Not quite as good as the two preceding albums (Bringing it All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited), but a great album, one of the first double albums. I don’t remember my brothers bringing home any Dylan albums in the 60’s, so didn’t really know this fully until I was an adult. Elizabeth had Dylan’s Greatest Hits with Rainy Day Women #12 and 35, I Want You, and Just Like a Woman. She also had Volume 2 of his Greatest Hits with Stuck Inside of Mobile from this album — Volume 2 is a quite cool collection of Dylan songs well worth a listen. Soon after the release of BOB, he had his motorcycle accident and his next few albums were more introspective, not great, but interesting to hear.

I remember being so excited for this to come out during my junior year of high school, after Neil’s first 3 albums were so great, especially 2 and 3, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, and After the Gold Rush. The pre-album release single, Heart of Gold, was pretty decent. Then I got it soon after it came out and while I liked it, it was disappointing compared to the others — weaker, slower, songs, comparative lack of flashy guitar work. After the musically great track Southern Man on ATGR, to then get another Southern USA diss-track here, Alabama, seemed a bit much for a guy from Canada. Hooray for Lynyrd Skynyrd for taking Neil down on Sweet Home Alabama. Like Rod Stewart and Van Morrison, Neil had 3-4 great albums to start their solo careers, and then things became so-so (or worse) after that.

Overall quite decent due to Dr. Dre’s songwriting and production. Would love to give it 3.5, but gotta do a 3.

Hated this from the get-go. Plodding grunge with few melodies, I can see how this might be intriguing live in a big arena, but listening to it was painful. Even “Black Hole Sun” which I always turn up and sing along to when it comes on in the car wasn’t as fun in the context of the whole album. I hate Pearl Jam as well, except for “Jeremy”.

Really disliked this. I believe they were touted as the new Rolling Stones of the 90’s, but none of this has the swing/swagger of Stones music from the 60’s to the end of the 70’s. Hard to Handle is like Peter Frampton or Huey Lewis, kinda fun to sing along to, but lifeless and formulaic overall.

Better than expected.

Quite a good album from the early days of trip-hop. Consistently good songs from start to finish.

The first track I liked — did LCD Soundsystem sample this for Get Innocuous? The rest was pretty repetitive, although Track 5, Neon Lights was enjoyable. Not quite my cup of tea, despite the possible connection to LCD Soundsystem. At least it’s an album I haven’t listened to in the past few weeks — unlike Hendrix and Portishead.

Really dislike it — the vocals, the histrionics of the music that probably plays OK live, the lyrics, all of it. Blehhh…..

Quite liked this, liked the singing, the lyrics, the whole mood of the album. The only nitpick is that a lot of the songs seemed to have the same kind of rhythm/flow to them — I didn’t dislike it so much as that I was hoping for more variety.

Liked this a lot, especially the variety of types of music employed. If it had been 20 minutes shorter it would have probably rated a 4. I quite like her in her movie roles — e.g., Hidden Figures, Glass Onion.

Pretty good stuff. Reading about how it was recorded was interesting. I remember them on SNL. Somewhat remind me of The Jam, who didn’t get US recognition like this group did. Good job, lads

Now we’re talking. One of my all-time faves. It came out when I was 11. JB bought it and I used to listen to it over and over in front of our stereo cabinet, laying on a pillow to get the great stereo separation. Don’t love the final 11 minute track, “The End”, but still a solid 5 for me. One old blues song, Willie Dixon’s “Back Door Man”, and a song from 1927 by Brecht and Weill supplement the originals, (Alabama Song). Until about 15 years ago, I had no idea that the original album and my memories of it had the last word of “she gets high” silenced throughout the opening track, “Break on Through”. Great stuff.

An act I’ve never heard of, and was skeptical given the title (assuming it was rap) but I quite liked this. Very decent songs, interesting and enjoyable production. This sounded great through headphones. They released 5 albums in 2022 totaling 4 hours of music. I may check out one of them here soon.

Thought I’d like this more. The Stooges were too out there for my tastes and this solo disk as a collaboration with Bowie seemed more promising. Some Ok stuff on side one, but side two was meh.

Loys of good stuff here. Could be a 5 star review but some of this seems repetitive. I remember when this came out there was a link where you could put in your home address and then The Suburbs music video would play with Google Earth picture (and video?) of your house would be incorporated into the music video.

Hated this from the get-go. Plodding grunge with few melodies, I can see how this might be intriguing live in a big arena, but listening to it was painful. Even “Black Hole Sun” which I always turn up and sing along to when it comes on in the car wasn’t as fun in the context of the whole album. I hate Pearl Jam as well, except for “Jeremy”.

From the Wiki, I expected to really dislike this, but didn’t. Nothing I’d ever listen to again, but some of the tracks were reasonable melodic and the guitar work was pretty tasty throughout. Never heard of the group.

In high school, this band was very popular with the stoners and freaks (I was decent friends with many of them) and the whole purpose of the band seemed very calculated to me to appeal to such a demographic. Theatrically shocking in concert. Some of the songs are ok, but this album generally leaves me cold. Alice later (or maybe even during their heyday) became a golf fanatic and supposedly drank over a case of beer a day. School’s Out (not on this album) is a great song, though.

Didn’t quite like this as much as some of their later stuff, but this was still pretty good. Nice atmosphere, somewhat akin at times to one of my fave artists, Everything But The Girl. Would give 3.5 but can’t.

A so-so collection of soul songs. His voice is fine, nothing special.

Musically and lyrically this was fine. Knocked down a notch because many of the tracks’ flow/rhythms in the vocals seemed repetitive. For me and my general dislike if rap/hip-hop music, this was quite decent.

This seems like an album my parents might have owned, even though they weren’t country fans at all. This seems more balladeer-ish, so they might have liked it — Perry Como with a twangy guitar. I quite like his voice but too many of the songs sound the same to me.

Not as familiar with this since it came out when Maggie was a bit over one year old. A fairly plodding set of songs, not as distinctive or melodious as earlier albums (see Imperial Bedroom).

I’ve always liked this act from the Twin Cities more than The Replacements. This is a fine album, some great songs (I generally like Hart’s songs more than Mould’s) and a nice sound throughout, knocked down a notch for being too long — i.e., a single LP of the best tracks would’ve been a 5.

Some “hits” and some decent songs all round, but coming so soon after The Beatles this is a bit disappointing, as was a lot of solo work from Paul and George. Sounds great in 7.1 surround

Thought I would like this a bit more, but it didn’t quite do it for me. Very pleasant, and loved the overall instrumentation, but the vocals were a bit too mumbly for me. I can see where this would have been new and exciting in 2009. Suspect this is one you know quite well, Joe (and Maggie too, perhaps?). Would love a 3.5 option here.

This was released the month Maggie was born, so while I was aware of the band and this album I hadn’t ever heard it. Liked it a lot — fine melodies, pleasant lead vocalist (sounds like Glenn Tilbrook from Squeeze). Would listen to again.

One of the first albums I listened to when I was doing one-a-days before this 1,001 albums program started. This was fine, and I appreciate its historical significance for Bowie and the era it came out in (disco, early new wave), but this is all just OK for me. I like early Bowie better.

I really dislike Eric Clapton, always have. Never thought he was that great of a guitarist, and the quality of his work plummeted after he quit taking drugs (in the late 70’s or early 80’s?). Then of late he’s been misogynistic and anti-vaxx, further cementing my poor opinion of him. However, this is a fabulous album from start to finish — a great selection of original songs and blues covers, tight playing and good singing. We played all 4 sides of this quite a bit in high school while playing cards. Duane Allman plays a lot of guitar on this (any slide work, e.g.), proving why he was such a sought after session player. DA Anthology, both volumes 1 and 2 are well worth a listen. A solid 5 for me, despite EC.

Thought this was just OK, and outside of the two songs I was familiar with, the rest sounded a lot alike. The vocals got real old quickly.

Overall quite decent due to Dr. Dre’s songwriting and production. Would love to give it 3.5, but gotta do a 3.

I’ve always thought she had a great voice, although her warbling to show off her vocal prowess gets old quickly. I generally like the slower songs here. The album is way too long. Lop off 30-40 minutes of so-so tracks and this coulda been a 3.

I own his previous two albums (Saint Julian and My Nation Underground, both for sale on Amazon) and remember liking them. This one was unfamiliar and I liked it a lot. A wide variety of styles, tempos, melodies, etc. A bit lengthy at 76 minutes, but can’t see much I’d want to cut. A solid 4.

This did nothing for me, didn’t even finish the first disc.

Liked this pretty much. Thought I’d tire of the vocals but didn’t. Nice variety of styles and tempos. Won’t need to listen to again.

A really fine album. One we listened to some playing cards as a teenager, but it wasn’t in heavy rotation. A batch of great songs, and side 2 is killer, with 2 big hits and a great track that LCD Soundsystem would cover almost 40 years later. Plus, the album opens with the theme song from Russian Dolls! A great talent who died at 52 and recorded no more albums for the last 14 years of his life, instead indulging in booze and drugs (died of a heart attack). Have to give it a 5, even though I feel like 5s are mostly reserved (for me) for albums that I know super well and have always loved.

This doesn’t work for me, although I liked it a bit better than I thought I would. I suspect I don’t like much of anything in this genre, but of course I’m not quite sure what the genre is. Drive is a decent track.

This is pretty good stuff, 3 big Top 40 hits followed by a bunch of pretty nice tracks. Gets a bit repetitive overall. I remember she was in heavy rotation on MTV, perhaps due to her being African and MTV was trying to get more black music videos on, and she fit the bill but was pretty safe music.

This album was so big in college in the spring semester of 1976 (along with the S/T Fleetwood Mac album from summer of 1975). Either going to parties or delivering pizza and sandwiches to campus apartments, one of these two albums was played constantly. This is a great example of a double album that would have been a much better single LP. Some really fun tracks, but a lot of filler. And some of it, even big hit tracks like “Show Me the Way”seem kinda plodding and lifeless, even though it’s fun to sing along to. Haven’t listened to it in many years, thought at the outset of today’s listening that it would probably rate a 3, maybe a 4, but…

Sorry, I just can’t. Maybe this would be better as a slim volume of poetry. Almost all of these do not seem like songs, melody-wise, to me. Also, way too long. However, nice Isley Brothers sample on “I”.

Sold this on vinyl for $20 in June of 2020. Have always liked these guys, and this is a decent album. A number of the songs sound pretty similar.

Liked this way better than I thought I would, given it is a krautrock group. Some lovely songs and the extended instrumentals were quite decent. Surprised we didn’t listen to anything by this group in high school. Even the Disc 2 tracks in the rerelease were enjoyable. This was released the month I started college but it (or the group) wasn’t on any of my friend group’s radar.

This was better than I expected. Some reasonably decent melodies here and there. The production at times seemed Dr. Dre-ish, but he wasn’t involved. Wouldn’t listen to again, but a pleasant surprise.

To quote you guys about some other albums — meh.

So great, but still only my 3rd favorite Steely Dan album (after Katy Lied and Countdown to Ecstasy). 11 concise songs, 34 minutes, the last disc with any semblance of being a typical “rock band”. Some admittedly weird tracks for a pop/rock album, but great rhythms, solos, and arrangements throughout. One monster hit (Rikki), one that should’ve done better (title track), and a number of others that would be great to hear on Classic Rock if they’d ever play them. As with most of their LPs it doesn’t seem like a “guitar album” on the surface (only The Royal Scam qualifies), but there is so much tasty guitar work here throughout. Lots of it from original members Jeff Baxter (who joined The Doobie Brothers soon after this was done) and Danny Dias, but Walter Becker, primarily a bass player, has some shining lead guitar moments here. Looking at the track listing before playing it today, my sense was that Side 2 was weaker than Side 1, but nah, it’s all great.

My 4th favorites Stones album, after Let it Bleed, Exile on Main St., and Between the Buttons. This was the first of 4 studio albums in a row that define the group at its peak (LIB, Sticky Fingers, and EOMS are the other 3). Founding member Brian Jones was pretty much gone from the group (and as it turned out, life) during the making of this album, so Keith took over most of the guitar work, rhythm and lead (as he did on LIB), which is always a treat as he is more of a rhythm guitarist than lead on most of their recordings. Two monster hits (Sympathy for the Devil and Street Fighting Man) plus other gems throughout. The closing track is lovely and starts out with Keith’s lovely on the first verse before Mick takes over, then rollicking piano from session player extraordinaire Nicky Hopkins. A staple of our card playing days in high school. A great album.

Most of this was unlistenable. Hated the vocals. It seems like an album any semi-talented DJ yahoo could’ve made. A couple of OK things (e.g., Damaged People), would give it 1.5, but a 2 vote I can’t do because I don’t want to help the Global Stats for the album.

Just wonderful. I was 14 when it came out. The start of more sophisticated songwriting, arrangements and production. There needs to be a deluxe box set edition of this. These guys have potential.

The weakest of the stretch of 4 albums that defines the Stones for me (Beggars Banquet, Let it Bleed, SF, and Exile on Main St.) but still a solid 5 for me because the other three are all so superb. The first album to fully include Mick Taylor on guitar, and he shines throughout, especially on Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, a seven minute, one take song that turned into a long jam. No Keith lead vocals anywhere on the album, but lots of horns. Released 6 weeks before I turned 16, this was a basement playing cards staple. I owned the original zipper cover back then.

This was pretty darn fun. I knew “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” and “Jump, Jive and Wail” from the 80’s remakes by David Lee Roth and Brian Setzer (of The Stray Cats). The rest was catchy and had my toes-a-tapping. Was gonna knock it down for having a number of songs that sounded kinda similar, which I do a lot here. But I liken this early stuff to Chuck Berry, where a bunch of it kinda sounds alike but since it’s basic rock and roll I don’t mind as much. Seems like an album my parents might have owned but it wasn’t familiar. They had either a Gene Krupa or Buddy Rich album though.

This was in surround sound, which was done pretty well. Enjoy the duo of Edward’s and Rogers, but outside of the hits this was just OK. Loved “We are Family” in its 8+ minute version. In 1979 I started my first actuarial job in June, and then in the fall, this was the team song for the Pittsburgh Pirates when they played the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. Somehow I won our office pool on the series, picking the underdog Pirates.

I was hoping this was better after seeing the initial track listing. A really solid Side 1, and a much more lackluster Side 2. The covers weren’t as good as I expected (Do You Wanna Dance, Spanish Harlem, e.g.). Catch a clip of them on YouTube either at Monterey or on The Ed Sullivan Show. Pretty cool group.

Never heard of this group. Quite enjoyed most all of this. Several of the tracks remind me of one of my fave groups, Zero 7. Listened to their most recent album from a couple of years ago — not as good. But I would definitely listen to Lost Souls again.

Was intrigued to listen to this because I recognized the artist as a big remix producer in the 90’s especially for Madonna’s Ray of Light album. I still have a couple of CD remix singles from that album, mostly because they don’t sell for diddly on Amazon or Discogs. Anyway, decent here and there, but nothing I ever need to hear again.

Well, another 5 star gem from my teen years. I remember hearing this first while visiting my brother Dan in I believe 1970. A weird, startling open number and then 4 lovely prog rock songs following. This was my first mega box set, with 20 CDs, 2 DVDs and 4 Blu-ray Discs, purportedly covering everything they recorded or performed live in calendar year 1969. A pretty fun package. Also a staple of card playing evenings in high school.

This was just ok. Lovely opening track, then the rest was kinda blah. I remember when he was a big deal when he first came on the scene. Never really took to him.

This was kind of a big deal debut from my early 20’s, anchored by Sultans of Swing. The rest of the album is decent enough but their Brothers in Arms is a much better album and Making Movies is somewhat better than this debut.

Overall I quite liked this. Some weird stuff butmmore accessible than expected. An artist I’d never heard of. Nice sampling of the 1970’s on-hit wonder “Spooky” by the Classics IV on track 2.

This was fine but nothing special. It didn’t even include the Veronica Mars theme song…

This was more enjoyable than I was expecting, with some nice use of samples of songs I knew. The flow of their vocals seemed fairly similar across a range of these songs, however. Probably no need to hear them again, but my opinion of them is higher than it was last week.

This was more prog-rock to me instead of heavy metal, so I actually liked a fair chunk of this. Decent guitar and drumming throughout. Didn’t love the singer. If it had been released in 1970 it might have made it to our basement card games in high school but can’t be sure about that.

I quite enjoyed side one, but the exactly 20 minute side two track was meandering and bleh. The vocals were buried so deep, presumably on purpose, but that didn’t work for me. Side one a 4, side two a 1, but I’ll give this a roundup to 3.

Really disliked this. I believe they were touted as the new Rolling Stones of the 90’s, but none of this has the swing/swagger of Stones music from the 60’s to the end of the 70’s. Hard to Handle is like Peter Frampton or Huey Lewis, kinda fun to sing along to, but lifeless and formulaic overall.

This was very enjoyable, haven’t listened to it since it first came out. Don’t always like Meg’s drumming, but overall the musicianship is very solid. Doesn’t have my fave WS track, “We’re Going to Be Friends”. A great performance of it when they were on SNL.

Thought this was much better than it was. Saw them with my sister in the mid-80’s in Massachusetts. Maybe it was another of their albums I quite liked. This was decent, just nothing spectacular. Sold my copy of this in July of 2017 for $40.

Listened to this a couple of months ago before we started this. Quite liked it then, still do. A couple of the songs sound the same, though. Saw a documentary while back on glam rock in the early 70’s, which featured how huge a star (and heartthrob) Marc Bolan was in his heyday in England.

So much good stuff here and more intriguing than the mega hits “Fleetwood Mac” and ‘Rumors” that preceded it. A solid 5 if it had been condensed to a one-disc LP. The McVie songs are lovely, Nicks are mixed (Angel and Sara great, Sisters of the Moon and Storms less so), and Buckingham’s songs are mostly fine, but some are really solo efforts, suffering from not having the great rhythm section of McVie-Fleetwood behind him. Side note — I bough this for my brother JB for Christmas in 1979 on a Christmas Eve whim, paying full retail at a local store near his house in CT. In an earlier year I bought him “The Koln Concerts” by Keith Jarrett. What a great brother I was…

Thought I’d like this more than I did. Very Stevie Wonder-ish which I enjoyed/appreciated, but a lot of it sounded the same.

I was not that familiar with this album, and while none of the songs seemed as catchy as those from Kid A (my fave of theirs) or OK Computer, the songs all had enough mood and lovely instrumentation, plus some cool effects via headphones, to make me want to revisit this at some point soon.

From “Summer of Taylor”: A solid album, but the influence of Martin and Shellback as co-writers is starting to wear thin. Way too many repeated lyrics on a bunch of the tracks. The last 4 songs were a real drop off. Pleased to see it's a totally non-country album. The whole "this song is about one of my exes" motif is getting old.

This wasn’t as good as their second album, but is still pretty fun. Bonus for the Kinks song “Stop Your Sobbing”. Christie Hynden and Ray Davies (Kinks singer and songwriter) have a daughter together.

Liked this better than I remembered it and expected to. 2 big hits, 2 minor hits and other side one tracks were quite nice. Fun to sing to and move to. A solid debut effort.

Not my jam, as you know…

Thought I would hate this, but didn’t. Some catchy tunes, decent lyrics. Don’t need to hear again, though.

I remember when this came out and then Bowie died a few days later. Then and now I appreciate the album dealing with his death so close to the event. Listened to it twice this weekend, and on second listen decided to bump it from 3 to 4. Some catchy and nicely atmospheric tracks. The video for the title track is a trip #buttoneyes

This was a very important debut album, and like the Ramones debut caused quite a stir, but it’s nowhere near as good as London Calling, or maybe even Combat Rock. I am more familiar with the US version with I Fought the Law, even owning the initial edition that came with a bonus 7” single. Sold that for $16 seven years ago. Solid, but not that great.

This wasn’t as good as their later stuff. I even listened to part of their latest from 2023 and it was better than this. Some nice stuff, a solid debut.

A group I’m aware of but had never heard before. Started out OK, liked the track She is Suffering, but things declined after that. The vocals were kinda screechy on a lot of tracks. Not my jam.

This is the first of 5 albums consecutively released by the group considered by many, myself included, to be the group’s peak. This is by far the weakest of the 5 but still has many fine moments, especially Sunny Afternoon, perhaps the finest example of Ray Davies’ chronicling of middle class British life in the 60’s. Albums 2-3-4 of the 5 are part of the 1001 albums, so hopefully we’ll get them down the line. They are all masterpieces.

The two instrumentals and “Changes” keep this from being a 1. Out my cup of tea.

I like how they did what they wanted to for this — almost no hits, three Meat Puppet covers, Leadbelly — but a lot of this sounds the same. Fine, but no great shakes.

Except for Genius of Love, this is a pretty lame album. In the Stop Making Sense concert movie, this is performed by the whole band to give David Byrne a rest midway through and it is joyously fun.

Side 2 stronger than side 1. The two Peter Tosh written tracks on side 1 were a nice change of pace. I like Bob just fine, but a lot of his stuff sounds the same to me. A greatest hits album is more my speed for an artist like this. The recent Bob Marley: One Love movie (on Paramount, as Jackson would say) is well worth watching.

This came out when I was 22, my senior year of college. A great debut — quirky, fun, rhythmic. Their first 4 albums are among the 1,001 (all in the 380-480 range) and will all be 5s for me. Their 5th, Speaking in Tongues would qualify as well. After that, things drop off for their last 3 studio albums, when discord in the group impacted the music. The best concert I ever attended, part of the Stop Making Sense tour. The concert movie, directed by Jonathan Demme, is a must see, available through the DMPL on DVD.

Bruce has 5 albums in the 1,001, but of course my favorite 2, his first 2, are not among the 5. This does not surprise me. His 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th albums (BITU is #7) are in the 1,001. Born to Run (#3) has some great moments but things head downhill in his discography from there. This album has some decent hits, but the non-hits are pretty weak, and side 2 is kinda blah overall. And where is his underrated guitar playing? Cover Me hints at his guitar prowess, but check out album 2 (the Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, my fave) for some great guitar work. If you want to see what the fuss was all about with his live act, see if you can get this from the library, or maybe watch on YouTube — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 (Video 2005). Eye opening stuff.

This is a wonderful album all around. Still like Kid A better, but not by leaps and bounds. Lovely songs, great guitar work by Greenwood, vocals and lyrics understandable throughout. Their most “normal” album?

Outside of Hallelujah I’ve never understood the appeal of him. The lyrics are ok, but the songs are mostly pretty lame. Not for me.

I liked this OK, kinda cool it’s just DJ, bass, and vocals. The tracks with Muhammad as a co-songwriter mostly seemed alike. Would never need to hear again.

Liked about half of this — e.g., Freak Scene, Yeah We Know, Keep the Glove. The rest was meh.

This used to be in my Top 10 albums of all time, knocked out of the running by Zero 7’s debut “Simple Things:. An achingly lovely album — her singing and playing are wonderful throughout.

I never understood this group or the fanatical fan base they have. Most of this is plodding, noisy junk that is not fun to listen to. Lyrics seem lame. Enter Sandman I know and is kinda OK, and a couple of other slower songs were decent. Not my jam.

This group was around when Squeeze and A Flock of Seagulls were popular but they fell under my radar. I liked this quite a bit — nice variety, poppy tunes.

Two quite decent tracks to open side two that are fun to sing along to in the car, but the rest is pretty bad. The shrill vocals get old very quickly. 50 million copies sold? Why? Like Metallica, I don’t understand the fanatical fan base. Both are supposedly great live, but the albums are meh.

Thought starting out today this would be a solid 5 based on its release right before my senior year of high school and how much we listened to it while playing cards. Lou really wanted to be a Brill Building pop radio songwriter (like Carole King-Gerry Goffin) and some great songs here reflect that. Side 1 is solidly great and includes an achingly lovely song that is in Elizabeth’s top ten of all time, Perfect Day. Also in her top 10, the lead track from The Velvet Underground’s debut album, Sunday Morning. And imagine what it was like to hear Walk on the Wild Side on Top 40 radio several times a day. Side 2 isn’t nearly as good as side 1, save for Satellite of Love, so the drop to a 4. The only other Lou album in the 1,001 is Berlin, my fave of his, a drugged out dirge song cycle that is kinda depressing subject matter-wise, but is all very lovely in its own way.

I must have played this CD a lot when I got it when it came out, because the first 8 tracks were all very familiar and all great. The second half lags a bit, so a 4 instead of a 5. Nice to hear it again, which may have never happened without this app we’re doing.

This was OK. Never thought Baker was that great of a drummer, just like fellow Cream bandmate Clapton is a very overrated guitarist. Fela is quite decent though. Skipped the bonus dual drummers track.

Except for some tasty guitar work here and there, I can’t do this.

No…

Didn’t get to it today. Rating it from my vague memory when it came out that it was fine, but way too long, not worthy of a double album. Will listen this weekend and text any added comments or revised score.

Thought I would like this more than I did. Some decent songs but a lot of it sounded similar. Seems like this album would be better in a live performance.

He has a spoken word kind of singing voice like Lou Reed that is endearing at times. Some of the covers were intriguing. Overall, fine but never need to hear again.

Oh how the critics love this album — #132 of 1,001. I think this is fine, but the songs just aren’t that great. His next 3 albums (Moondance, His Band and the Street Choir, and Tupelo Honey, released in 1970-1971) are all wonderful, filled with great songs to groove to and sing along to, but Astral Weeks just doesn’t do it for me. Surprisingly, Tupelo Honey is not available to stream on any of the major services and I couldn’t find out why. Also, sold this album for $18 years ago on Amazon.

Most of this was pretty awful, but a few tracks and the guitar work (Pat Smear from the Foo Fighters) save this from being a 1. A group that was probably fun to see live in the early grunge era.

This was too muddy and murky, even for my tastes. Second half better than the first.

My favorite Dylan album. Great songs throughout, some of his strongest singing. Seeing the songs evolve on The Bootleg Series is fascinating. The backing band does a nice job throughout.

This didn’t do it for me. Second half a bit better than the first.

I quite like this, appreciate that it’s all vocals. Not as good as Petra Haden’s all acapella song by song remake of the great album The Who Sell Out” (well worth seeking out if you’re unfamiliar with it. I also got to listen to this in 5.1 surround, since I have the “Medulla Surrounded”, edition, a CD/DVD set with surround sound and videos on the DVD. I got it through the BMG Music Service CD club, back in 2004.

Although I liked License to Ill a bit (grade of 3), this wasn’t as good. A small dose of this goes a long way.

This was decent, pretty peppery and fun, but not that memorable. 3.25 rounded down?

Meh.

CCR released their first 5 albums in a space of 24 months. They were all over Top 40 radio and the albums were overall quite good. This album has 2 top 2 songs (title track and Bad Moon Rising), plus 2 that peaked at 30 and 52 (Commotion and Lodi). The other tracks are decent. The final track was a Ray Charles hit on the R&B charts hitting #5. There is a great, but we can’t really watch it now, lip sync version by Cliff Huxtable and family on an episode of The Cosby Show. Not quite a 5 — I’ll save that for at least one other of the first five CCR discs.

This had its moments with instrumentation, samples used, and the flow of the raps, but is still so not my jam.

Got nervous when the first 2 tracks sounded very similar but there was more variety as the album went on. Generally fine with this music genre and this was decent.

This is similar to Bebel Gilberto (not in the 1,001), who I like better than this, but this was quite good overall. Never heard of the artist, would listen to again.

I generally like Sam and there’s some nice tracks here, but this is #38 out of 1,001??? It’s not that worthy. Maybe it’s so high-ranking because it wasn’t released until 20 years after the fact because in 1963 the record company thought it was too gritty and raw and would damage his pop image. The cover version of Twistn’ the Night Away by Rod Stewart is one of my fave tracks, with great slide guitar work from Ron Wood before he joined the Stones.

A lovely album. Great songs, has a good vibe throughout, lyrics are more discernible than on many of their others. 3, maybe 4, legit “hits” and the rest of the tracks are all quite intriguing.

This was ok. Didn’t seem as alt-country as the Wikipedia page said. They have a lot of albums..

I don’t think I’ve ever heard this album. Knew the tracks High and Dry, as well as Just. Although I prefer the quirkier Kid A and OK Computer, this is a great collection of fairly straightforward songs. Quite enjoyed Fake Plastic Trees and Bullet Proof. Have always loved Greenwood’s guitar work and there is a lot of good examples of it here (Sulk). I should probably try Pablo Honey…

Never heard of this artist, was kinda intrigued with the first track and then it went meh from there. Suspect this is among the 1,001 only because a number of acts used samples from it years later.

I quite liked this. Nice jangly pop. Especially liked Waterfall, (Song for My) Sugar Spun Sister, This is the One and Fools Gold. Too bad they only had two albums.

One of the first CDs I ever purchased in 1985, along with Dark Side of the Moon and either Joe Jackson’s Night and Day or The Police’s Synchronicity #hazyguessesonthoselasttwo. A very fine album from start to finish, side 1 stronger than side 2 with three legit hits to start the album, but wonderful throughout. Great production and guitar playing. Thought it would be in surround sound on Apple Music, but alas it is not. But I still own the 5.1 surround SACD, so listening to that again was great.

Didn’t much care for this. Disliked the vocals, the songs were so-so at beast.

Neil’s first 3 albums were great, especially Everybody Knows This is Nowhere and After the Gold Rush. Album 4 was Harvest which was pretty good as well. This is album 5 and began a long slow decline in his overall album quality. Some OK stuff here, but a disappointment after what came before.

I liked about a third of this, mostly the melodic songs like the two singles and La La Love You. The rest was so-so. 3 rounded up from 2.5.

Hadn’t listened to this in a long time. Lovely stuff. Listened on the plane from Chicago to Hartford, which was weirdly fun. Always liked Miles better than Coltrane, but John’s sax playing here is really nice. Especially love Bill Evans’ piano work throughout. Need to listen to more Miles.

This was better than I expected. Liked “side 2” better than “side 1”, although the title track that leads it all off is a classic. Too bad he was taken from us so soon. Fine looking gentleman as well.

I like Nick better as a TV/Movie composer (Peaky Blinders theme song, e.g.). A whole album of his dirge-like songs is a bit much to take. Quite liked the final track, though.

I was intrigued to listen to this because I like 60’s Bee Gees songs a lot, and this was a double album from 1969 where I only knew one song (Run to Me). Appreciated the ambition, but overall didn’t love the songs. It was rereleased as a single album, and that was probably a good idea. This is the album to listen to: https://music.apple.com/us/album/best-of-bee-gees/1440901853

This was quite popular when it came out. The two big hits are better here live than in the studio editions. The rest of this is just so-so, although the opening track is great. Weird they were so popular in Japan. A Midwest band with two very odd looking guys (drummer and lead guitarist) and two admittedly heartthrob-type guys in the lead singer and bassist — gee, which two are on the front cover? Great musicians, a tight band.

This was just ok. Didn’t care for the murkier songs.

I liked the two hits I knew and I generally have good feelings about Edwards-Rogers, and the rest was OK.

Just ok outside of the title track.

Great voice, really fun 60’s style stereo separation, but most of the tracks didn’t do that much for me. 2.5 rounded up.

Love Al’s voice and vibe, great Bee Gees cover song. The groove on these is pretty similar across a lot of the tracks. Was hoping this album had Take Me to the River, but alas…

Not quite as good as the two preceding albums (Bringing it All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited), but a great album, one of the first double albums. I don’t remember my brothers bringing home any Dylan albums in the 60’s, so didn’t really know this fully until I was an adult. Elizabeth had Dylan’s Greatest Hits with Rainy Day Women #12 and 35, I Want You, and Just Like a Woman. She also had Volume 2 of his Greatest Hits with Stuck Inside of Mobile from this album — Volume 2 is a quite cool collection of Dylan songs well worth a listen. Soon after the release of BOB, he had his motorcycle accident and his next few albums were more introspective, not great, but interesting to hear.

Listen to this twice. First time I thought it was fine, but seemed like something I might like more if I heard it again. That turned out to be the case. Some of it sounded similar to their later stuff that I’m more familiar with. I really like the final song on the album.

I loved the first track, so got excited for the rest, but the rest was just so-so. Knew Malcolm as a manager of The Sex Pistols but had no idea he was a fairly prolific musician as well. The cowriter on most of the tracks, Trevor Horn, was familiar to me as a producer as well as a short lived vocalist for Yes. 2.5 rounded down.

I believe this is my first 5 star rating other than albums I’ve known and loved and rated 5 in my mind (most of the time) before listening. This was lovely throughout, with great melodies, arrangements, lyrics, musicianship and Tweedy’s vocals were just wonderful. Enjoyed this a lot more than Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and this makes me want to listen to more of their stuff (or at least maybe the 35 track deluxe version of this album). Nicely done, gentleman.

This has always been a weird album. A strong disc one, a not so strong disc 2, and then the weird 3rd disc of jam sessions that are actually kinda ok, and I dislike Eric Clapton The guy shows promise, though.

Enjoyed this a lot. A couple of tracks didn’t do it for me but overall a winner. Didn’t realize he played almost all the instruments.

I like Muddy fine enough (the Rolling Stones took their name from one of his songs), but this was just so-so. A lot sounded the same. The bonus 4 studio tracks were decent enough.

A couple of decent tracks, but not my cup of tea. Sorry, Kurt…

Hadn’t heard this in probably 50+ years. Better than I thought. Obviously a great voice, and the backing band is quite good. Standard quirky stereo separation typical of the era (that’s not a bad thing, IMO). Weird that there’s an instrumental on the album.

Better than I was expecting, with big hits and some decent other tracks I wasn’t familiar with. I suspect on this and other MJ albums of this era, that a big chunk of what made these great was Quincy Jones production.

Liked a lot of the samples used here, but as you know, this is just not my jam.

Maybe just from the album cover, I thought I would and wanted to like this more than I did. A lot of it sounded very similar and was not in my wheelhouse. Saved from a 1 by a cool Steely Dan sample (“Eye Know”) and another from Hall and Oates (“Say No Go”).

This is quite good. A powerful, lovely voice, but is it horrible to say it gets a bit wearisome after awhile? And does she write just lyrics or does she do some of the music as well? Still, a solid 4.

I quite like this genre of drum and bass, but others have done this better. Everything But the Girl’s “Walking Wounded” album I have recommended before is a much better one to try — drum-and-bass with lovely songs.

A little of this went a long way.

My fave Stevie Wonder album, and it made my honorable mention list when I did my Top 10 albums for StoryWorth. Two monster hits, with You Are The Sunshine Of My Life different than the single version on the radio, without the horns. This is a much better version. The other tracks are all lovely love songs, with Stevie playing most of the instruments throughout. One noteworthy exception — Looking For Another Pure Love, with a stunning guitar solo by Jeff Beck. I get goosebumps every time I hear it, and love it when Stevie says, “Do It, Jeff”. A classic, from when I was a senior in high school.

Not that big a fan of his, and the songs here aren’t that great, but I liked a lot of the instrumentation/arrangements, which brought a 2 up to a 3.

Expected to dislike this, but didn’t. Some awful tracks (next to last) and some quite nice (final track. Enjoyed both of the 20 minute tracks as well. A Prog rock group I’ve always been aware of but had never listened to.

I’ve never been sure about Zappa. The documentary “Zappa” was fascinating, but generally his music is too weird for my tastes.

Liked this quite a bit, even the tracks with no recognizable samples. Surprisingly, I knew of “The Message”, but had never heard of it. Wild that this came out in 1982. The producer on this, Sylvia Robinson, the founder and CEO of Sugarhill Records, had a hit with “Love is Strange” in 1956, a lovely track that had an even lovelier cover version by Everything But The Girl.

This was decent, but cant fathom listening to him again.

I remember being so excited for this to come out during my junior year of high school, after Neil’s first 3 albums were so great, especially 2 and 3, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, and After the Gold Rush. The pre-album release single, Heart of Gold, was pretty decent. Then I got it soon after it came out and while I liked it, it was disappointing compared to the others — weaker, slower, songs, comparative lack of flashy guitar work. After the musically great track Southern Man on ATGR, to then get another Southern USA diss-track here, Alabama, seemed a bit much for a guy from Canada. Hooray for Lynyrd Skynyrd for taking Neil down on Sweet Home Alabama. Like Rod Stewart and Van Morrison, Neil had 3-4 great albums to start their solo careers, and then things became so-so (or worse) after that.

My favorite NY album. Three great guitar dominant tracks, Cinnamon Girl, Down by the River, and Cowgirl in the Sand. The other 4 tracks are slower, but all quite lovely. Reading about the recording process on the Wiki page was insightful. Had to look it up on setlist.fm, but when I saw him live in Hartford in September of 1986, he did CG and DBTR. Also performed were Heart of Gold and The Needle and the Damage Done from yesterday’s album. I recall the concert was very loud. This came out in May of 1969, when I was living in Spokane (until moving to Princeton in August) and wasn’t much of a record buyer at that time. My first NY album was ATGR, but probably did not buy it for a year or so after its 9/70 release date. Then I bought ENTIN and his self titled debut soon after that. A classic.

I have a bit of long-standing prejudice against this era of Genesis. In college, I took a course called the poetry of rock music, and one of the last sections was supposed to be an analysis of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards writing for the Rolling Stones. But somebody turned the teacher onto Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and the teacher was so taken with it that he ditched the Stones and we reviewed Genesis/Peter Gabriel instead. Of course I did not like that. In general, I like Genesis better after Peter Gabriel left and Phil Collins took over the singing and more of the songwriting, although I have liked a lot of Gabriel’s solo career. This is pretty decent though for early prog rock.

I vaguely remember this album from my high school days, but didn’t own it. It was all unfamiliar to me. Quite liked most of it. Stills is an underrated guitarist and songwriter. He was in the running to be one of The Monkees, but his crooked teeth sank his chances. This probably would have been a better one disc release, as is the case for most double albums, but I’m not sure what to cut out. All pretty solid stuff to me.

A couple of historical notes. I vividly remember at age 9, going to see this at the Beaver Theater in Beaverton, Oregon, where we lived — don’t laugh. I recall it was great and there was lots of shouting and singing along in the theater. Not sure if I went with friends or with JB. Also, the US released album was a fair bit different than this English version that we are listening to. It had the seven songs from the film, along with one other track, I’ll Cry Instead, and then there were four George Martin instrumentals included that were fine but made for a kind of a weird album. The seven songs that are in the movie are all fabulous, and the other six are no slouches either. From my detailed book about every Beatles song ever recorded, John was the primary writer on 10 of the 13 tracks here. A classic.

This was fine, kind of like Patti Smith. Loved the Thom Yorke vocals.

This is better than Rubber Soul, more experimental with stranger and catchier songs. A wide variety of styles. Better than Sgt. Pepper, which came next. Fun fact — the lead track Taxman is written and sung by George, has a great guitar solo, not by the band’s lead guitarist, but by Paul. How do these things happen? More Beatles, please.

Thought maybe this would be more interesting because I was only familiar with Little Wing, and that was only due to a cover version on Layla by Derek and the Dominos. Alas, this was pretty blah, with short songs and so-so guitar work.

This has 4 tracks from a fave greatest hits albums from this era, “Time Peace”, by The Rascals (as opposed to The Young Rascals for this LP). I was vaguely familiar with a couple of other songs here, and the new to me tracks were decent enough. A highly underrated band.

This is all pretty enjoyable. Andre 3000’s half is better than Big Boi, but The Way You Move is the standout track. I really dislike interludes. Available in 7/1 surround on Apple Music — quite cool. I might like Stankonia better. The Idlewild soundtrack album is a gem as well. The movie was decent.

This was fine, was hoping to like it better. The 13 minute jam Sex Machine was pretty dull. I liked the two unreleased tracks at the end of the album version on Apple Music. Their performance at Woodstock was excellent, and Hot Fun in the Summertime is a great track, from another album. Their greatest hits album is worth checking out.

Young Americans and Fame are quite good, but not as great as other big singles of his (Let’s Dance, or Suffragette City). The other songs weren’t anything special.

Since this came out in 2019 and I’d never heard of the artist, I was intrigued to listen to this. I liked 3-4 of these tracks for the music, but the similar vocal flow across most of the songs got old real quick. Not my jam.

It’s always puzzled me that John and Paul almost entirely wrote without the other in the last 2-3 years of The Beatles, and yet when they do their first solo album or two, the songs for each are overall just so-so. Virtually all the songs on The White Album, Abbey Road and Let it Be are great — no clunkers. So we have this — McCartney. One pretty great track, Maybe I’m Amazed, and the rest is lame. Kudos for playing all the instruments, and thankfully we get Band on the Run in a few years, but this? No.

Only 22 minutes?? I like Jerry Lee ok, it this is pretty lame.

This was pretty good. Liked the guitar work, the arrangements, and the covers — most of the originals of the covers came out not too long before this album. Nicely done, gentlemen.

Liked the idea of this, was excited for the collaborators (Canned Heat!), but this was just so-so.

Have always liked this group and then Paul Weller’s project/group after that, Style Council. Catchy songs, good energy — this works for me.

Some of this is fine (Izzo, Takeover, Heart of the City, Never Change, Song Cry), but mostly this is not my jam, as you know. Not enough “songs”.

This was lovely, languid and dreamy. Knew of them, but not sure if I was familiar with it. Will listen to more of them.

This was a bit better than I expected it to be, but didn’t really care for it.

Sold this album 5 years ago for $35. Some good guitar work and decent enough songs, but a little too twangy for my tastes.

I had hopes for this when reading about it, and some of it was kinda cute and quirky, but no need to listen to again. 2.5 rounded up to 3 for a cover of “Baby” a fave track of mine from Bebel Gilberto.

I’d rather listen to Paul Simon’s “Graceland”. This was just ok. Tough with all foreign lyrics.

Such a great album. Have always loved the rhythm section of FM, the muscle and swing of John McVie’s bass and Mick Fleetwood’s drums — The Chain is a good example of this. Lindsey Buckingham is a great and underrated guitarist, as well as an great arranger. This is a slightly better album than its predecessor (“Fleetwood Mac” s/t), primarily due to better songs from Buckingham and Christine McVie. My least favorite of their 3 main songwriters, Stevie Nicks, had better songs on the other album (Rhiannon and Landslide). These two albums were so popular during my college days at ISU and ubiquitous at parties and coming from dorm rooms. Everybody owned them. I saw them live at a somewhat smallish venue in September 1975 at ISU, playing just songs from the first album plus cuts from their pre-Buckingham/Nicks era. Checking the set list just now, I was pleased to see they did “Oh Well (pt.1)”, a great older track (Haim does a wild live version of this track — watch it on YouTube). Another great FM album is Mystery to Me, without Buckingham-Nicks, with almost all songs by Bob Welch (not in the band after 1974) and McVie. Well worth checking out.

Didn’t listen to, didn’t need to. A solid 5, the best LZ album. Great everything.

Only got through about half of this — hated every minute of it. Just awful.

This is a transition album from Yes being great to a quick decline into totally pretentious prog rock without good songs. 1971 saw The Yes Album and Fragile released, when I was 15 and then 16. Both are wonderful albums, and us “cool kids” were way into them. Sure, some of the lyrics were a bit out there but with rocking tracks like Yours is No Disgrace, I’ve Seen All Good People, Roundabout and Heart of the Sunrise, we overlooked any lyrical craziness. Then as junior year of high school started, CTTE dropped. We were ravenous for it and the diehards loved it. I thought it had its moments (parts of side one, almost all of And You and I), but the lyrics were ridiculous and the songs were not as good as on the previous two albums. Then a year later the double-album (with 4 tracks, each about 20 minutes long) Tales from Topographic Oceans was released and was awful, and things continued downhill after that. 3.5 rounded down to 3 based on what followed #illogical

This was wonderful. It seems like the type of album where if it had come out when I was in high school I would have known every lick and every word. They’re kinda like the Foo Fighters, both hard rock bands with great melodic songs. Hard to believe this is 20 years old. Was familiar with it from back then, but it was great to listen to again, and I’m excited for the 20th anniversary deluxe edition next month. Elizabeth liked it as well.

Love Morrissey’s voice and Marr’s guitar work. Prefer their album the Queen is Dead. Saw them live around this time in Massachusetts

I quite like this, especially since on a number of his live albums, he does a lot of grunting while he plays (not quite as intense as Monica Seles, but in the ballpark), but that’s not the case here. Bonus — Keith is figuring as a somewhat humorous plot point in the current season of Slow Horses, one of my fave shows these days.

Hmmm, the only song they didn’t write was Tainted Love. Their songs were pretty lame. The vocalist, Marc Almond, I know from some of his solo albums which I liked. A 1 except for TL.

As you may remember, I’m not a big fan of Eric. Overrated guitar player, bizarre behavior/view in recent years, and his guitar playing went way downhill after he got off heroin. This is his first album post-rehab. The songs aren’t great — Willie and the Hand Jive is way too languid, Motherless Children has been done way better by others (e.g., Steve Miller), although I do love it when people think I Shot the Sheriff is an original by Eric. Eric’s originals are meh.

This is a gem. One of the earlier CDs I would have bought. It came out right about when you turned one, Mags. The video for Sledgehammer played all the time on MTV, and that was fun to catch. So many great songs here, even the lesser known ones (like This is the Picture) are fine. And Kate Bush!! We saw him live in 1986 in Worcester MA. As I recall vaguely, the concert was no great shakes. He just stood there and sings — plus some older Genesis tunes I don’t love.

This isn’t one of his best from the 70’s. The two hits aren’t up there with others from this era and the rest of the tracks are kinda meandering and bleh. 2.5 rounded up to 3 because even the “not as great as others” hits are pretty good.

This was ok, but a lot of it sounded the same. Was hoping for better.

Weirdly ok.

This might have been a 4 except for those danged interludes. Decent songs, good arrangements, it held my interest when there were songs.

Still a solid 5, but my least favorite of the non-teeny bopper albums (Rubber Soul on through to Abbey Road), and yes I even like Magical Mystery Tour better. Except for the title track this doesn’t seem like a concept album at all. It was really cool when this came out because it had lyrics included which was novel at the time, plus I believe it came with some ephemera extras related to the Sgt. Pepper theme. No real super fave tracks here, all solidly Beatles gems.

Liked the arrangements, production, and sampling (thanks, Kanye?) but the songs didn’t grab me.

Expected this to be a 2, maybe a 1. Wasn’t that bad. Go Merle.

The hits are great, especially Let;s Go Crazy. The other tracks are so-so. Still, a solid 4. The movie was awful, though.

Liked some of this, especially the last 3 tracks. Not my jam.

This was very enjoyable, mid-career Bowie. The longer songs were intriguing and held my interest, and very tasty guitar work throughout. A solid 4.

Love this album. A great vibe throughout, with quirky songs that stay with me. Not sure how much of this is due to the Dust Brothers. And yes, I still own the deluxe cd/DVD version with the 7 bonus songs and the surround sound mix, which I will listen to in the morning.

This was ok.

Thought I might like this more than I did, from the description. Still fine in spots.

This was worse than the other one of his we had. Meh.

Thought I would like this more as I listened to the first few tracks but got tired of it as it went on. Dumb 7 minute gap on the last song before the “hidden” track. All in all fine.

Again, was hoping to like this better — maybe I like their later albums more? Bouncier tracks like From the Ritz to the Rubble and A Certain Romance were enjoyable but too much else sounded similar.

Never heard of this band and was surprised at how much I liked this. Catchy tunes, good production, nice variety. Will listen to more by them.

I never understood why this group was so popular. This was pretty bad all around — some OK songs, mopey/dumb lyrics, didn’t like the vocals.

The best part of this was that it was only 22 minutes. That, plus a decent energy to some of the tracks, saves this from being a 1. Would love 1.5 if available. Not my jam.

Remember not liking this so much when it came out, but a relisten here improved things. Still a 3. Why no more records after 2006 and before she died in 2011?

This didn’t do much of anything for me.

This was lovely all around — I suspect it was in medium-to-large part due to Van Dyke Park’s producing/arranging/orchestration. He worked with Brian Wilson for Good Vibrations and later songs for The Beach Boys. I still have his Song Cycle album for sale on Amazon. This reminds me of Bjork…

Another I thought I’d like more than I did. Pharrell is one of those behind the scenes guys whose music he does or writes for other artists (e.g., Senorita by Justin Timberlake) I usually enjoy. This had some interesting stuff, but only merits a 3.

I’ve quite liked this album since it came out. Catchy songs, lovely vocals, nice mood throughout. Surprised to see they have a 17 album discography.

I remember at Grinnell, there were a couple of DJs who really loved their debut album which came out that fall of 1973. I recall thinking it was ok, nothing special. When this came out the next year I was essentially gone from IA. I was excited to hear this since it had no songs/hits that I recognized. Well, it was pretty bad all around. Lame progressive rock, none of their later flair for melody or production.

Vividly remember this when it came out — JK, I was nine months old. Outside of Blue Suede Shoes, this was just so-so, but gets a 3 up from a 2 just based on its historical significance. Even though my parents kinda liked/tolerated the Beatles in 1963-1964 when they became huge, I imagine to the extent they knew of Elvis or this album in 1956 they would have shit bricks over it at that point in time. You go, E!

I really liked this and started out as a 4, but with a second listen I’m upping it to a 5. I suspect Danger Mouse’s involvement in all the songwriting and production is a not insignificant part as to why it rates so highly. Makes me want to try more from Kiwanuka as well as find more albums with Danger Mouse beyond the stuff I know already. Very catchy stuff, has a good vibe throughout.

Never understood why so many people and critics liked this band. Not much in the way of melodies and the noise stuff isn’t that interesting. If they didn’t have a female in the group would they have been as popular?

This was fine. A 3 downgraded to 2 because I hate Clapton.

This wasn’t nearly as good as the other Miles album we listened to, Kind of Blue.

This was a lot of fun, even for the tracks I wasn’t familiar with. One can imagine what the careers of rock stars who died in their 20’s would have looked like if they’d lived, but I bet Holly’s would have outshone most if not all the others.

Not great. Suspect it’s so revered because it was a live recording from a prison. Songs were lame, not my cup of tea.

No…

I liked this quite a bit in general, but a lot of it sounded the same. 3.5 rounded down.

Good stuff here, but suspect their second album is better, just due to its having their two monster hits. Solid songs, great musicianship. Didn’t realize Noel wrote all the songs.

Nice stuff. A bit languid at times, but pretty enjoyable.

Well, this was available in 7.1 surround but I couldn’t subject myself beyond a stereo headphones listening. Truly awful, horrible songs, the guitar work seemed amateurish and the songs quick and easy to write — not a compliment. I suppose they had some allure as a live band, but, just no…

This is a 3 album for me, one of those that maybe would go to a 4 if I listened to it a few more times. Some catchy tunes throughout.

A fine album all around.

Started out thinking this was at least a 4, with strong hits like “Pump it Up” (on my “Jackson” playlist), and “Radio Radio”. The rest of it was surprisingly bland, with memories of most of the tracks, but only a few still clicked with me — “Little Triggers”, “Hand in Hand” and “Lip Service”. Most of the rest started out fine but didn’t go anywhere. So down to a 3. Still waiting for “Imperial Bedroom”…

Didn’t like this as much as the other Adele album we’ve had. The songs were kinda blah overall, except for I Miss You and Hello, although I’m a bit weary of the latter. Had high hopes for the Danger Mouse track River Lea, but alas, it didn’t do it for me.

Not as good as last week’s offering by this artist, but I still kinda like it. Has a Bryan Ferry vibe at times. It’d be fine if I never hear him again, though.

Had reasonable hopes for this but it didn’t do much for me. Liked the Warren Zevon track. A couple of other bouncy songs. Didn’t like the kinda spoken word segments.

This was disappointing. Yes, a lot of energy, but the songs are pretty weak and the backing band seems to rely on just a couple of riffs too often.

Was hoping for better. Some decent songwriting, but most of the subject matter wasn’t that appealing. Plus, I generally don’t think of her voice being that warbly.

I liked this. Decent songs and general vibe, reminded me at times of Beck or Arrested Development. 3.5 rounded down to 3 so Joe will keep me on his Xmas card list.

Have never liked this artist or understood the appeal. Horrible voice, lame songs. Hope to never hear him again, but unfortunately he has 4 more albums in the 1,001. No more from G. Love and Special Sauce, however…

This was fine, but nothing special. I lump them with a band like Sleater-Kinney with both having much bigger, more passionate fanbases than I suspect they deserved.

A great album, not quite as good as the two preceding Eno involved albums (Fear of Music and More Songs About Buildings and Food). The first 4 tracks are stronger than the latter 4, but repeated listenings to the latter 4 reveal nuances that are quite appealing. Adrian Belew’s guitar work on several tracks adds enough to this album to bump it from a 4.5 to a 5.

I vividly remember when this came out I initially thought it was weird, since it was so different from their first 2 more pop albums. It was ant first off-putting, but it steadily grew on me and is now perhaps my favorite album of theirs. Great guitar work throughout, and while I’m not exactly sure what Brian Eno’s “treatments” contributions are, I bet the album would sound different without them.

Some of the music was okay, saving this from a 1. Not my jam.

So awful. An album that starts with a song based on Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal” is an immediate 2 with not much room to go up. Never heard of this guy.

This was pretty decent. Knocked down from 3.5 to 3 because their version of Freddie’s Dead didn’t swing like the original did.

On first listen Friday, liked this a lot, was leaning to a 4. Listened to it again today and wasn’t as impressed. A decent debut.

A couple of tracks in the middle were ok, but overall, no.

This was great. I’d forgotten they had as many good tracks as the first half of the album did. Plus, a cool Pink Floyd cover. Not quite a 5 because the last few tracks drop off of quality.

This was pleasant enough but nothing special.

This was Ok, but the Gene Clark penned songs were pretty lame. They have a nice sound, though. Strong mid 60-s left/right stereo separation.

Thought I disliked Iggy, but I think it was The Stooges I had a bad tat set for. This was pretty good all around, especially with Bowie writing a lot or most of the music (Iggy wrote lyrics) and playing keyboards. Nicely done.

This is a tough decision to give it a four instead of a five. Arguably, any album that includes Billie Jean and Beat It could be an automatic five. The title track and wanna be starting something are also fine tracks, but after that, even though I’m familiar with the other songs, they just don’t quite grab me. The Paul McCartney song is lame and a couple of the other slower songs just don’t do it for me.

Started out great and then faded in the second half. Cool that Dave played all the instruments, though. A decent debut.

I’ve always liked this Bob Mould entity more than the critic’s darlings Husker Du. Better songs, not as harsh. 3.5, but not quite 4 material.

This is a solid 4 for me for the music in general, but I’m bumping it up to a 5 because of the surround sound mixes of it. There are two different surround sound mixes, one new one in 7.1 Dolby Atmos on Apple Music, and another from a CD/DVD set I’ve had for 15 years that has a 5.1 surround mix. They are very different mixes on some of the tracks and in both cases they are amongst the best surround sound mixes I’ve ever come across, with lots of wild and interesting things going on and I find it fascinating — particularly with the lovely music it is being applied to.

Not quite as melodic as some others of theirs, but still very much enjoyed it, feel like one that would grow on me.

Diminuendo in Blue was pretty swinging throughout for 1956. The rest was just OK.

I’m convinced that if I had never heard this album, the three “hits” from the album (Sweet Blindness, Eli’s Coming, and Stoned Soul Picnic) would have clearly stood out as the only decent songs. Still, a solid 3. Check out Thrre Dog Night’s version of Eli’s Coming for contrast.

Fine but it’s no Sia…

Fairly weird but still kinda ok. How do these obscure one-off albums make this list?

Reminds me of Beastie Boys but I like this a bit better. Not my cup of tea, but I can imagine as a live act they’d be decent and popular.

I liked this quite a bit. A fair number of songs sounded roughly similar, but there were a fair number of decent melodies, loved most of the sampling, and good musicianship throughout.

This came out right when high school ended, and I seem to recall a lot of folks there and in college owned this, but it’s not really one you’d play at a party, or playing cards with my buddies. The radio edit was pretty cool for its time amidst the regular Top 40 songs. Overall I quite like most of this, although the last third or so of track 2 kinda is meh. A 3.5 bumped to a 4 because the surround sound version on Apple Music was quite nice.

I really love this album. Not sure how I got into it when it came out, maybe it was that it was album of the year in a couple of publications, but from the first listen it grabbed me. Great songs throughout, not sure what the lyrics are about and don’t care. Easily in my Top 10 albums of the 21st century, along with: Zero 7 — Simple Things — 2001 Fountains of Wayne — Welcome Interstate Managers — 2003 The Decemberists — Crane Wife — 2006 LCD Soundsystem — Sound of Silver — 2007 Selena Gomes — When the Sun Goes Down — 2011 I made my own surround sound mix of this back when I did my own mixes, and it is quite good, if I do say so myself.

The only reason this guy was a star was MTV. He was good looking, had a gimmick with his clothes and makeup, had a decently fun initial hit with Goody Two Shoes and thus he was set for his 15 seconds of fame. A couple of decent tracks (Los Rancheros and Making History) but the rest is pretty dull. Thankfully the last album by this artist we will see here.

My sister dragged me to see them in 1986 or so, Sammy Hagar on lead vocals, and it was one of the best show I’ve ever seen. Great musicianship and energy, really gave thenfans their money’s worth. Having said all that I’ve never been a big fan of their records. This is fun for a debut with Eddie’s guitar work and a great cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” earning this a solid 3.

The weakest of his string of 4 great albums from Talking Book to Songs in the Key of Life. Some great tracks, but a little too earnest in dealing with serious issues for my taste. He plays almost every instrument here, so kudos to him for that. A 3.5 rounded down to 3.

This was fun to hear on the radio in 1974, but outside of the main riff 24 minutes of the title track is a bit much. Some interesting stuff on side two, but never need to hear this again.

Had no idea what this would be like and was pleasantly surprised.

This is a solid 4, due to the musicianship, led by Johnny Winter, who orchestrated this late in Muddy’s career. Muddy’s earlier work never had this kind of backing band. I owned this when it came out.

Otis live at Monterey on video was excellent, but I have always felt that as a recording artist he gets higher critics’ love than he deserves because he died young. This was pretty meh for me.

This came out in March of my sophomore year of high school. I’m not sure how it came to be such a big album for my peer group, since Yes’ first two albums were very different and not on our radar at all, more pop/Top 40, with covers of lesser known songs by The Beatles (Every Little Thing) and Buffalo Springfield (Everydays). We went back and discovered them after knowing/loving this album. This one was a huge favorite. Admittedly pretentious lyrics, but top notch songs, musicianship and vocals, fun to sing along with. Played a ton on 8 tracks in our cars, and on vinyl while we played cards. A solid 5, made my honorable mention list for my Top 10 Albums of All Time.

Some fun covers — Born to Run, Fury (Ferry Cross the Mersey), War, Do You Know the Way to San Jose — but they were generally pretty straightforward covers. A number of the original songs seemed like they could easily turn into Relax, so that struck me as odd. Too long, but would like it less if, say, the covers were eliminated.

Shocked at how lame most of this is — repetitive, boring songs, uninteresting musicianship. And why are the only known songs the last 2 on the album? Still, “Don’t You Want Me” is so good it saves this from being a 1.

From the Wiki page description I expected to hate this more than I did, but it was close. Still, a solid 1.

These guys were always just OK to me — I liked the Allman Brothers Band much more. The ABB seemed like cool blues and boogie aficionados, while LS were party animals with an attitude I didn’t like. This is still a decent debut, a reasonably fun side 1, and “Free Bird” is still pretty danged good. 3.5 rounded down. Not on this album, LS’s “Call Me The Breeze” is one of my fave songs ever — it swings like nobody’s business. It was written by J. J. Cale who also wrote the Clapton hit “Cocaine”.

Thought this might be one of those albums that has legendary critical status but is undeserving. I was wrong — this is quite good, with great vocals, a fun variety of songs, and poppy arrangements.

This was fine…

Too long, but generally held my attention. A nice variety of musical ideas.

This came out right after I turned 15 in the summer of 1970. I believe it didn’t get on my/our radar until 1971 when Every Picture Tells a Story (in my Top 10 of all time) came out and I/we went back to discover Rod’s first two solo albums which are both wonderful and the three make up one of those great triads of releases we’ve discussed before. Side 1 (the first 4 songs) is very solid throughout and side 2 starts out with 2 killer tracks in Country Comforts (an Elton John song) and Cut Across Shorty. The next two solo penned tracks are guitar only and are lovely songs, even though Rod isn’t generally thought of as a solo songwriter. Throughout Ron Wood’s guitar work is subtle where needed and rocking on other tracks. Much more enjoyable than most of his work with the Stones. A staple of our card playing days — a solid 5 here.

This album, specifically Oye Como Va, was my first exposure to surround sound music, on a quad 8-track tape at somebody’s trailer way out in the boonies somewhere around Princeton. I remember the stereo system wasn’t anything fancy and the rear speakers were pretty small, but on one of those speakers on OCV the only music was a single repetitive percussion instrument, and I was hooked and haven’t wavered for 50+ years in my love of surround. The album as a whole is quite good, with side 1 stronger than side 2. Carlos Santana’s guitar work here is excellent per the usual. A 3.5 rounded up to 4 because of the surround sound. I’ve tried to sell this before, but them doing Soul Sacrifice at Woodstock, when hardly anyone knew them (their debut album dropped 2 weeks after Woodstock) is well worth a YouTube watch — the crowd reactions are great.

A little of this went a very long way. Walk This Way isn’t even that great, but it saves this from being a 1.

Thought it’d be worse without Johnny Marr’s guitar work (from The Smiths), but the guitar work here was fine, as was the rest of it. Nothing special, though.

From the Wiki description, I had hopes this would be an obscure 60’s gem to discover. Also I know and kinda like some of Moby Grape’s stuff. Ah well, this was pretty horrible all around.

Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. Not a big fan of Can, generally.

This was fine, it not great.

Generally liked this, always love Dre’s production. I wish there were songs here that were as memorable as Dre’s production work on Let Me Blow Your Mind, Gin and Juice, My Name is, Family Affair, etc. Still, a solid 4.

This was pretty decent Bjork that I wasn’t familiar with. I like her, but can’t take her in large doses.

I remember this had fairly heavy rotation when my 2 year old pals were over to play trucks and Legos… I tend to prefer Monk’s solo piano work, but this is still pretty good.

I think I only listened to this once or twice when it came out. It was a curiosity because a number of the best songs on this were released on an album about 1970 called Smiley Smile that was the leftovers plus a few other tracks from Brian Wilson’s first attempt at Smile. Fave tracks on both — Heroes and Villains and Vegetables. The Smile Sessions box set has 36 takes and variations and segments of Heroes and Villains alone. Smiley Smile would be a 5 if it was in the 1,001 albums — alas, it is not. This is a solid 4.

I really dislike this artist, always have. He’s written a few lovely songs (e.g., Just the Way You Are on this album), but he has other cringy-to-me hits like Uptown Girl, Piano Man, We Didn’t Start the Fire, and worst of all, It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me — he seems so completely non rock and roll to me. I was a tiny bit excited/curious for this since I’ve always had it in the back of my mind that I should give him a serious listening. This is due to a favorite author, Chuck Klosterman, writing copiously about BJ in one of his books, arguing he’s a great artist. Chuck also loves Radiohead, Nirvana, REM, Wilco, Weezer, and even The Cardigans. So his loving BJ stuck with me (he also loves Kiss). This would be a 1 without Just the Way You Are…

Reading about this made me nervous, but I ended up liking a decent amount of it (long track #2, Air Towel, Blueski, and Stagger). Luckily those last three tracks came through, or else this would’ve been a 2.

Several tracks here kinda sounded the same, but I like her attitude and the overall vibe. Fun lyrics as well.

Ah, James. A lovely voice, wrote a bunch of great songs, contributed to Carole Kings’s Tapestry (my #2 fave album ever), but individual albums of his are a mixed bag, like this one. A couple of great songs that were hits, but the rest is kinda bleh. Steamroller is much better as a live track on JT’s Greatest Hits Volume 1, a very solid album across the board.

The first six tracks are great, the latter seven NSM, especially the final one. Still, a nice job all round.

This wasn’t quite as awful as I expected it to be, but it was close.

Didn’t need to listen to it. So fabulous.

This seems like it might be a 4 if it was one I knew well back when it came out. Some nice stuff going on here, and the long track was kinda fun.

This was quite good. Enjoyed it a lot, plus a King Crimson sample!!

Good old Bob. Like this better than Natty Dread or Catch a Fire. Would listen to a 20 minute remix of Jamming.

Their first album is fabulous, the rest just OK. The debut album and their greatest hits are all you need. I always thought of them as a great Top 40 singles band.

My vague recollection (perhaps completely wrong) of this band is that the lead singer was a hunk, and they were known for being a good live act. This is not my jam. Even the Born to Be Wild cover is pretty lame.

The songs I know are great. The others, NSM — WTF is Voices of Old People? Maybe a 2, but America pushes it to a 3. You should listen to the Yes version of America. 11 minute version https://open.spotify.com/track/2PPRgRlrD2ZuDLCAL7yvNN?si=5d5IZ-6CTKSuFNRF6ws4FA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A78tN6vBPHHyNk4sZYnS5X4 4 minute edit https://open.spotify.com/track/4krdwCrPRSTv1c44060izq?si=nDllko0lQNi4uinGP9p7bA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A1WWIQYhFqD2IVbG2WLVaO1

I remember this album from late in high school. Liked the two “hits”, Panic in Detroit and Jean Genie, but didn’t stick with the rest of the album. Listening to it today, I wish I had. A nice selection of tunes, and a different, fun read on Let’s Spend the Night Together.

This was better than expected but not by much.

I bought this on CD when it came out and I believe it’s out in the garage awaiting probable library donation. I probably only listened to it once when I bought it, and listening to it again, that was a mistake. A very fine album. If I was more familiar with it, it might merit a 5.

In high school I don’t believe I owned any albums by Elton. Two of his early albums got reasonable rotation when we played cards (Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water). I did buy Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (not on streaming), a no-misses compilation. Elizabeth owned this album so is more familiar with it than I am. If this had been a one LP release it’d be a solid 5. It has my two favorite Elton tracks, Bennie and the Jets, and Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting, the latter a hard rocker that swings like nobody’s business. The songs I was not familiar with I was hoping I’d like more than I did. They were OK, but not good enough to make this a 5. Candle in the Wind is not one of my fave hits of his. I did recently buy “Diamonds” a blu-ray surround disc with 51 tracks. A 54 track version is streaming. It’s quite good.

This kinda sounded like Indian music to me at times. Not my jam.