuine treat and exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to find. I can understand why it’s a little out there for some folks, but it worked for me

Transcendently beautiful

This was country before it sold out. It’s not my genre so I can’t really judge it very effectively, but it was well crafted

The Beatles had no bad albums, but they have entries stronger than this one. The hits are the hits tho

The first third was a bit rough. I didn’t like his singing and wished it was instrumental. It really picked up in the middle and I can see some real solid talent. The poetry near the end was FIRE and notched it up a star!

I wasn’t completely in the right headspace to take this album in, but I could tell it was some poignant and powerful poetry

You wouldn’t expect Michael Jackson to make one of the best disco albums

That started slow but got really beautiful by the end

A lot of very solid background tracks. It would be five stars if it was about a third shorter

I have been wrong about Madonna for 25 years, that was amazing actually . I was surprised by how good this was. I don’t really like the Ray of Light song so much, so I didn’t have high expectations of it, but it’s downtempo and really well put together. I think sometimes we don’t give albums a fair shake when the artist is a media spectacle. Lesson learnt

With Song 2 being so overplayed, I’d kinda forgotten how good this was. Very few misses on this diverse album

Well that was interesting! I can see why it’s controversial because at times it does seem like they are just screwing around with the synthesizer, but when they really get going and jamming it’s not bad

A beautiful album

It was better than the other one and I kinda jammed out at times

I wasn’t able to give this the time it deserved, but the middle was incredible writing

Pretty solid funk album. I particularly dug the instrumental tracks

I’m starting to think there might be a reason all the country music on this list has been from the 80’s or earlier so far

I was too sick to properly enjoy this one, but I could tell it was spectacular

Well, that was what you might expect German electronic music from 1979 to sound like. I was impressed that he’s still making music today

Better than I was expecting, this was actually pretty epic

Very solid album, but I like This is Happening more

A couple decent songs, but this was mostly phoned in and boring

I have heard of these guys, but never listened before. It grew on me a lot during the second listen

Ouch why? Track five is listenable. Make it to the half point and it gets a bit better

Brilliant rhyming, sampling and storytelling. I am skeptical about the last few tracks being on the original album tho

I used to think this was the worst White Stripes album (still incredible, but not on level with their other work). I’ve matured since then and realized this is a generational talent

Gothy

I think I had this album but barely remember it. It holds up well enough

Solid proto grunge

This one was not on my streaming service, so I listened to a couple tracks from a “best of” album and was underwhelmed at first. Then I found the whole thing on YouTube and gave it a full listen in the background and it really impressed as a complete package. I can see how this influenced so much in the 90’s

I am a sucker for anything blues based. It is the sound of America 🇺🇸

Wow! What a surprise masterpiece

Really solid work! I did not realize Wilco was around that early

Not iconic, original or influential. It’s not awful but I cannot understand why it’s here.

Possibly best in genre

Quirky and fun

I spent the 2000s in the UK and I kinda remember the short lived belief that a new genre had been invented. Aged pretty badly. A couple high points, but These guys would probably prefer to be left off of the list so this embarrassing album could be forgotten

Solid influence on the 90s

American music’s heart…except the dog shooting I guess

Introspective and yearning masterpiece

The second half of this album SLAPS

Not bad but didn’t connect with me

These guys perfected rock samples into a hybrid genre that is almost uniquely theirs

Getting a little tired of Kraftwerk, but there’s a couple good tracks

It had a moment or two but not nearly enough to justify the 90 minute slog

Not bad, some earnest hits that have fallen out of the zeitgeist on here

My folks loved this album growing up. It really showed that Paul McCartney had solo musical chops

Hauntingly brilliant

A really unique and interesting sound. Was too sleepy to give it a proper listen, but I’ve heard them before

This one needs to be enjoyed in a cozy environment. It improved greatly in the second listen at home

I can see the talent, but for me this is about where R&B fell off until the 90s. Every song lasts about two minutes past when it was over

I didn’t want to like this because I thought of them as a one-hit wonder, but it won me over. Better than the Strokes, but not as good as the Black Keys or White Stripes

An all-time favorite and an easy five

Cozy background music, got better when stripped down

Is this a punk rock jam band? Interesting stuff

Apple Music called this a pop album, but I’m still not fucking with it

This was almost as weird as JD Vance

Lots of classics that set up a half century of pop music

Pretty decent pop record, if it had been released 20 years prior I think it would have a higher general rating here

Great collection of world music sounds

Solid Dylan work

Hard to see what they were going for here

Fun late 60’s rock. Did not realize who they were until the last song

Not bad background jazz. It mostly doesn’t command your attention after the first track

I’m a sucker for anything blues based, but the version of Riders on the Storm with excessive band chatter at the beginning with no other noticeable changes was annoying

Good variety of sounds on here

I was today years old when I learned Social Distortion did not write that song

This labor of love is possibly best in genre. Every song is so layered (except Disarm, that song is annoying)

Very solid start

Good collection of covers

Popularized the genre worldwide

Not as good as their later work

I’m the right context this could be incredible

For everyone who was ever 14

That was off the wall

The final boss of 80s synth pop really picks up about halfway through when it gets more creative and varied

I’m a sucker for blues based anything

What a delight that was!

A really interesting album with many great highs and a few crass lows that knock it down a notch

Enjoyable pub rock, but I don’t imagine coming back to this

I usually like older R&B, but this didn’t meet my expectations

Generational talent

Really chill

Some of his best work

Groovy

Enjoyable and tough to categorize

Very chill and enjoyable album

Had some high points, but was a little past prime R&B

Better than the last one

I enjoyed this much more than I expected to

I’m a Blur guy, but that won me over

Pretty raw early punk

The start of something incredible, but Doolittle was better

Fantastic that this should follow the Pixies

Good, but not their best outside of Immigrant Song

The most 60s album yet

Pretty solid and eclectic collection of tracks

Was okay but not in the mood

Pretty solid rock

I understand why it’s way too much in one sitting, but I found it clever and charming. It was as if Shel Silverstein was a musician

That was okay but I’ll never listen to it again

This was even better than the other one

I really enjoyed it until he started playing literally the same song five times. Too much

The first half had the singer kinda overwhelming the rest of the (pretty decent) instrumentation, but it picked up a lot in the second half to land in the middle

They are not getting much better. It really is an Emperor’s New Clothes situation with these guys

What a great surprise! I’ll definitely need to put these guys on regular rotation

The radio hit was nice, but OMG the rest sounds like Christian Rock

I don’t know metal well enough to rate

I somehow managed to never listen to this one when it was big. What a miss, it was amazing outside of the radio hit

I didn’t realize these guys were around that early

Interesting concept

Really picks up around Southern Man

Early genre weirdness

That was peaceful and influenced a whole genre

Not heard of this before, what a trip!

Cannot believe he just freestyled this

She constantly releases good albums

You can see the beginnings of his talent, but this was his angry middle school notebook

My folks played this one a lot growing up

Massive talent

Pretty fun

Pretty enjoyable

I’m a sucker for blues based rock

Fantastic, I don’t think I’ve heard most of this before

Legendary

Very solid entry

Pretty good

Not bad exactly, but the tempo just didn’t seem to match to my ear

America’s heart

Of course David Bowie was a treasure. Not bad, but definitely only here because it was his last work, not his best.

Tough to rate. None of it’s bad but none of it really commands your attention either

By 1998 I expect more from electronic music

I don’t like to judge the album by the person, but this did remind me to get my flu shot

It’s an album that has been the butt of many jokes

Great album but not really the day for it

I’m surprised that I haven’t heard this one before. It’s apparently well known

OG

I’ve never really gotten the Who, but respect their talent

That was strange but I can see what they were going for. It was just too much of an inside joke for a previous generation that’s a little lost to time

That was a trip that won my whole family over

Yeah I can see why they called him the godfather of grunge

It had its moments

I didn’t really know these guys when I was younger but this was easily the best 80’s metal so far

I was surprised that I hadn’t heard all of these before

I wish I’d heard his stuff beyond the radio hits before, that was all around amazing

I didn’t want to like this because Genesis taught me that I don’t like progressive rock, but it ended up being pretty good

Spooky

Pretty good, but very repetitive

Fuzzy sounding excellence

Pretty clever rhymes, but imagine being the one person in the business who he forgot to shout out

Wow, that was atmospheric! I totally get the appeal

Trippy

Pretty fun direction

Equal parts brilliant and crude

Oi oi oi

Groovy

Not a very interesting album

That hit way harder than expected

The radio songs (other than maybe Lithium) have been played to the point that I don’t even really hear them anymore. Otherwise it’s hard to express how this sounded when it was fresh

It had its moments but a lot of this was trying too hard