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My Bloody ValentineIf you want to listen to 45 minutes of a dude playing with an effects pedal while people moan incoherently, this is the album for you.
If you want to listen to 45 minutes of a dude playing with an effects pedal while people moan incoherently, this is the album for you.
Surprisingly I have never listened to Sonic Youth, but I am glad to rectify that now. Very solid outing and I look forward to more.
5 stars for The Weight alone, but the rest is great too.
Title track and Life in the Fast Lane are great. The rest is soft dad rock schlock.
Not a fan of 60's jammy psychedelia.
Generic britpop. I think there was a recency bias from when the original book was published that allowed this album to make the cut.
Another live album from the 70s
Linkin Park sucked then and they suck now. “In the End” earns this album an extra star.
It’s fine, I guess. It was very much background music and I have a difficult time rationalizing how this is on a list of essential recordings.
It's the Wall. What can be said that hasn't already been said at this point. It’s hard to get into if you’re not a Pink Floyd fan, but this is easily a 5/5 all time great album.
Very surprised by how much I liked this. Heavy on the vibraphone, but a very relaxing experience.
I guess I just don’t get it. I found this to be extremely repetitive and tedious. Very boring music to my ears. I have a lot of love for 60s and 70s music, but this doesn’t even rate for me. I have no idea how Rolling Stone concluded that this is the 3rd best album of all time.
This is the kind of album that makes you question the judgement of the makers of this list. Absolutely terrible. I can’t imagine that the 47th best album of 1994 is essential listening, even with how stacked 1994 is for great releases. There is the beginnings of something here, but none of the tracks go anywhere. It’s just a loop of sounds on every track. Who knows how they decided each track should be.
This is not the best album of the 90s, but it does encapsulate the sound of the 90s perhaps better than any other record.
Not my cup of tea.
MJ has never been my favorite artist, and that’s ignoring the pedophilia. However, this is perhaps the epitome of essential listening. The influence of this album has been seen and written about over and over again for 40+ years.
I’m getting very tired of electronic music. Probably 2/3 of my generated albums have been dance/electronic and I do not vibe with it.
If you want to listen to 45 minutes of a dude playing with an effects pedal while people moan incoherently, this is the album for you.
I do not understand why so many of these background music electronic albums are on this list. When the album finished, I didn't even notice that the music had stopped.
As far as the Kinks go, I’m only familiar with the hits, but I loved this album and it motivates me to become more familiar with their catalog.
Good but repetitive.
It’s good, but jazz isn’t my jam.
There’s so much great music of all genres and decades, but so far my list of albums from the 90s have been dominated by Britpop schlock. It’s fine, but “fine” isn’t a word that I would use to describe one of the 1001 most essential albums of all time.
I had never heard of this band and was very pleasantly surprised.
The instrumentals are good to almost great, but I really can’t stand Morrissey’s voice. It doesn’t help that he’s a pretentious dbag.
I had never heard of this band before, but I think labeling it as Britpop on this site is a misnomer. I found it to be much more punkish and dark in content compared to Britpop. Great instrumentals, but unfortunately, I had a hard time understanding the vocals. I had the lyrics up while I listened so I could follow along. I think this would hit harder had I listened to it contemporaneously with its release. All in all pretty solid listen. The very tragic situation with Richey Edwards overshadows the music.
I was surprised to find that I enjoyed this. I hated this when it came out in 2007 and “Paper Planes” was extremely overplayed. However, time and mellowing tastes happen and I don’t hate this. I probably won’t seek this out again, but it was fine for 45 minutes.
Solid mid 60s album that is unfortunately marred by what we know about the band mates.
No.
This is definitely a product of its time, but not in a bad way. Peter Gabriel may be the crème de la crème of 80s music. Truly a great album that I was not familiar with prior to listening.
It’s not bad, but there’s a whole lot of prog and not a lot of rock. Overall a good listen, but I wouldn’t have it in my every day rotation.
A very cool way to start the day. I’m not into jazz, but if I do listen to it, I prefer this big band swing style.
2 stars for the title track, but there’s not much else worth listening to here.
Not my cup of tea, but it was ok.
The final works of an absolute legend. Sincere and heartfelt. The deathbed testimonial of one of the greatest to ever do it is a reckoning of his entire life. Cash was not in good health during this recording and you can feel that he knew the end was near.
Janie's Got a Gun nets this 2 stars, otherwise this is very bad. Aerosmith may be one of the worst bands of all time who inconceivably has staying power.
I’m not opposed to metal or industrial music, but this just noise. Incoherent lyrics that were probably seen as subversive in 1992, but who knows because you can’t understand WTF these guys are saying. It seems that the Ministry think they’re very edgy, but it just comes off as cheesy and lame. Jesus Built My Hotrod was pretty cool, though.
I was always familiar with CCR growing up, but had never listened to a full album of theirs before starting this project. This is the 2nd CCR album I have generated and both have been fantastic. CCR stock is quickly rising in my rotation.
I had never heard of this guy before and my expectations were low, but damn this was good!
I'm not a fan of electronic music and this is certainly more listenable than other electronic albums I have gotten, but this is just background music to me. I'm sure it's good, but it does nothing for me. I also found the vocals to be over the top.
Very easy listening, but ultimately completely forgettable.
I liked this more than I thought I would, but it wasn't great. Some decent bits, but nothing that demanded my attention. Very much in the background.
Very nice music and I enjoyed listening to it.
This is not my favorite of Bowie’s discography, but it is still great! “Changes” and “Life on Mars” are all time great songs. I know people rag on “Kooks” but my toddler loved it and was dancing to it, so it’s endeared to me.
I didn't mind Martina's vocals too much, but Trippy rapping underneath it was incoherent and does not mesh well with her vocals. Overall, I found this to be very boring and further solidifies my dislike of trip hop.
Great musicianship but tracks are a little meandering.
I like the sound, but the songs are simply too long and it gets old listening to it. Very solid rock sound though.
Fuck yeah, Pixies! This is one of the best albums of the 80s and without it, the 90s alternative wave looks a lot different.
I hate Morrissey and his stupid voice, but the music underneath his bored sounding vocals is quite nice. The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get is a pretty decent song.
What a record! With Tapestry, Carole King proved that she couldn’t just write the hits, but she could sing them as well. I Feel the Earth Move immediately pulls you in and once you’re in, you’re here for the ride. A lot of the songs should be familiar as they were originally written for other artists, but King’s more relaxed renditions are quite nice.
Urethra Franklin is one of the best singers of all time!
I went back and forth on this one. One minute I thought it was quite good, then the next song would be terrible. Ultimately, I think there’s better folk music from this era. Not bad, but I will not revisit.
This is one of my favorites! George benefited from having a huge backlog of songs due to Paul and John dominating the Beatles songwriting. In my opinion, it stands as the best solo Beatles record out there and definitely deserves to be considered one of the best albums of all time.
Like most electronic music, I find this to be background music. Not terrible, but forgettable.
I found this rather middling outside of Take on Me. I was very disappointed that I didn’t like it, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
No
It’s my long held belief that The Rolling Stones do not have any great albums. However, they are an excellent singles band. They fall into the category of bands whose best albums are the greatest hits records. I’ve listened to Beggars Banquet a few times over the years and on this fresh listen, the hits are still the only songs that I recall ever hearing. The tracks aren't bad, but they're just plain forgettable.
This was derivative and kind of bad, to be honest. I’ve never been happy with the BritPop bias this list has, but having known plagiarists on this list is egregious. This was grungy after the grunge wave had come and was on its way out. I have a hard time believing this this is somehow one of 1001 records I should hear before I die.
Solid mid 60s folk, but the hits do shine above the others.
BB King is one of the best to ever do it, and this album shows it. I don't usually like live albums, but the crowd did enhance the experience as I believe blues, like jazz, is best experienced in a live setting. The blues isn't one of my favorite genres, but the influence of the genre on popular music is undeniable.
Surprisingly I have never listened to Sonic Youth, but I am glad to rectify that now. Very solid outing and I look forward to more.
Insanely repetitive and way too long. When the only info in the Wikipedia article is that it was included on this list, it begs the question of why it was included. That said, there were a couple of tracks that weren’t bad, but they are near indistinguishable from each other to make the whole thing a slog.
I am not a Green Day fan, but this album is one of the greatest pop/punk albums of all time. There aren’t any songs that are missable. Whether the other bands of the genre want to admit it or not, without Dookie, their output is not nearly as successful.
Starts off really strong and brings it down for a chill vibe. The final track, See the Light, is an absolute delight.
This softly plods along and ultimately goes nowhere. This is typical of Paul Simon. As much as I love Simon and Garfunkel, his solo work is pretty weak.
I’ve never given Hole a chance on account of Courtney Love, but this was pretty great. I see where the accusations that Kurt wrote a lot of the album come from, but in doing my research, I don’t think that’s the case. This is a solid grunge album.
Janis is very talented and one can feel the raw soul and emotion coming through. However, I do find that I can only tolerate it for a few minutes before I start wanting a different sound.
Peter Gabriel is definitely a product of his time, but his music is the crème de la crème of 80s music. This is the 2nd Gabriel album I’ve gotten and he is rapidly becoming my favorite artist of the 80s.
This is way too overproduced to be anything more than a 3. All the collaborations and the production give a very sterile listening experience.
This album highlights many of the issues of modern dating and relationships from a feminine perspective, but rather than a critique of those issues, it seems very much of a glorification of the vapid nature of dating and lifestyles in general of today. I appreciate the insight into a lifestyle foreign to my own, even if it is anathema to me. I agree with some other reviewers that this was maybe added a little hastily. It seems lost in a sea of other similar releases over the last few years.
I haven’t listened to Tommy in almost a decade and I remember it once being one of my favorites in my late teens/early twenties. I played it for one of my friends and he just said it was weird and why would I listen to this in the year of our lord 2009. That stuck with me and every time I listened to it afterwards, I thought about that comment about this thing I loved and felt a twinge of embarrassment. Well here in 2024 at 35 years old, I don’t give a shit about your opinion, Alex, Tommy is fucking awesome. It is weird and definitely a product of the 60s. One of the early rock operas and others have done it better, but I absolutely love this album. My unpopular opinion is that this is my favorite Who album.
I only know Get Together by Youngbloods and that song isn’t on this album. This is as average as average gets. It “bridges the gap” between psychedelia and country rock, but is that a gap that needs bridging?
I had never heard of Moby Grape and I had alto find the album on YouTube, but was very pleasantly surprised by what I thought would be another annoying psychedelic band from the 60s. Very nice stuff here and it’s a shame they didn’t really “make” it.
I’ve never listened to Fugazi before and admit I didn’t know anything about them. I knew the name, but I’m embarrassed to admit that I thought their music was a totally different oeuvre. I had them in my mind akin to Yanni. My mistake for not giving them a chance before. This is right up my alley. Awesome stuff.
I always like the idea of metal but never actually like it when I listen to it. It’s a shame because I really want to like it. I usually enjoy the themes and subject matter, but the actual music does nothing for me. I did enjoy the title track and I Am the Law as I am a fan of Stephen King and Judge Dredd, respectively.
Adele is very talented, but her music is very one note. Every song is about heartbreak. If she broadened her subject matter a bit, I might come around on her a bit more. Maybe, probably not.
This was a very cool listen. Punky and bluesy which seems contradictory, but it works.
Reiterating that the Stones are a singles band. Gimme Shelter and You Can’t Always Get What You Want are great. The rest is middling.
Taylor Swift’s music is not for me, but she is the best of the best of her milieu. Love her or hate her, she is iconic in the pop sphere. I actually knew a couple songs on this album (Blank Space, Shake it Off, Bad Blood) and they aren’t bad, the ones I wasn’t familiar with were pretty forgettable as I wasn’t really willing to do a repeat listen.
I will never understand how people find incessant noodling on instruments remotely interesting. Calling this selection of tracks ‘songs’ is a bit of a stretch. Honestly it wouldn’t be so awful if it weren’t for Dark Star which just sounds like they’re testing their equipment. Dark Star’s reputation rings true as it meanders for 25 minutes. Feedback is almost as bad, but at least it’s only 8 minutes of aural torture. This is the type of album where you had to be there and tripping to find enjoyable and since I’m neither, it’s really hard to listen to.
Unclear if the fascism is a bit or not. Yikes, but I actually didn't mind the music. I probably won't listen to this again, but it was interesting.
Despite the thin sound, the musicality is quite good. It does sound strangely manufactured and inauthentic, but the riffs are good. I do wish the bass sound came through. Metallica is a “safe” metal band overall and it shows on this record.
Never listened to Portishead before and I greatly enjoyed it. I went back through their discography after listening because I liked it so much. After listening to their first 2 albums as well, I don’t really hear this as a departure of their sound. Still great stuff though.
Pretty good background music for cleaning the house or studying. I tried to actively listen but my mind kept wandering. Everything sounds the same.
A great debut album that has admittedly very dated and juvenile lyrics at times. There is a certain charm to it that can’t help but laugh at.
I feel like I just had sex with Prince.
I don’t know why, but I love Yes. This is the 2nd album I’ve gotten from them, and I just love it. Not as noodly as a lot of other prog rock which helps.
Hands down the best of the Unplugged series. Nirvana delivers a mixed set of originals and obscure covers that is truly a heartfelt experience. The emotion in Where Do You Sleep at Night is palpable.
Message in a Bottle is a great song. The rest of the album is pretty mediocre though.
Very weird, but innovative.
Love Jim Morrison’s voice and the Doors on the whole and even like The End, but damn that song is too long. Every song is absolutely memorable in its own way and this album is one of the greats of the psychedelic movement. I have it at a soft 8/10, probably 9/10 if The End were 5-6 minutes shorter.
Overall pleasing to listen to, but jazz isn’t really my thing. I find it be meandering a lot of the time.
Pretty good pre-punk album. It’s not really my thing, but there is some pretty cool stuff in here.
Very thin sound and the vocals are pretty bad.
Very nice. Al Green has a very soulful voice and the album never rises above its well known title track, but the whole album is still great.
Anita has a fine voice, but the 80s production and sensibility has aged like milk.
Man I just don’t like Joni Mitchell’s singing style. This was better than Blue in my opinion, but despite great lyrics, I just can’t deal with her voice.
Full of great songs that sent RCHP to the mainstream. Good stuff that unfortunately goes too long. Everything beyond Under the Bridge could be cut and nothing would be lost.
I definitely understand why people don’t like Dylan’s voice, but I love it for some reason and his songwriting is second to none. Bringing It All Back Home is bookended with two of my favorite Dylan tracks in Subterranean Homesick Blues and It’s All Over Now Baby Blue. Everything in between is great as well. Dylan is not for everyone, but if you are a fan of rock from the mid-60s onward, he is your favorite artists’ favorite artist.
Damn this is bland. It’s very well performed and produced, but it has to be a collection of some of the most boring songs ever written. I have a pretty high tolerance for yacht rock, but this is as edgy as a marble. Peg is nice, I guess.
Entirely forgettable. This is a genre I just cannot get into. It all sounds exactly the same to me, but D’Angelo does have a good voice.
It’s more sophisticated than yacht rock, but not proggy enough to be prog rock. It was an interesting listen that didn’t quite scratch the prog rock itch. I had Aja by Steely Dan yesterday and there’s definitely more here than there.
If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis.
Every song is the same for 55 minutes. Absolutely should have stayed in 2010.
5 stars for The Weight alone, but the rest is great too.
Very dated, but there is a certain level of charm to an early 90s concept album about sci-fi sex pills, if you can get past the extremely misogynistic lyrics.
I’m only 3 songs in and this just sucks. Update: All done, and yeah, the whole thing sucks.
It’s hard to be objective on this one since I am very familiar with it and quite enjoy it. ‘Band on the Run’ is a great opener and the album never rises above the first track. ‘Jet’ is still a pretty good listen, but you do feel that McCartney cheesiness setting in. The rest of the album is very forgettable if it’s a first listen, although ‘Picasso’s Last Words’ ties everything together very nicely. Although ‘Country Dreamer’ is a bonus track, I do think it is one of Paul’s better solo tracks. Personally, this is a 8/10. Hopefully history will be kinder to Paul’s solo career. John has never deserved the amount of praise he receives.
Lou Reed exudes cool and this album shows it. He almost sounds bored of his own music, but not in a bad way. I had no idea Bowie was involved with this, but as I was listening, his influence comes in clear.
This is very strange and very long. I like to give albums like this 2 listens because I’m not familiar with it and it’s hard to review on only 1 listen. However, the length and repetitiveness of this is keeping me from wanting to do it. My wife listens with me on the weekends and hated it so much that she made me put on headphones to listen to it. In the end, I think the British bias of the book editors comes into play here. I could have died happy having never listened to this.
The early rock standards have never really done it for me, but Lewis’ performances here are some of the best. Unfortunately, he is a racist pedophile who (maybe) murdered one of his wives.
I’ve always been a Black Album person, but I am admittedly not a metal fan, much less Metallica. That said, I thought this was very good. Beyond the title track, Orion was a highlight.
This is buttery smooth and all of the covers are great. The Isley Brothers were cool before cool was a thing and this is no exception.
File this under bands I’ve heard of but didn’t know any of their music. Well that mistake has been rectified. This was great!
I don’t like dance music. It’s simply not for me. That said, this wasn’t too terrible. I enjoyed E.S.P and Groove is in the Heart.
Great to listen to as I got the kids ready for the day. 43 minutes flew by!
A pretty interesting look into a genre that I had never heard of in qawwali music. I was somewhat familiar with Sufism, so it wasn’t completely out of sorts for me, but still interesting. I did find the runtime a little long and it seems that maybe the generator doesn’t send you to the right album, but it was good for a taste of this genre.
Pretty cool sounding despite not knowing what the lyrics are saying.
The title track is an all time classic, and that’s all you need to get AC/DC of this period. All the other tracks are very similar in sound. It’s not necessarily bad. AC/DC is a goated band for a reason, but I prefer Back in Black over this one. The only other interesting thing here is the unfortunate connection to Richard Ramirez.
Boring elevator music.
Fuck the Police and all that. It’s still very relevant 36 years later. The misogynistic lyrics are extremely outdated and off putting by today’s standards, though.
I’m not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t this. I know Eno as an ambient musician, so this definitely subverted my expectations. I quite enjoyed the weirdness and I will probably need a couple more listens to cement my opinions on this, but overall, I liked it.
I like Dusty a lot. She has a wonderful voice and has some all time classic songs on her discography, but I don’t think an album consisting of mostly covers warrants a spot on this list.
Man, this is dated as hell. It just comes off very cheesy to me.
Cyndi Lauper is definitely dated, but the songs are pretty good overall, if not a bit cheesy.
There’s a reason Bob Marley is synonymous with reggae. Absolutely a masterpiece.
Kendrick is simply the best. Every release of his demands attention, and this is no exception. Favorite track “King Kunta”.
Classic punk album. I’m not well versed in the genre, but this was pretty good.
Vintage Bowie. Not my favorite of his, but very important to glam rock.
I feel like even by 1999 this was out of date. Very cheesy and even at 43 minutes this overstayed its welcome.
It’s fine. There’s nothing too special here.
While every Radiohead album is at least good, "In Rainbows" is the last of Radiohead's great albums. It doesn't quite hit the highs of "OK Computer", but nothing the band has released since has equaled or surpassed "In Rainbows". Every song flows very well together ending with the somber, but comforting "Videotape".
I do not like Madonna and I never have, and I can’t say I particularly enjoyed this either. However, the influence on the next decade of pop music, for better or worse, cannot be denied here. It’s definitely a relic of its time and has not aged well. The American Pie cover is something that I had memory holed, and damn, it’s really bad.
I’m torn on this one. I really enjoyed the music and its influence on later artists such as Beck is palpable, but the subject matter is extremely objectionable. I know pre-2000s people were a lot more accepting of relationships with underage girls and probably every popular musician should be me-tooed, but this Lolitaesque glorification of fucking a 14 year old girl gives me the ick. 3 stars, I guess.
It’s Van Morrison. You know what you’re getting and what you’re getting is fine for a couple songs. Title track is a great song, followed by schlock that would befit 2010s era singer songwriters in Crazy Love. The rest of the album is fine, but I cannot stand Crazy Love.
The musicianship is great and the influence on music on the whole is undeniable, but jazz really does nothing for me.
This is very bland.
Very cool fusion of early 2000s indie rock and mariachi.
Definitely see the influence on indie rock here and it’s not bad, it’s just kinda bland.
This was pretty good, but I don’t really see how they are doing anything that hasn’t been done elsewhere.
One of the best, doing some of his best. The Wind Cries Mary is my personal favorite from this album. It does drag a bit in the latter half, but this is still a 9/10 in my book.
Pretty cool lo-fi rock. The first track is definitely the best by a country mile, but the rest of the album is interesting as well. I probably won’t go back to this often, but still cool.
Interestingly, I had Are you Experienced 2 days ago so it’s easy to compare the two. Electric Ladyland is much more experimental and features some of Hendrix’s best work, but it is significantly less focused and tends to meander. It is still a great album and All Along the Watchtower is worth the price of admission alone.
Did Johnny Rotten fart at the end? Nevertheless, he has the voice of an angel. Pure and well-trained.
This was really bad. The music isn’t bad, but the singing is honestly some of the worst I’ve ever heard. This predates Kings of Leon at their peak, and even their peak kinda sucks.
Pretty good for a debut. The hits are all time greats with the rest being somewhat filler. The opening track feels anachronistic, sounding like mid 60s British Invasion, but not bad.
Coldplay of old is not as bad as their detractors say, but it’s still only ok. I’ve never understood the comparison to Radiohead, but I see how Parachutes sounds like the Bends era Radiohead. Trouble, Sparks, and Yellow are great songs.
I like the Who , but a live album is like a handjob on your honeymoon.
I can’t put my finger on it, but I did not enjoy this.
Live albums can fuck all the way off. Seriously, though, listening to a live album is a lot like watching someone’s concert footage. Like, good for you? I guess you had to have been there. That said, I really don’t like jam bandy noodling. It does less than nothing for me and quite irritates me. I do like some Allman Brothers studio work, but this ain’t it.
The main distinction here between this and other 70s rock is that Rundgren mostly did this as a solo musician. Pretty average without that aspect.
I never know what I’m going to get with Bowie, but it’s always welcome. This is no exception. Golden Years is a great song and the stand out to me.
2nd Bowie in a row and this one is my favorite. Every song is a banger. There is not a second of fat to trim on this absolute classic.
This was done, but forgettable. I don’t see how this merits inclusion on the list as it had virtually no influence on its genre.
Da fuq is this? I can’t fathom that this is one of 1001 albums anyone should listen to. What cultural impact is found here?
Only the Ramones can play the same song 14 times and make it work as an album. Quintessential punk.