1001 Albums Summary

Like a Time Machine to my childhood of the 70s. Stevie as a mature man and no longer the child prodigy- speaking through his art on important social subjects in songs that would become timeless and classic.

I was never a fan of Radiohead, I guess I never did enough drugs to appreciate their unique sound. It’s like someone started at Pink Floyd, dropped a couple of hits of acid, washed down with some Jacks and then started to compose music. I thought maybe now older and more introspective I could appreciate it - but I was wrong. I could only manage about 75% of the way through before I had to stop listening, it was a struggle and an unrewarding one.

Wow, VH’s debut album- pure gold. Every note of every song is pure rock legend. Every girl loved David Lee and every boy wanted to be Eddie. Not since Hendrix had anyone made their guitar sound like Van Halen. In 1978 this sound came out from every car at every stop light. Just wow.

It’s Metallica so it’s never ever going to be bad. I was never seriously into Metal anymore than I am into Hip-Hop, meaning I like the top shelf stuff and can listen to it, but I’m not a deep diver into the genre. A few songs from Metallica (such as One) from this album are on my permanent play list, but 90% of what they put out sounds all the same to me and that’s why I don’t dig too deeply. But it’s never bad, never makes me angry, and never makes me shut it off.

Meh. Yeah, that covers it, meh. It’s just grunge or garage band mediocrity. There’s one good track on the album (Big Me) where the lyrics and an actual melody are discernible and the rest just screaming or mumbling while the drummer bangs loudly and the guitar is played in a loud grating string of disassociated notes. This era was of a time and place and was never of broad appeal and now 25 years in the rear view is neither classic nor enjoyable.

Had never of this band or any of its music. I found it curious how or why they made Rolling Stones top 500 list. There’s nothing remarkable here and the monotone voice of the lead vocalist kills what little enjoyment there is as ever song sounds pretty much like the last one. The 3 alternative versions of 3 of the album tracks are by far the best music on the disc, more up tempo and the vocals are forced to keep pace a little more. At least I know why I’ve never heard of them.

Why? Just why is this album on anyone’s list?

Okay, these albums are beginning to make me feel the way I do when I visit an art gallery and I’m standing next to someone who oh’s and ah’s over a bunch of squiggly lines on a canvas and I just don’t get it. Music should make us feel, and there’s like 15 or 16 tracks here and only 1 (we are gonna be friends) made me feel anything positive, the rest are bad lyrics, drum banging, and guitar scratching that makes me feel angry or annoyed. I guess like art you can appreciate technical expertise but if sampling it doesn’t make you feel something other than angry or put upon I contend it has no value. Unless being angry is your goal

Still not sure of the validity of this list of 1001 albums, but at least this one didn’t annoy me. The vocals were good, and the singer can carry a tune. The melodies are mostly pleasant and the songs were lyrically good. I don’t know that I could listen to this over and over, but it was better than a lot of others I’ve gotten.

Now THIS is music that makes you feel! Every track is pure gold and you can feel the love and joy of the band members the whole way through. This is precisely what is missing in almost everything released in the past 25 years!! An album to stranded on a desert island with. Wish I could give it 6 stars.

I’m not even remotely a student of Hip Hop, but can listen to it and enjoy it. I tend to prefer this style of Hip Hop. It was okay, not something I’d listen to regularly.

Unique and enjoyable- would I want to listen to it over and over? No, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Stones just before they went from Stardom to Superstardom- it’s good, solid rock and rock with true blues influence and the album contains some of the bands best work (almost everyone of theirs does). If you don’t like it that’s a matter of taste, but there’s no denying the greatness here.

Her voice is classic, but it wears on you and gets old quickly because she uses it to sing about sad depressing shit. Her music is a perfect representation of her generation.

Smooth soulful Al Green. Classy and timeless

Okay, eclectic. It is 1967 after all. Nothing I’d want to repeat but tolerable.

First impressions are favorable, here’s a 21st century artist whose music is intelligible, and inoffensive, but by the end of the album it’s really kind of annoying. It’s monotonous and kind of wears on you. I’d have given it 3 stars if it wasn’t for the annoying weird white noise at the end of the last track.

Some of the tracks are enjoyable (Give it Away and Under the Bridge) but most of it leaves me flat. They clearly have talent but choose to waste it most of the time with gross lyrics and thrash guitar. They’re a west coast rip off of the Beastie Boys.

Wow, an album by a group who can play their instruments without being in conflict with each other and actually sing, with intelligible lyrics to boot! How did they slip into this list? And this isn’t even one of the better Kinks albums

Okay, I get what they were shooting for, the rockabilly and the surf rock sounds etc; but that doesn’t make it good. I mean, I can play baseball but that doesn’t mean I can make a living at it, nor should I pretend I can. This album is crap.

It’s very different, but it’s not horrible. I’ve had much worse offerings on this list.

Finally some good old rock and roll on this list. Great riffs, catchy tunes, and the unique sound of Tom Petty. Waiting for gems like this to pop up is what keeps me going on this list.

Ah, “The Boss” - as misnamed a musician as there is. Springsteen has got one of those unique voices, but an extremely limited range, and you either like him or you don’t. I give him his die for his energy on stage but I’m firmly in the don’t like camp. This album is no exception. It has a few good tracks on it but for every Badlands there are 3 or 4 Adam Raised a Cain which suck. I’d like to give it 3 stars but I’m going to deduct one because he’s such a douche bag.

Really rather enjoyable- the lyrics are , of course, wonderful and the music provided by Billy Bragg excellent. It’s not legendary but it’s very good.

If not for one track (Pond Song) almost accidentally veering toward actual music this album would be complete shit. If a negative score were possible it would get minus one stars.

Being honest here, Rap doesn’t really have much to it musically, just a good hook and a base line is all you need, and then it’s all about the lyrics. Kanye’s lyrics are good, he has some important things to say, and says them well. As Rap goes this is among the better stuff.

Every word, every note, pure gold. The range and depth of the tracks on the album, especially after to listening to so much music that is less than this, amplifies the talent of the artists of the 70s. Awesome

Proof that not all artists of the 60s were great - or in this case even talented.

I was big into Jethro Tull in my youth back in the 70s, and this album conveyed a lot of the same vibe. Really enjoyed this one.

Wanna love it, but in the end they choose to have the thrash metal dominate the orchestration so it’s just Metallica with a little more depth of sound. When bands like the Beatles or Moody Blues add orchestration to their music it shines and enhances it, that’s just not what you’re getting here. It’s still thrash metal, they’re still singing through clinched yeah, and you still need to look up the lyrics to have a clue what is being sung.

It’s fine, it’s not great, and in fact is neither good nor bad, it’s just….okay. At least it didn’t make me feel angry, but nor did it make me feel anything positive. It’s just ….there.

Uhh, yeah, sure. THIS had to be listened to before I died….said no one ever. Latin Prog Synth Alt something or another.

Pure Joy. If music should make us feel, joyful is the best you can get, and this is what you get here. Reminds me of my grandmother.

Reading the Wiki page before listening I was excited and really wanted to like this album, but I couldn’t because…well … because it’s shit.

Either you like Zappa or you don’t- I do

Really enjoyed this one. Nice easy listening joyful folk music. Added this one to my playlist.

Good old time classic rock and rock.

Good music, and good lyrics, wasted on a soulless, lifeless, monotonous vocalist. You’d be happy if you walked into a bar and this were the house band, but if you paid for this you’d want your money back.

REM was one of the last bands that developed organically and not as some sort of Frankenstein assembled in a label’s office. They have some excellent work to their credit and some of it is on this album; but they couldn’t just entertain they had to preach and they’re such a bunch of hypocritical whiners listening to them becomes intolerable. Good riddance.

Good solid hard rock and roll- no body screaming indecipherable lyrics, no screeching guitars stepping on everything else, no navel gazing woe is me bullshit.

Not sure that any actual instruments were used in this album. Just a bunch of electronic synthesizers and bland vocals

It was okay, but 2 hours on one album is a bit much.

Ahhh, when Metallica stopped making noise and learned they had something to say. This is Metallica at its best, still load, still metal, still deep …..but finally crystal clear.

Labels fought over these guys? Seriously? Wow, I guess the suits and the musicians were all into Heroin back in the hippie movement in Frisco

If my eardrums are ever subjected to the sound of Neil Young I assure you I will have been restrained in some manner beyond my ability to escape. I will never, EVER, willing listen to the annoying, grating voice of this douche nozzle. Fuck Neil Young now; Fuck Neil Young tomorrow; Fuck Neil Young Forever!

Well that was trash.

Finally! An album that should be universally adored and loved by all. This album does what great music does and makes us feel - in this case joy.

Whoever produced this should be charged for crimes against humanity. Letting these clowns make music is robbing the world of ditch diggers. Jeez this horrible

Well I thought I would absolutely hate this, but it wasn’t terrible. There were no signs of greatness but it didn’t make me angry which a lot of 90s alternative shit can do.

Some good stuff here, but also some stuff that really needs the psychedelic drugs of the late 60s to be appreciated

My wife raved about this album, so I was really hoping for something special. I was seriously disappointed. Afterwards I read the Wiki page and it was comparing this to David Bowie for concepts, and I just laughed.

I guess he was decades ahead of his time. If he came along today people would probably be “Ho hum”, and maybe even notice he can barely sing a note. I mean, seriously if you remove the sound tracks from his recordings you’d realize he’s not singing just talking through the songs. Personally I’m not sure he ever becomes what he did without Bowie’s patronage, and even then only because of his relative shock value for the times.

I don’t see the appeal honestly. They all have beautiful voices- but they all belt out the notes at the top end of the registry and - well that’s just screeching. No balance, and frankly it’s unpleasant. It’s also hard to actually decipher the lyrics at that range, which turns out is a blessing since most of the songs are just celebrating slut culture. Beyoncé did well to leave this mess.

Garbage

A little strange but I’ve gotten much worse off this list.

Clapton- not the best Clapton but still light years ahead of most of the tripe on this list.

With over 50 albums listened to and rated I can honestly say this was the first one that really REALLY impressed me. Lyrically intense, melodies that are subtle and complicated, and subject matter that was deep and intense. So good I listened to it back to back and again later that day.

Solid well done concept and execution by some of the great musicians of any generation

Crap music, paired with uninspired lyrics and a vocalist whose voice is like nails on a chalk board.

Now THIS is greatness! Three of the world’s most talented artists, deep meaningful lyrics, strong melodic arrangements- this is just so frigging good it stands head and shoulders above so much of the crap on this list.

This album is the reason I continue on with this project. Every once in a while you get an album that isn’t garbage, nor is it great and iconic but you’ve heard it a hundred times before. Here’s an artist I never heard of, but clearly should have. Good stuff.

This album is certainly a chore, but not of enchantment. Pure crap.

Yeah boy

I was in HS when this came out. I wasn’t all that impressed with Disco generally our this group in particular and wrote it off as one hit wonders. But now 40 years on, and especially after listening to so much other bad music on this list, you realize how good this is. True harmony in the vocals, and good range, snappy update music….yeah this is definitely far better than probably 3/4s of this 1001 albums. The 70s - even our bad music was better than today’s.

Francis Friggin’ Albert baby! Smooth as silk!!

Stringing together rhyming couplets doesn’t equate to hip hop, the lyrics still need to say something. These songs go no where, and except for the occasional almost accidental string, most of the song’s lyrics are pointless excuses to cram in references to genitalia

So this was an award winning album huh? I didn’t think it was bad, I just didn’t think it was all that.

With all the truly great albums made by truly talented musicians, how the hell does some of this crap make it to this list?

A little off neat but far from terrible

It’s not music at all, just fuckin’ noise. Boo

Bowie - high as a kite - and yet still better than 90% of the artists are sober on this so called list.

Sorry, I heard no greatness here, just an average House Band.

Real music for real people. None of this crap you need a Doctorate in Fine Arts to grasp.

Okay, so it’s dance music. If in the world of dance music you consider Michael Jackson a perfect 100, then this would come in somewhere in the 20s. It’s kinda repetitive and not all that inspiring

Codswallop

Very pleasantly surprised by this album. Real music, real melodies, real vocals- good damn music for a change.

Ronnie’s soulful voice, the wailing of the guitar army, and some of hardest driving music to make you get up and move, all holding aloft lyrical poetry. Few finer than Skynrd. If this isn’t a 5 none exist of this list.

I’d rather cut off a finger with my kitchen shears than listen to this shit again

Thought I knew what this was going to be, shocked when it wasn’t, surprised by what it was. It isn’t Mozart but it’s far from terrible

I - like most people - think of Disco when we think The Bee Gees; this is definitely not Disco. This is a more Folk, at times country, oriented Bee Gees. It was impressive. New respect for an old band.

Don’t really know how I missed listening and eating this one- it’s apparently been in my list for almost 2 years. Well, I listened, and it was typical of this list; barely better than some house band from a 1980s Club era.

It was fairly good, but great

Cotton candy music - no substance just fluff

It’s fine for what it is, but what it is is not for me. Bubblegum pop.

Janis’ signature voice is always good, the acid rock music though really needs the LSD to be appreciated and listening sober it’s just noise

The violin and horns give Dexys a unique sound, but in the end they’re still one hit wonders

A lyrical tour de force. With each track my impressions of this rose. The Apple Music version of this album had 4 tracks that were unavailable in this country it the album was good enough that I went and found the tracks on YouTube. Awesome

What a bunch of lame navel gazing crap this was. Cramming words into a song because they rhyme is not song writing and a dead man could elicit more life from a guitar.

I had heard her name but didn’t think I liked her…started listening and clearly this was not what I was thinking of. There are some albums on this list that simply put to shame most of the others. This is one such. I’d give it a six if I could. Her voice is so special I wouldn’t care if she were singing a newspaper article to me.

Maybe if this album didn’t have the misfortune of coming to me the day after an Adele album it would have fared better- but by comparison it’s just really boring

I was actually pretty surprised here, a musician who made melodies not noise; and sang lyrics not gibberish, and in a smooth deep resonant tone. And in the 21st century!!! This is a man outta time clearly.

What a load of crap.

There are a few tracks on here that are excellent, but the vast majority are horrible extremely profane exercises in debasement. And at 2 hours and 15 minutes length that’s simply too much negativity for me. I deducted a star for that touching moment he gets a toddler to say MFer….very classy.

The funny thing about the Stones is that living through these moments I always considered them to be one of the weaker acts amongst giants….but in this list you quickly realize just how good they are.

John Fogherty doesn’t just sing, he has a distinctive and special sound. This is every man music, from a time and place where our music and the people who made it were one of us, not some rarified millionaire. This comes from the heart not an auto tuner. This album needs a 6th star.

I was expecting more from this album, although to be fair I hold artists like this to a higher standard and that may be unfair. Still, other than the recognizable hits I found it to be a little less than for Stevie.

That brought me back to my youth on Long Island and the great Bar Bands of the Clubs, only those bar bands were much better than these AC/DC wannabes. The low light of these 39 sad minutes is when they slaughter Born to Be Wild with a lifeless rendering of this classic.

Kinda of like being in a Matrix movie

This is Dylan the Beatnik Poet. You either get Dylan or you don’t. I do.

A more disgusting collection of filth would exist on the Dark Web. Needs zero stars

I went into it with an open mind, but I just couldn’t enjoy it. Too bizarre

Grunge is the absolute worst genre, the music is mostly thrash without melody, I mean you couldn’t possibly hum one of these songs and have people have any idea what you’re doing. And the lyrics are mostly indecipherable, a fact for which we can be truly thankful.

I thought MAYBE live acoustic Nirvana might be better- NOPE. First off it’s not really unplugged, just mostly unplugged, which makes sense because you’ve gotta have real chips to play without amplification. Secondly, unplugged or not it doesn’t really matter since Nirvana songs all sound like a whiney soy boy trying to pass a watermelon.

Good solid rock and roll, there was one track that was horrible the rest good but great. Perhaps if this handed come after so many days of genuine crap albums this would have been more harshly judged, but timing is everything.

It was alright. Not something I could listen to regularly though

One of the absolute Greatest Albums of all time, and hands down the greatest live album ever recorded. This music transports us to a time and place where life was better, the people were happier, and Love was All.

The beatnik rapper, the jester, the Lenny Bruce of Folk Music - the incomparable Bob Dylan at the height of his powers.

Not at all as bad as what I was thinking. This list of 1001 is filled with so many festering turds that after a while you get gun shy and assume anyone you haven’t heard of is going to suck. But every once in a while you just get good old simple music, and it’s pleasant and joyful. That’s this.

If there’s one thing I got wrong about what I thought I knew about music before this list is the relative strength of Hiphop versus Grunge. With each passing album Grunge gets lower and lower and Hiphop never fails to make you feel. Being from New York myself, although certainly not Nas’s world, I can nonetheless feel it and hear it in his words. Powerful stuff.

Who listens to this shit?

When I was listening I was telling myself this was a pale imitation of The Who. Afterwards I read the history and realized the Who were a better version of Pretty Things. Never for a mind did I think S F Sorrow was a “rock opera” like Tommy. When you listen to Tommy you understand the story, with Pretty Things I had no clue it was anything but bad unrelated tracks. So did the Who take from this? Yup, most likely so. But hey Edison didn’t invent the light bulb either, but he gets the credit because he perfected it. Same with The Who and Rock Opera.

Pleasantly surprised.

This is Nihilism set to music, and as a theory is great stuff. I loved this album when it debuted in 87, and still listen to several of the songs regularly. They certainly lived the Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll lifestyle to the extreme - but 40 years in when we look at Axl Rose can we really say that was a good thing?

A genre unto themselves- P -Funk. Some music doesn’t age well, Parliament is not among them. Big and brassy and bold.

The album cover art tells you all you need to know about this - like a nasty diseased set of lips you’d be well served staying as far away as possible. Complete crap.

And I thought Radiohead was as bad as “music” could sink. This was definitely a “hold my beer” album in that regard. Utter filth.

I was never a great Doors fan. I’ll give the man his due, he certainly has a sultry and other worldly charm, and it carries over into his music; but like a lot of this late 60s stuff it feels rather pedestrian without the assistance of a narcotic haze.

You read the album title and if you don’t know you’re probably like - oh boy, this is gonna be bad - and then in no time flat you’re like, hey this is pretty good, and 10 seconds later you’re like - hey that’s frigging Rod Stewart LOL.

There’s always been something timeless about Van Morrison, this is quintessential Van Morrison and for my generation every note reverberates.

I’m not a great lover of Punk Rock, but the music is honest and sincere and not pretentious in any way. If you’re going to listen to Punk why not THE Punk. Solid work.

I didn’t think much of Culture Club in 1983. Coming on the heels of the 70s it seemed really light weight. After doing over 100 albums on this list and realizing how talentless the 21st century can be I have a new found appreciation for this music. It’s well done, it’s upbeat, it’s intelligible and just good mood music.

Fuck me! I’m suffering through this 2 hour snooze fest before I realize I’m not listening to the original release but the 30th Anniversary edition which includes extra bad music. At least The Beach Boys were uptempo- happy- joyful music. Made you feel good. This takes the worst of The Beach Boys and sings bad lounge music. This was a punishment.

If Don McLean’s sole contribution to music was American Pie it would be enough to justify his induction into the HoF. But in point of fact the whole album is good and a perfect reflection of the early 70s and the fading hopes of the 60s. It was of its time but it stands the test of time.

Was never really a fan of Bon Jovi - all his stuff seems pretty much the same to me. It’s not bad, certainly better than a lot of the albums on this list, but it’s not play list worthy

In the interest of honesty let me say I’ve never “got it” when it comes to U2. Never understood the hysteria and the hype. This album is arguably the best they ever put out and really after the first 3 tracks- which are gold and justify the raves for U2 - the rest of this album is somewhat underwhelming and pedestrian and at times borders on being little more than Bono’s navel gazing bullshit. I’d give it a 3+ but the system only allows while stars.

Genre defying Def Leppard. Metal? Rock? Arena? Hair Band? Pop? Well, yes, all of the above. Quintessential 1980s.

Okay so I thought - meh, Green Day, never was into that. And then you listen and you realize how solid this album is. Upbeat, uptempo, songs about everyday man and everyday problems. I wouldn’t say I like Punk either but I like some Punk, and I don’t like Alternative either, but clearly some Alternative is pretty good. This is pretty good stuff.

I remembered it better than it was. Lots of the older stuff leaves me nostalgic for bygone times, but this album just seemed different- it didn’t hold my attention- but nor did I turn it off.

S&G on back to back days! I struggle to understand why they’re so esteemed. There are a couple of tracks on here that are okay, one of which would be covered better 15 years later, and one truly great track; the rest is meh to bad. They put this out a year after the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper - I mean, could you be more irrelevant?

What a crock of shit- in the first 10 seconds you can tell that’s no woman singing.

Okay- so basically a one dimensional bar band. If you paid a $20 cover charge and heard the set you may not leave, but you certainly wouldn’t hang around for the second set. It all sounds the same

Everyone alive in the 80s has heard of them, but so what? At the end of the day they’re just another 80s band, producing weird alt rock shit that navel gazing angsty teens listen to, but adults would readily classify them as the one hit wonders they are. All these 80s bands are all either gone or still peddling their worn out crap to squeeze a living out of music. Truly great musicians of the 80s (think Sting for example) continue to produce, innovate and inspire.

The Monkees were certainly representative of a certain vision of the 1960s; a cleaner more wholesome version perhaps, but certainly still hopeful and progressive. Never treated as a real group because in the beginning they only barely were, they nonetheless have an enduring quality to them. That said, most of the tracks are subpar, but a few are very good. Pete’s Sake being my personal favorite.

WTF is it with Indie Rick groups that makes them all sound like a bunch of soy boys in pain, singing songs suitable only to inspire a person to inflict pain on themselves. That applies to the best of the Indies….and this is far from the best.

It’s really not music so much as computers- definitely not my thing for more than 5 minutes at a time.

All music can make us feel, but some music is transcendent and can transport us to another time or place. This album does just that….close your eyes and you’re in a small venue, packed tight, hot as hell, and the smell of stale beer and cigarettes fills your nostrils. Sam’s on a small stage, it’s an intimate venue and you almost feel like he’s singing and talking to you. Singing some of the best music ever made. Hands down one of the best live albums EVER!!

Never thought I’d find an Indie band that wasn’t complete crap, but the mix of Latin music, and a vocalist that doesn’t sound like he’s a boy or suicidal makes for some fine listening

Yeah sorry just not hearing the greatness here.

OMG!! What greatness! It’s practically the 2nd coming of the Beatles!….meh, it’s really not that good. It has no sense of itself, sometimes it’s R&B, sometimes Motown, sometimes hip-hop, but always with the annoying fake music that is electronic sound. Nope, not great just grating.

I lived through the 80s and at the time I didn’t think much of New Wave. Perhaps having lived through the 70s and experienced the Titans of Musical Talent one can be forgiven in thinking New Wave as less than. But looking back now I can appreciate how much hope, positivity and generally up beat this music was, especially compared to what would be coming in the 90s and beyond. The Go-Gos are good solid enjoyable music.

Outside of a few classic songs that resonate with me I’ve never been much of a Heavy Metal fan. Iron Maiden was always on my radar but lacked even those few classics that I could name honestly. Yet the album was solid, never had the feeling of being annoyed or impatient for it to end. A solid album.

Pure God given talent. Pure American music.

Just when you think this list is complete BS and you want to Chuck the whole thing it gives you Loretta Lynn and Otis Redding in back to back days!! Being from the Macon GA area I am very familiar with Redding and smooth Soul sounds. An absolute delight to listen to, especially original versions of songs made famous by other acts.

Fond memories of school years. Rod’s distinctive voice and the mixture or country and blues sounds as good today as it did 40 years ago. Quality music is timeless.

1969! What a year. Miracle Mets, Moon Landing, Woodstock and Led Zep proving the critics are idiots with Led Zeppelin II. This album is Legend, pure gold. You forget just how good they were.

I like Parliament ordinarily but this album by Funkadelic left me cold. I was waiting big bold and brassy, and got dark, brooding and weird.

Was happy when I saw it was a Pink Floyd album, but confess it left me disappointed. Their debut album, hailed by many, leaves me wanting the “real” Floyd that would come about under Waters. This album really needs the LSD to be appreciated and sober a lot of it is kinda - well I’ll go with weird.

And that sucked, even for Punk Rock it was bad.

Meh. Nothing special here. Made it through without skipping or turning it off, but not a single track was impressive either.

God Bless the Irish. Ordinarily I’d groan to see I had a punk-alt-prog album in excess of an hour’s duration- but when it’s Irish you just know it’ll be good and the Pogues don’t disappoint.

I don’t know anyone who dislikes ZZ Top. They kind of stand apart from the rest of the music world as their own thing. But that said it’s not exactly Led Zeppelin either. But it’s good, solid reliable rock a rock and Eliminator is ZZ Top at its pinnacle.

When music was music - before the electric guitar reduced everything to the lowest common denominator- good listening here.

I never appreciated King’s music at the time it was released but I confess that I knew almost every song and found myself drawn in to her voice.

Okay- it was fine, easy listening, but I don’t know that it made me feel anything. None of the tracks grabbed my attention and it took me a minute to release it was over- meaning I had turned it out.

“I gave my love a Cherry that had no stone”…..grab, smash, bang…..”sorry”. If you know you know and that’s what this album reminded me of.

Well, I’ll give this my highest praise for an 80s punk rock album: I actually listened to most of it. Every song the same as the last which is pretty much like almost every other punk album of the early 80s. Yawn. Wasn’t interesting then, and less so now.

Fuck Neil Young. What a douche nozzle.

Oh boy. Ever formed a garage band with your friends? One where one guy has some talent and the rest are there to hang out? No? Well listen to this and you’ll get to experience it.

Way back in the beginning of this list I got a White Stripes album and generously assumed it was a matter of personal taste that I didn’t appreciate. But now a couple of 100 albums in and there are many legendary albums and artists I’ve yet to see and along comes a 2nd White Stripes album and I can’t help but feeling punked. This is crap. They don’t write songs they write sentences and repeat them for 3 minutes. Complete bollocks.

Pure effortless gold. The Beatles of the early 60s produced perfect sound that the bands of today cannot achieve with auto tuning. Albums like this require 6 stars.

The longer that went on the lower and lower the score got. What an annoying grating voice. I’ll give it a 2 because I almost managed to finish it, but that last track was like nails on a chalk board.

While I personally prefer Thriller or Off the Wall to Bad, it’s still a great album.

A whooping 80k in sales? No wonder we needed this in the list. The bad news is it’s really not very good, the good news is we’re gonna give you 75 minutes worth of it. It’s not really music at all, just annoying blips and boops, with an occasional spoken word or moan added in. Even in a discount bin this is no bargain. But I managed to get through it, so 2 stars.

For an album that is supposed to be so political in nature it is surprisingly upbeat in tone. It’s listed as “fusion” but I found it very “jazzy”. It is not I what I would consider regular listening material but it was enjoyable

If you asked me if I liked reggae I’d probably have said not really - but this was REALLY good. Makes you like it the more you listen to it.

Couldn’t make it through a single track and gave up on the album 3/4s of the way through. I felt like I had wandered into a coffee house on poetry night and all the performances were really BAD.

I remember buying this album when I was a younger man and how much it spoke to me despite any similarity to my life experience. By the end I was saddened by how much these tracks still speak to me, only things have gotten much worse decades later. This album was not just of its time, but seemingly for all times.

Not my cup of tea. Not even my cup of tea for the genre. But it’s not bad.

Meh. Unlike most Indie efforts I managed to actually get through this one, so that’s gotta count for something.

I guess I’ve just never appreciated Cream. Outside of the 2 hit tracks the rest left me uninspired

I know 3 chords, I can play them very fast and loud, and I can speak words at a rate so fast as to be indecipherable until the internet will be invented 20 years later. I can’t fathom how fucked up your life has to be to like this noise.

I don’t mind this music, I enjoy it without ever planning on adding it to my playlist. But I do have to wonder why I’ve now had 2 Femi Kuti albums on this project and have yet to see a single album from someone like - Billy Joel?

Frigging old school Rap - a turntable a mic and rhymes suitable for any street contest. Memories.

It was fine, not great, not really good even, but I didn’t turn it off.

Started out fairly interesting but the further into it I got the weirder it became until it reached the point of nonsense on occasion. Afterwards I researched it and saw Brian Eno was affiliated with it and it all made sense.

Everything needs to be viewed in context, and in 1974 some amazing bands were releasing amazing music - and then there is this festering turd that creates the new genre of annoyance pop. Sadly it’s much better than most music today but in 74 not so much.

First thought was “ugh I hate this band”; then they fool you for the first half dozen or so tracks and you’re like “wow this is good, some musicality, some decent content” and then bam, they revert to form and the whining thrashing BS is back.

Some people can sing really well, some have a beautiful voice, and some have “ a sound” - Cyndi Lauper has all of those.

Never ever found what others found in U2. The band is nothing more than average talent musicians playing repetitive music to back up one of the biggest egos in the Industry. An occasional hit but as always 95% crap

Very cool, made me think of Gregg Allman and afterwards found out why.

Wow. Never even really a fan of S&G but you listen to this and you feel the greatness. Every track a new facet of a diamond with different sounds and melodies and styles. The great ones wear many hats while the pretenders have as many sides as a pane of glass. Outstanding.

Gave it 3 strikes but it struck out. Each of the first 3 tracks is a nothing burger or one or two sentences repeated over literally for the length of the track and set to club beats that are great if you’re high on coke and dancing your ass off, but of little value in the normal world.

John Lennon after the Beatles is more personal and less commercial. His music isn’t for entertainment so much as personal documentaries. To appreciate most of it you need to research where he was in both time and space. He was so much bigger than all of us because he was real and true to himself and his values.

Yeah, it’s ELP alright- Hammond Organ and Mood Synthesizer and it’s iconic - but honestly as concept pieces go it palls in comparison to say Tull’s Thick as a Brick (which probably isn’t on this list). The B side is a weird collection of cast offs, only 1 of which has any merit. Of all the ELP albums to put on this list why this one is beyond me.

Never met anyone that disliked ELO, but then again never met anyone that was all in on ELO either. Happy, upbeat, catchy radio music - it’s good for what it is. Certainly better than most of the junk in this list, it’s just not on my “bring it to the island” play list.

Another ELP album when so many great bands remain uncovered. The only thing worse than an over rated band like ELP is a live album of said over rated band. After a while you just get tired of that Organ, can they vary the sound just a little? Whenever they did they had Bonafide hits, when they didn’t it was just niche music.

Elitist douche bag from Jersey writes a bunch of bad depressing songs and decides it describes the fly over part of the country. Elitist critics in NY and LA praise the album. Meanwhile the people in Nebraska don’t give a fuck what you think. Maybe life in the mid-west is hard, but for damn sure some Elitist douche from Jersey has no idea what it’s like and should keep his ideas to himself. This album is a turd, written by a clueless Jersey boy and praised by equally clueless coastal critics. Boo.

The word to describe this is pretentious. Three tracks, 38 minutes. The 2 short ones were 8 minutes and only 1 comes close to holding your attention. Just boring.

For all the jokes about Stipe mumbling I find his voice clear and concise. The music is solid and not over the top or imbalanced. It’s almost wrong to label R.E.M. as an Alternative Rock band because they’re much too good for that. A thoroughly enjoyable album.

Most of this is entirely forgettable. Only the last track “Fools Gold” is good enough to make you divert your attention and take notice. Overall an achievement of mediocrity.

It’s classic old school James Brown and therefore never going to be bad, but honestly, and especially for a live recording, it just didn’t seem to have the customary James Brown energy.

It’s not virtual anything- it’s real people playing real music hiding behind cartoons and made up names. Pure gimmickry to hide lackluster talent

I swear I could listen to someone sing nursery rhymes if it were done with an Irish Brogue- God Bless the Irish

I like Jazz, love jazz, and this is supposed to be “the” greatest Jazz - but it left me feeling a little disjointed.

Zeppelin is pretty central to my youth. From the early ages of consciousness until I became an adult they were always present. And yet for all I was aware of them I was never a collector of their albums. They weren’t my preference despite my knowing so many of their songs. Not until you wade through so much other truly bad music on this list so you really appreciate just how talented they are, how rich and varied the music is, and awesome the songs are. Legend.

This is rolling around in silk sheets. Jazz to die for.

First time I got an Adele album I thought she was some lame pop star like Lady Gaga and instead I was absolutely blown away by her music. This lady is in a class and genre of her own. Awesome

Lots of things in life are about timing and this album came up on my list the day after Adele’s 25 - so it’s kinda like spending an evening sipping 25 year old single malt whisky and then the next morning someone hands you a can of warm Budweiser.

Oh man, that is really REALLY bad, even for the 90s.

It’s Lennon and therefore never going to be that bad. Lots of people like to take swipes at John for being a hypocrite but people need to look in a mirror every once in a while. He was a flawed human being, a work in progress, like all of us. He happened to know it though. At this point in his life he was writing for himself and not for profit- so you’ll have to forgive some of the more navel gazing pieces.

I’ve heard worse and much better. Kinda smooth jazz level hip hop, not in your face hip hop.

99% of the time I feel like I know what I’m going to get before I cue up the first track on an album, but the joy of doing a project is for those 1% that you get surprised by. This was not what I expected but was very very good.

Its got its high points to be sure, come on it is Led Zeppelin, but quite frankly it’s not as good as their earlier albums and being a double album makes it feel like a little too much of not as good a thing. I’d rather quality over quantity.

It had its moments but overall it really struck me as a parody of a lounge act in a seedy bar of the 70s

To anyone alive during the 80s the Beastie Boys are simply iconic- a genre unto themselves. Attempts to make them apologize for anything are revisionist bullshit. Rock solid Gold.

If you don’t like Dylan you haven’t heard Dylan, and I don’t mean you haven’t listened to Dylan.

Freaks gonna freak. The albums aren’t all that great without the theatrics of the live show- but at least I didn’t have to skip any of the tracks.

That was some real country there and from an artist I had never heard from previously. If you like country (not what is called country today) you’ll appreciate this one, otherwise you’ll probably hate it.

Pure gold. The early Beatles before fame and their turning inward, writing songs for themselves instead of for the masses. This is beautiful harmony and simple melodies and pure joy in its simplest form.

This album reached an audience that had no idea what life in a place like 8 mile was like - if even half of it is drawn from real life it’s horrifying. Unfortunately we didn’t hear it and fix it, we heard it and a generation embraced it. Instead of making it go away this life has been normalized and now more of the country is like 8 mile - violent, poor, and sexualized.

Not terribly impressive- just kinda meh

I acknowledge his talents but his music was never my thing. Despite the “greatness” of this album I didn’t thing much of this music at the time and I do find it has aged particularly well. Meh.

After listening to a couple 100 albums in my project, and reading other peoples reviews of the same, I have concluded that some people “listen” and some people “feel” music. People who listen tend to not get genres like jazz or mountain music, because it needs to be felt. Conversely people who feel music are left angry by most alternative and indie music. That said, this jazz offering is solid, feel good music, except that last track which is just weird.

When you take a break and come back to the project and have a selection of albums to choose from - and then you see The Everly Brothers - you smile, because it’s going to be a happy day. Simple but oh so good. No hiding behind sounds, yah gotta be able to sing, and oh boy can they.

There were some groups that I acquired every note they ever produced because I enjoyed them that much - Fleetwood Mac was NOT one of those groups. That said, there’s no denying the greatness of this album. It’s a moment in time, and yet timeless.

Fuck Neil Young and the horse he rode in on.

I’ve been suckered into “giving Radiohead their due” and “giving them a chance”, and quite frankly at 62 years of age I can’t waste 44 minutes of my life listening to their garbage ever again.

After a long hiatus (because this list of “must listens” is actually filled with 75% “Oh my God never agains”) it was nice to come back to something solid like Revolver. You can tell it’s good because instead of wishing it would end you’re amazed that it’s over and you feel like it’s just started. Real music by and for real people.

Not quite as bad as most Indie/Alt BS but still grating. The Norway single in particular is annoying AF and sounds like it’s warped.

I wanted to hate it - because Alternative Rock sucks usually, and these guys are from Berkley which I instinctively dislike; but truth is I couldn’t help but like it. I laughed at American Idiot, aimed at GW Bush but in truth so much more applicable to more recent administrations and current culture in America, and I found I really liked Boulevard and Wake Me Up. All in all a solid album.

I grew up in NY so I’m used to folks casually saying things like “duh” for “the” but if I had to listen to this “vocalist” do it one more time I would scream. I understand dialects and all, but if you’re going to use your voice for a living learn to annunciate, please.

Well let’s find something positive to say, hmmm, I know - we may have found a winner in the music to suicide to contest.

F*ck no - what complete garbage

Sabbath was never my thing, but mostly I disliked their attention getting gimmicks. That said now older and wiser I can stop and appreciate their offerings a little more. The songs are well written and with one exception I enjoyed the whole LP

I don’t mind some rap or hip-hop, some I have on my regular rotations - but this album isn’t and never will be. Just didn’t hit for me.

Not everything that George produced was my cup of tea, but some things are pure gold. A solid album from an under appreciated musician

Costello has been on my radar since my high school days - the man is legend in my book and been on my play lists for decades.

Another charter member of the one hit wonders Club. Even in its era this kind of music was just okay. Now 40+ years removed it has not aged well at all. How did we go from the Beatles to this shit in a decade?

Steely Dan is solid - but honestly one song sounds pretty much exactly like the next.

I’m from New York - I’m no stranger to blue language and have a reputation for it’s liberal usage in my day to day speaking - but Lord have mercy rap music sometimes just goes over the top with it. Really can be too much.

There’s a LOT to take in here. But unlike some really bad albums where 40 minutes can be an eternity, you can listen to the Wall for a couple of hours and it never feels like you want it to end.

It’s Dylan, it’s never going to be bad.

Reminded me of a poor man’s George Benson without the awesome guitar work

Marley will never be in my regular rotation because I don’t think I enjoy reggae enough to listen regularly- that said, every time I hear Marley I thoroughly enjoy it. Weird.

Well - that’s clearly on the wrong list. This album should be in 1000 albums that will make you want to die list. I found the original version with 9 tracks, because 2 hours of this crap really would make you suicidal. I couldn’t get through more than half of any of the first 8 tracks because frankly they’re not music, just noise and some Emo mumbling. The ninth track I thought briefly might actually have a melody, but alas just 5 chords played over and over and over, while mister depressing talked over it. There are worse albums, but not many.

It’s Rod Stewart - which for me means it’s not great but not is it ever really that bad either. Solid without being a must own.

What a load of pretentious bullshit that was.

The greatness of this album is assured by its musicality alone, but back in the day I hated it for the same two I hate many genres of music - the lyrics are - mumbling, slurring mess requiring me to look them up to divine what the artist is trying to say. Music, like a good joke, losses something when you have to explain it.

Okay I expected that to be complete shit and actually made it through the whole thing without skipping. It’ll never be in my playlist but it didn’t make me angry either.

Don’t get the hype. Sounded mostly like Lounge Act music, with the occasional break for some foul language.

I the Man in Black in top form, relating to his people in a manner that few could and none dared.

Fuuuuuuuck me. I’m sure there’s a market where this music is very much appreciated- but I ain’t it.

Just like the one before this - I’m sure there’s a market for this, I just ain’t it.

Albums like this beg for a zero or negative stars rating. I find it inconceivable that anyone has this crap on their playlists.

Time has not been kind to this album. The hits are still the hits, but the rest of the album felt quite pedestrian.

Very typical of the late 70s, but not in a good way like great 70s bands, more like typical late 70s neighborhood band that dreams of making it big - but never does.

Nothing on Earth less appealing than a woman with an excessively foul mouth.

Fucking emo-rock. Sucked living through this crap in the 90s, being reminded of it 30 years later is painful. Music to suicide by.

Was never a fan of the Boss, but after listening to most of the crap on this list, it sounds pretty damn good.

The UK produces some of the most uninspiring music ever since the end of the original British Invasion - I mean, it’s just meh.

One of the best of all time? I don’t think so. A solid album, but certainly not even up to Breakfast in America standards.

How the hell did we go from this to what passes for music in 2 generations? Pure Motown. Is it the greatest album of all time (per Rilling Stone) no, but it is damned fine and thoroughly enjoyable, as well as historically relevant.

Not the “famous” Stones, but the “new” Stones releasing a lot of covers as Studios were want to do back then. Still that distinctive sound is there waiting to explode on the scene.

A glimpse at what could have been. Some won’t like this, but then again I don’t like a lot of stuff either, so to each his own. We’re not worthy Buddy.

Arguably better than the movie it was written for - actually there’s no argument there, that’s a fact, but not a terribly high bar either. Anyway, the Freddy’s Dead and Superfly tracks alone make the album worthwhile.

People say 80s music was bad, but at least it was upbeat and generally happy. The 90s brand of emo-rock that REM typifies ranges from dull to depressing. They have a few hits which are enjoyable, and made them famous, but most of their stuff is just like every track on this album; simple, boring and repetitive.

Wow - that was unbelievably bad. No wonder they disbanded

I’m not by nature a hip-hop fan, but some of it is undeniably very good. I guess Gang Starr (which I confess to never hearing about previously) would land in that group. Maybe I just like that old school east coast style of Hip-Hop, or the sampling of classic 70s sounds, or the way he rhythms so smoothly and effortlessly without screaming at me. I don’t know, maybe it was all that, but w know I liked it.

Listening to Ray is like putting on an old pair of really comfortable slippers. Just as smooth as it gets.

Everything she does sounds the same to me. Fine for what it is, not my cup of tea, and certainly no where near as talented as her brother.

Wow - when you read the notes and they’re comparing it to Elton John and others you’re really thinking this is going to be something memorable. And the you get, boring, pretentious, and tedious. I listened to the whole album with no skips, but never again.

Come on now. One, I can’t believe there’s actually 2 Curtis Mayfield albums on this list; and two, that I get them both in about a week? Unlike Superfly this album has no redeeming hits, just weird repetitive mumblings.

Happy Sad? You bet, Happy when it’s over and Sad that you wasted almost an hour of your life.

Didn’t know what to expect, was prepared for really bad, but was pleasantly surprised and actually listened to it twice all the way through. Energetic, upbeat, and positive. Little hints if Dylan, and Brian Adam’s vibes. I don’t know that it would be considered great because so much of it is imitation of other artists style, but it’s solid.

I don’t know what that wanted to be, but I know what it was - really bad.

Unquestionably one of the greatest albums of all time. Pure perfection. Pitch, Harmony, lyrically, musicality- we simply don’t, and dare I say can’t, produce music like this anymore.

Garage band - at best.

For fuck’s sake - what typical 90s “music to make you wanna kill yourself”. No thanks.

Mitchell is a lot like Dylan, very few have middle ground feelings, live or hate usually. Younger folks - unable to relate to the era - may not appreciate her soulful sound.

Most of this album isn’t even music, it’s just random noises, occasionally you pick up a rhythm but then they beat that death. Pure crap.

So many good memories. Bridging genres between classic country, which was still very much THE country scene in 86, and combining the sounds of early era rock n roll at a time when hair bands and one hit new wave bands were all the rage, was a bright spot in the mid 80s. Steve Earle did as much as anyone, and more than most, to transform country music as we know it today (whether he’d be happy where it ended up is another tale).

What a pile of woke BS. A disgusting display of complete lack of self respect. This doesn’t empower women it degrades them. Needs a negative score.

One of the OG One Hit Wonders. All in all not bad really, especially in light of some of the absolute dog shit that is on this list.

Almost made it all the way through, but gave up on the last track. It’s another nothing burger if an album, places on this list for no reason that can easily be discerned. Most of the crap that came out of the UK post 1980 was garbage and this is no different.

U2 has got to be one of the most overrated bands of all time. This album is like every other U2 album, 1 (sometimes they have 2) decent song, and the rest are complete crap where Bono mumbles through something he tries to make sound lofty. U2 is at it’s best when they play at their talent level (which I fairly low) and plays simple repetitive cords, and they limit Bono to simple repetitive lyrics and keep him from trying to play God. U2’s “great songs” are truly that, but 90% are trash.

I was introduced to Jethro Tull through album by my older brother when I was still a young teenager in the Mid70s. Jethrol Tull has been a constant in my life ever since, one of those bands for which I have acquired every track ever released. Not all are classics like Aqualung but I love them each in their unique way. I probably could have rated this album without listening because I know every word and every note by heart— but I listened anyway, twice, because there’s never a good reason not to.

You would have to be completely stoned off your ass to listen to this with intent

That sounded like a Middle School Band warming up - for like an hour straight, and then walking off stage. It’s not artsy and avant-garde to make noise and call it music, it’s just annoying.

Always a joy to listen to Stevie Wonder, doubly so after listening to most of the trash on this list of 1001 (plus) albums.

Not my thing - and a little confusing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not “my world” any more than NWA is - but NWA sounds good to me and this doesn’t.

No, just fuck no.

Not my cup of tea back then, even less so nowadays, but still better than a lot of this grandiose list.

Good ol’ Willie - smooth as single malt and always a pleasure to listen to

Pretentious and annoying.

Some of this is only mildly annoying, average teenage garage band crap, some of it, like the title track is so bad you regret ever turning it in (a repetitive beat for over a minute is enough for me to turn any song off).

I suspect many will rate this album low, but I rather enjoyed it. A throw back to a simpler time, when country music was still really country music, and life slower. Enjoyable trip down memory lane.

Never a big fan of Prince, but there’s no denying the talent.

The 1980s is known for its mediocre bands that produced one or two good singles. Here we have a mediocre band without the hit single. Not a bad band, but certainly nothing you have to listen to before you die.

At first it was fine, it played in the background and neither really grabbed me or really annoyed me. But the longer it went on the more annoying it got. I listened to the 20th Anniversary release, maybe that was linger than the original? Anyway, by the end it got in my nerves and dropped a star as a result.

Damn good voice, great sound, lyrics a little dark but no doubt a reflection of her age and upbringing. Solid all around and a pleasant change for this list.

My bad - I didn’t realize I was supposed to be stoned off my ass to listen to this.

Even in the greatest era of Rock there are some bands that leave me a little cold, Deep Purple being one of them. In an age of Moog Music and Psychedelia they go a little bit too heavy in both for my tastes. Still solid and very good compared to other offerings on this list.

Not at all what I was expecting- and that’s where the good news ends. I managed to make it through the entire album without skipping a track but it was a sore test as it’s quite bad. Horrible vocals, inane lyrics and musically barely above middle school bands. This album reinforces the fact that 10% of the bands produce 90% of the good music and bands like this are wasting time, space, our time and their lives.

Wow, that aged about as well as milk. I grew up with Newman and never thought strongly one way or the other, but standing off 50 years later you realize he can’t sing worth a lick, and his faux soul voice is actually quite condescending. Some of his songs that he’s written for others are quite masterful, but clearly his albums are all the ones no sane singer would touch as they’re filled with slander and ignorance.

After about 15 tracks that can best be summarized as making me feel like John Belushi on the stairs at the Toga Party, I said “Jeez, how many tracks are on this album”. Discovering that this asshole released a 3 hour album and the first of the 3 discs can most generously be described as parody I binned the listening immediately. What a load of codswallop.

The most over rated asshole on the planet. I will never willingly listen to even a single note or syllable. I can’t believe this loser is on this list as often as he is. F-CAW-F

Like everything he ever did it’s not bad, just ranges from a little weird to outright bizarre.

When 80% of this list is crap it’s albums like this that keep me coming back. When I first queued it up I was prepared for disappointment- but then I was like, wow this is really good, and before long saying “hey, w know this” and it all came flooding back. A rare gem where the music, vocals and lyrics are all excellent. Being rediscovered this one will go into my rotation.

At first I was thinking it might not be too bad, but with each passing very repetitive track I quickly realized this was more noise than music.

The Beastie Boys don’t give a fuck about your opinions.

Just mediocre and annoying

Not even remotely my kind of thing - and yet - still better than so much of this list.

R.E.M. - reminds me of Athens GA; Athens GA reminds me of UGA; UGA reminded me of the Bulldogs. I hate the Bulldogs, therefore Athens and R.E.M can’t be too far down the list. Honestly though- typical 90s “I want to be deep and introspective” navel gazing BS. Hasn’t aged well, and it didn’t start all that great for that matter.

First thoughts are “oh god, not grunge” - second thoughts when you load it up are “2 hours plus of this bullshit?” - mercifully I checked the original release and it’s only 6 tracks on disc 1 (4 through 9) and the rest of the junk in this collection are add on’s from various re-releases. All grunge should be 1, but because I was spare an extra 1+ of noise I’ll toss them a bonus star.

I put it on and it quickly faded into the background- it never grabbed me with either joy or anger - until that last track which was just shock for shock’s sake without any art to it. Would have been a 3 before the last track.

I have no idea what that was but it sure was good.

I’ve never understood the “wows” over Coldplay- it’s really rather bland and boring and ages like milk.

The first track is “the famous one” and if the rest were as good you’d be pleased. She has a great voice, maybe as much range as say Madonna in her heyday, but the song choices are much worse, some absolutely grating.

Gimme a frigging break, who has ever even heard of this band? It’s just not that good, certainly not good enough to be something you have to “hear before you die”. Mid at best.

He must be laughing his ass off all the way to the bank listening to people sing the praises of this steaming pile of crap.

So the wiki article says this is regarded as a high point of rock in the 80s - which tells us just how bad rock was in the 80s. No wonder Flock of Seagulls sold so well if this was the alternative.

This is the type of crap that makes me want to abandon this project. I mean seriously, there are some great artists with only one, or no albums in this list, and this stupid tart has 2 (so far). A third album by this loser is strike three.

After a stream of crap ranging from Icelandic moaning, to anger rap, to loser garage rock this was actually tolerable. It wasn’t really good either but compared to the aforementioned it’s high praise to actually just get through an Album.

I am not a fan of most Heavy Metal bands, I find most of it repetitive and rather one note. Metallic is not that, sure some of their songs can be, but most showcase artistry within the lyrics while raging within the music. I’ll never be a Metal fan, but I’ll always be a Metallic fan.

Jimi’s a legend. He literally reinvented guitar playing. Pablo Picasso reinvented Art as well, but did he make it better? I’m not saying Hendrix wasn’t a genius or impactful, he was both, - as was Picasso. I just happen to prefer art before Picasso reinvented it, much as I prefer the guitar before Jimi reinvented it. They’re legends- just not what I prefer.

It’s nothing to rave about, but it’s musically and lyrically ahead of so much other shit on this list.

Was never on the wagon with Queen. Their iconic songs were always that, but the rest of their stuff always left me a little meh. Mercury’s voice is the star of the show of course.

Now THIS is music you must listen to before you die. Needs more than 5 stars.

Sorry, I don’t get it. Take a guy who’s at least a decade past his prime, and mix in tribal rhythms, and we’re all supposed to oh and ah over an album that produced exactly 1 top 5 single? And that only did as well as it did because of the MTV video and Simon having the smart idea to laugh at himself. He may have been a legend but we’re it not for the political BS this album doesn’t get (or deserve) all the accolades.

In 1972 there are probably 20 bands in the UK alone that are 10 times better than this, and in the world probably 50-60. So why is this piece of mediocrity on this list?

Never understood the fascination. People hear “raspy” or “sultry” - I hear “WTF?” I mean seriously- another junkie who benefits from sympathy at dying young. It’s just not all that.

Is there anything in the world of music worse than grunge? Nope.

Not band - a “groovy and funky” kinda vibe. Feel good stuff.

Like the music itself, no words are required. Just easy on the ears, mind and soul.

Well - that was - different. Still, as odd as it was, it was better than at least a 1/3 of this list.

Thought I would hate every second, but despite not speaking French it was upbeat and enjoyable. For all I know though he was spewing hatred.

That was one of the most grating and annoying albums I’ve ever heard. The vocalist sounds like a dying cat. Horrible.

Some might say that Pearl Jam is among the best of the 1990s music scene, and they would still be in the bottom of the list stacked against 60s and 70s musicians. Slurred and mumbled lyrics, and anytime you think they may actually break out into a melody they take a quick left into thrash and trash. They suck.

Smooth, cool and easy listening.

I like the Beastie Boys as much as anyone, maybe more, and this album is as good as any they released, solid east coast rap from the golden days, but it’s also the 3rd Beastie album I’ve encountered on this list while so many great artists are missing. Just makes you wonder.

Wasn’t expecting much - but man was that good. Just close your eyes, lean back, sip a Mojito and you’re transported to the Tropicana with Ricky Ricardo. Good stuff

There’s always something calming and rejuvenating about listening to Joni Mitchell, like she’s somehow not part of this world. Timeless.

It’s good solid west coast rap - but I can’t take an album seriously in a society where a word can literally be said 100s of times during the playing of the album but they censor it when printing the title. It’s a word - stop giving it more power than it deserves. Ridiculous

Hard to believe we used to make music this good without resorting to computer manipulation- smooth baby, real smooth, ya dig?

Not bad really. I wouldn’t add it to my play lists but the melodies were solid, and the lyrics actually intelligible. All around a positive upbeat album.

This pops up and it’s from 1977 and I have zero recognition so I’m immediately assuming this is some weird underground rock group I missed through the years and I’m about to subjected to 40 minutes of mediocrity- boy was I wrong - this is 38 minutes of the coolest Jazz ever put on vinyl. Good stuff.

The first track starts and I’m like “hey, I know this tune, this album will be good”. And then it plods on for track after track, each song disappointingly very much like the last. The vocalist’s range has no higher register, nor lower register, every track smack dap in the annoying sweet spot of mid-range, each melody the same boring 3 or 4 chord tune played over and over while the mid- range vocals talk through the “songs”. And then, when you’ve plodded through all that you get treated to disc 2 which is the band playing the same songs “live” - although the bands energy, and for that matter the crowds energy, are both typically British, which is to say barely above a resting pulse. In all 2 hours and 27 minutes of repetitive tedium. The album summarized well what has become of British music since about 1980, the longer you listen the worse it gets.

I confess that I was never big into Steely Dan, my tastes leaned towards more aggressive things when this album was released- but after slogging through over 300 albums on this list and being subjected to some of the most inane shit ever recorded I’ve come to appreciate bands like Steely Dan a lot more now that I’ve acquired some wisdom. A plus 1 star for not making me want to commit suicide.

In my opinion MJ’s best work - just freakishly good, and not yet freakishly weird.

I had no recollection of this artist, a complete blank, and was expecting zero from it - and then…..”hey, I know this song, and this one too, and yeah that one, and hell this is pretty good”. The American Beatle may be a stretch but it’s damned fine.

I listened to that cold and struggled to figure out what the hell it was. I am a fan of instrumental music and wanted to like it, but it just never hooked me. When it was over I went and read about what it was supposed to be and I found it an epic failure.

This wasn’t available through AppleMusic and I had to listen through YouTube- ordinarily the aggravation of that (all the ads) is enough for me to knock a star off the score or in some cases really make me not want to listen at all - but Marley - Exodus - man I could knock 5 stars off and it would still be a 5. Ya mon. Pure gold.

Another U2 album - another hour or Bono mumbling through lyrics that we thankfully can’t decipher because if we could he’d probably be preaching to us about something hypocritical- meanwhile the backing music is full of distortion and reverb with occasional bouts of mistakenly breaking out into actual melody. I’ll never understand the raves for this band.

Some tracks just knock it out of the park with tempo and harmony- while others are just a litany of high notes that make you reach for that skip button.

The upside of this album is they kept it brief, banging out 16 tracks in 35 minutes - perfect radio edits for tracks that would never make it to radio unless it was a station dedicated to Punk. Punk is a genre that has not aged particularly well.

Managed to make my way through most of this disgusting collection of hatred, and depravity, although “Blame Game” reached depths I just couldn’t stomach. What a completely classless and tasteless album.

Timing is everything I guess. Coming up in the list immediately following Kanye West this mediocre music sounds positively impressive by comparison- but she’s just another 1980s one hit wonder. Nothing more or less.

So many of these tracks ended up on his Greatest Hits album. Costello is a Love/Hate sound, very few in between I suspect. I’m a Team Costello kinda guy, so easy 5 for me.

I cued it up and hit play and it quickly receded into the background and was over before I knew it - which means it was neither great nor horrible

A name you can never forget - music you will never remember. Mid at best, and that’s being generous.

Wasn’t impressed then, less impressed now. Gimmicky more than artistic.

A collection of filth, mixed with noise, and laced with the greatest hypocrisy of world history. What a farce.

It’s not so terrible it makes you cringe, but it’s weird enough to make you wonder exactly who needs to hear this before they die? Certainly not me.

The musical talent may have been typical of the era, but Chrissie Hynde was definitely not pretending- that voice is iconic.

For me, Music should make us feel. Some feelings are unintentional- like that weird shit on the list that just makes you feel angry - but good music endeavors to make us feel intentionally a certain way. The gold standard for that type of music is Pink Floyd, who effortlessly evoke emotion through sound.

So refreshing to listen to real musicians and not just “band members” playing guitars. Blending all that brass, with organs, wood winds, and synthesizers is true art, and add in the awesome vocals and it’s just world class. A rare 5.