This is a banging album. Listened to it three times yesterday. Favourite tracks were "So Fresh, So Clean" and "Ms. Jackson"; also really liked the "Cruisin' in the ATL" interlude. A little bit overstuffed for me at 70+ mins (like I could've done without some of the, er, beginning noises) but overall this is a damn good album.
This is the first album I've listened to before getting the prompt for it!
It's hilarious how two days ago we got "Arthur", and I thought that "Village Green" was the better of the two Kinks albums I've listened to. Anyway, having listened to "Village Green" multiple times in the past couple of days - to compare it to "Arthur" and now for this prompt - I still stand by that.
This is an excellent album - all the tracks are strong from start to finish. It also reminded me a lot of Vampire Weekend's work (especially the first half of their discography, which I absolutely love) - it's clear that they were influenced by this album.
I've never heard of this band, which is odd, as 2012 was pretty much the peak of my British indie band obsession. (Arctic Monkeys was my personality for a while during that time.) This album is vibrant and energetic, although I'm not the biggest fan of the chant-like vocals. Still great for a debut.
Favourite tracks: Wor, Life's a Beach, Skies Over Cairo
This anecdote is going to make me feel ancient, but here goes: in August 2014 (when life was still relatively good and the world didn't feel like it was on the verge of imploding all the time), I saw Jack White live at a local music festival that no longer exists. It was my first (and will likely be my only) music festival experience as I quickly realized that I was too old for that at the ripe old age of 22. I mainly bought my ticket to see Arctic Monkeys, but Jack White was the last act of the festival and I thought, "Well, I'll never actually pay to see him so why not stay for him." I mean, like, "Seven Nation Army" is rightfully iconic, and was incredible live.
This album is... fine. I like a few Jack White/White Stripes/other Jack White bands songs, but none of them are on this album. "Weep Themselves to Sleep" was the standout track for me though.
This was difficult for me to get through because of the inarticulate, incomprehensible vocals. I was constantly checking how many songs were left in the album before I could listen to something else. I don't even mind punk rock, but I found the vocals so extremely grating that it's a no from me.
Well, the opening track certainly had instruments, and they were certainly making noises. It was a bit too discordant and all over the place for me. The rest of the album felt like fairly standard classic rock, of which I personally am not the biggest fan.
Things I liked:
- the excellent album cover
- the violin parts throughout the album
- the guitar noodling on "Easy Money"
- "The Talking Drum" was okay for the most part until the end
Things I disliked:
- pretty much everything else
- special shoutout to "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part I)" which was absolutely horrendous
2 (.5 for the album cover)
I tried to listen to Sufjan Stevens when I was 17 but got bored and never tried again, so this was my first time really listening to him. I don't think I was missing out on much.
This album is fine enough, as it's fairly standard indie rock, which I generally love. However, I think the album is a bit bloated, bland, and repetitive, and some of the songs felt like they went on for too long. Overall, I don't feel the need to revisit this album in the future and it hasn't convinced me to listen to more Sufjan Stevens.
I'll have to listen to this more for sure, but I loved this. It was joyful and exuberant and it made me smile, which was nice after an otherwise mediocre week of albums for me. Looking forward to revisiting this one and listening to more Stevie Wonder!
Strong start to the week. "Superstition" is an incredible track and almost warrants a 5 for this album by itself.
This is... not good. The "reggae" itself is fine and inoffensive but the fake Jamaican accent from a Scotsman is not.
I had never heard of Finley Quaye before this and perhaps that was for the best.
I usually prefer studio recordings to live performances, but this was energetic and just so much fun - there is such a rawness present in his voice and the crowd is having a blast. Will be revisiting this in the future for sure - I loved loved loved this.
Favourite track: Twistin' the Night Away
I didn't know what to expect going into this as I hadn't heard of the band before, especially based on the album cover. But I really liked this, particularly the first half. It sounds much more modern than it should for an album released in 1972! I think it falters toward the end - the second half isn't as strong as the first - but I still liked this overall.
I think I like the idea of Joni Mitchell more than I like Joni Mitchell's actual music.
Maybe it's because I'm an uncultured millennial but I just do not personally get this album. Like, I understand that it's culturally significant and is one of the most impactful and important albums of all time, but I lack the context for it; I didn't grow up listening to The Beatles. It didn't click with me.
This was fine - it sounded like stereotypical 90s alt-rock, and I was imagining it playing over a montage in a movie set in the 90s. The lyrics were quite repetitive at times ("She said she said she said she said she said she said" - is this where Matty Healy got his inspiration from?) but the album mainly sounded like the output of all 90s alt-rock albums thrown into a blender. It wasn't distinguishable enough for me, personally.
It was fine, but I didn't think there was anything special about it. I liked "Monday, Monday" but the rest was a blur.
I'm surprised by how much I liked this. Although perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised, considering how much I *love* John Mayer and his moody, guitar-heavy music.
4.5/5 rounded up (-0.5 because the Garth Brooks' and Adele's versions of "Make You Feel My Love" are much better)
Yawn. I'd put this on if I was having trouble falling asleep.
I just love jazz so much.
Ah, Evermore, Folklore's younger sister. Evermore wouldn't have existed without Folklore, and so I think any discussion about Evermore should always involve Folklore. After all, Evermore only happened because Taylor and her music friends were celebrating finishing Folklore and... they just kept writing songs.
I was so excited to get this - it's an album I have listened to its entirety multiple times, which is the first time I can say that about a generated album!
I think this is Taylor's last great original album - Midnights was a hot mess with a few good ideas, and we won't even talk about the abomination that is TTPD. I do think that Folklore as a whole is better than Evermore (and that Folklore is her best album, period), as Evermore has felt to me like a collection of afterthoughts that were left off of Folklore.
I think Taylor is at her best when she's not writing about herself, even though that's what she's known for and why she became so popular in the first place. The Folkmore albums are so special because she's weaving stories about (mainly) fictional others. I remember when this album was released and how much of a complete surprise it was - just seven months after Folklore, right before Christmas in 2020. I think it's a perfect wintry album and representative of that specific time - the isolation, the collective pause, the quietness that fell over that muted season. To me, this album evokes walking through a forest crunching through freshly fallen snow.
Ultimately, though, I don't think Evermore belongs on this list - I would've argued for Folklore's inclusion instead - but it's a damn good album regardless. It's a good length, and it's not bloated (which certainly cannot be said about many of her other albums). I'll be listening to this again during my drives in winter, sipping on hot tea, surrounded by glistening snowflakes.
Favourite tracks: "No Body, No Crime" (which is basically the 2020 version of "Goodbye Earl"), "Dorothea", and "Long Story Short"
This is an album one would listen to on vinyl alone late at night, surrounded by flickering candles and a crackling fireplace in the dead of winter.
It's what it says on the tin: this album is dark, sombre, bleak. He's a man who knows he's at the end of his life, and this is last gift of art to the world. Not many people get to say goodbye in the way Leonard Cohen did, and come to terms with God and his mortality. It's a beautiful, haunting album, but it's a specific mood that I'm not keen to revisit any time soon.
This was jazzercise and retro bowling alley music - stereotypical 80s synthpop, although it was one of the pioneers of the genre. I'd argue that this *is* essential listening, especially to appreciate how synthpop has evolved, but it sounds so dated compared to modern synthpop.
I didn't realize that "Don't You Want Me" is on this album and I nearly fell over in shock when it came on. It's a classic banger that has stood the test of time for a reason, and, of course, by far the best track on the album.
Yeah boiiiiiiiiii
I had no knowledge of rap in the 80s (or 90s, for that matter) going into this, but this went HARD. It's powerful, militant, aggressive, bombastic. Flavor Flav (he gets a star by himself for being such a huge supporter of the US Olympics and Paralympics teams) is a great hype man and Chuck D is just angrily spitting poetry throughout the whole thing.
This blew me away - it's unapologetically and assertively Black, and I think their political commentary is still relevant (unfortunately) 30+ years later. This album is funky, explosive, energetic, and feels fresh even now.
I loved this. It was funky, groovy, and so joyful!
Favourite track: I Want Your Love
I liked this, but it was hard to discern the lyrics because of the overdubbing. I'd listen to this again but I didn't like it as much as yesterday's album, C'est Chic, which was a similar genre.
The instrumentals were fine - great, even! - but the lead vocalist cannot sing on-key, which didn't make this fun to listen to.
I actually liked this! I thought it was funky and eclectic. There are a lot of ideas on this album and not all of them work, but I appreciate the attempt. Overall this was an enjoyable listen.
This album is incredible. It's well-deserving of its stellar reputation that precedes it. It's earnest, ambitious, has lush and inventive instrumentals, and is really just a masterpiece.
Favourite track is of course "God Only Knows" because of how many times I've seen "Love Actually" (too many to count).
This was a little too dad rock-y, a little too folksy for me.
When I was growing up, I had a British violin teacher. He was much older - likely in his 40s when I started taking lessons from him when I was 8 or so - living alone in a fairly isolated northern town, divorced, not much going on in his life except for teaching violin to a bunch of little girls. I took violin lessons from him for nine years, so he was a constant presence in my life during some very formative years. I never thought much of it at the time, but from when I was about 16 or so, he started regularly giving hugs to me, which had never happened before that. I had already left for university when my sister, who was, erm, a bit more well-endowed than me, mentioned that he was giving long hugs to her and touching her and making her uncomfortable.
I mention this because that's what this album reminded me of - a creepy, lecherous, old British man singing (? Calling it "singing" seems insulting to actual singers) about how horny he is. Ew. It was awful. No thanks.
This was OK. I really didn't like the lead singer's voice, which I found a bit showboat-y and performative. It's a fun and energetic album otherwise, but his voice was such a huge turn off for me.
This started off okay, but then it devolved into a lot of harsh guitars, yelling, and noise, of which I'm not a big fan. The album cover is extremely cool though.
This album is far too British for me.
Mixed feelings on this. On one hand - it's excellent rap. Funky, fresh, great beats and production, Snoop Dogg is smooth, it's an unblemished representation of Dre's reality. On the other - it's violent, misogynistic, and I don't especially like hearing the n-word every other word (call me sensitive or whatever, fine). This was a difficult listen for me and I would not ever revisit this.
I've started this album at least four times over the span of the last 3.5 weeks, kept making it halfway, and then would get distracted by something and would forget to finish it. Finally, I've listened to it in its entirety, which feels like an accomplishment - not because I think the album is difficult to get through (I thought it was the opposite, really) but more because I actually listened to it in one go.
The lead singer sounds like Phil Collins' disembodied voice singing on the Tarzan soundtrack (the animated Disney one), which I unironically love. (This is also a reference to one of my favourite video essays by Sideways on YouTube.)
I love the emotion, passion, and sincerity of the songs, which I'm sure others would find hokey and cheesey, but Coldplay is my favourite band and I listened to late 90s/early 2000s American country music growing up, so of course I don't mind that.
4.5 rounded up
Favourite tracks: Bury Me Deep in Love, A Trick of the Light, Hometown Farewell Kiss
I had never heard of Steely Dan before this and had no idea what to expect. Based on the Wikipedia article for the album and some of the reviews here, I was expecting total generic dad rock, but I surprisingly liked this album! Compared to "Music From Big Pink" by The Band, which was the only other "dad rock" album I've encountered so far on this list, I feel that "Pretzel Logic" is a lot more interesting.
The recording and production of the album sounds great, and I loved the jazz, soul, and country infusions, which elevates it beyond just pure "rock", which I tend to dislike. I thought that the opening track was the most boring on the album and was entirely prepared to dislike the album based on that, but it vastly improved from there. The cover of "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" was such an excellent surprise - I loved how playful it was and it was the clear highlight of the album for me.
This was... fine. It was inoffensive but also instantly forgettable, and it was difficult for me to distinguish the songs. I'm not sure I "get" R.E.M.
This is the second Nirvana album I've encountered on this list and I'm beginning to think that I just do not like Nirvana.
I don't like Kurt Cobain's voice, which sounds like it has three modes: bored, growling, or straight up screaming. They are all grating and annoying. The guitars and drums are noisy and unpleasant. It's loud for the sake of being loud. I'm not a fan of abrasive, brash music, and it's looking like I'm not a fan of grunge as a genre either.
This was absolutely flawless.
I had a backlog of albums to listen to for this project and was "saving" this one because I just knew that this was going to be great. And it was! My favourite track was the title track, but of course "Respect" is a classic, iconic song for a reason.
Incredibly strong album - I can see how it was so influential and important to hip hop. "Walk this Way" was the clear highlight of the album for me, though the first four songs are just banger after banger.
Took off an entire star for "Dumb Girl" because I hated how misogynistic it was.
I thought this album was great. I'd actually never listened to "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" before this, and it's a masterpiece. I also loved "Love Woke Me Up This Morning".
I think the album could've been more cohesive. The first half of the album, which is filled with strong, upbeat, funky songs, is better than the second half, which is mainly ballads and I felt that they dragged a bit. Overall, still a great album, and I'll be listening to this again.
Overall, this was fine. It was a bit generic, but still groovy and funky. The production was clean and I think has held up to this day. I really liked the female singer, but the male singer sounded like Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Concords to me and I couldn't take that seriously. I also enjoyed the instrumentals in "African Dance."
Favourite tracks: Keep On Movin', African Dance, Back to Life
I loved this - anything that gets me up and dancing on a Monday morning is a 5. Full of joyful bops and classic, funky disco. And it'd of course be remiss of me to not mention the excellent title track, which is one of the most enduring, famous disco tracks of all time.
Favourite track: He's the Greatest Dancer
Listened to the US version solely because of "Paint It Black", which is utterly brilliant. Unfortunately it was immediately followed by "Stupid Girl", which I just hated so much because of its misogynistic lyrics. "Under My Thumb" wasn't much better, and the rest of the album kinda blended together.
Bowie himself described this album as "Plastic Soul", which is difficult to disagree with. Having listened to a couple of proper soul and funk albums because of this list, this album very much feels like a hollow imitation of those. It feels... appropriative coming from a white British dude.
This was my introduction to David Bowie's music. It wasn't bad, but in the context of American music and how music from Black Americans has been historically treated, it doesn't feel right.
The saxophone throughout is excellent though.
First of all, I love the name of this album. However, that was the best thing about the album for me.
It's not bad and I didn't hate it, but I found it a bit dull and bland. I felt like most of the songs just didn't go anywhere. I did like the last part of "Time" and how upbeat "Pacific Ocean Blues" was. The rest, though, was perhaps a bit too chill for my liking.
Overall, this was fine - it was kinda like The Smiths except without the shittiness of Morrissey. The album was an enjoyable listen, although it blended together toward the end.
This was excellent - easy to listen to, joyful, full of great, classic songs. Listened to this three times. Favourite track was "Blueberry Hill".
Couldn't find the specific album on Tidal so big thanks to the person who compiled the album tracks into a playlist!
Based on the other "prog rock albums" or even "iconic, classic albums" I've listened to on this list so far, I was expecting to either hate or be absolutely bored by this. I actually thought it was fine - I wasn't totally blown away by it, but I thought it was interesting and had great ideas. It helped that the instruments sounded cohesive, unlike some of the other albums on this list.
It's obviously a little bloated and self-indulgent at 26 tracks, and of course I couldn't really understand Pink's story on my first listen. But I'm looking forward to listening to this a few more times, and maybe I'll get it one day.
Look, there's no way I could approach this behemoth of an album without a massive amount of enthusiasm. (OK, it's technically a "box set.") George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is my favourite classical(-esque) piece ever, which I've seen performed live twice. I grew up playing and learning about classical music and loving musical theatre (and wishing I was talented enough to sing/act/dance/perform on stage without crumbling to pieces), and it's pretty clear from this project so far that my favourite albums include all the jazz ones I've gotten. If an AI were to spit out a list of albums that it "thought" were my favourites based on my interests and life, this album would definitely be on that list.
Yes, this "box set" is over three hours long and is certainly overkill. And sure, the editor of the 1001 List could've chosen an actual, curated album of of Ella Fitzgerald's for the list. But maybe he had a difficult time deciding which one to pick and went with the one that would give the listener the maximum amount of Ella in one work. Of course, I didn't listen to the entire thing in one go - I listened to each volume separately and that made it a lot more digestible.
Ella Fitzgerald is simply stellar on this: truly the Queen of Jazz. She's such a phenomenal vocalist and performs all of these songs to perfection. I loved the orchestration, and I thought it sounded great, considering it was recorded in 1959. Ira Gershwin, famously, was impressed by how good Ella made their songs sound, and who am I to disagree with him?
This is an album I'd love to own on vinyl. If I was the type of person who threw fancy dinner parties, I'd put this on in the background while my guests and I are eating our bread, salads, and casseroles, or whatever people eat at fancy dinner parties. Since I'm not that kind of person (and I'm not going to spend time/money looking for an out-of-print vinyl), I'll listen to this through my phone while sitting on my couch eating chips, the way I'm sure Ella, George, and Ira intended.
I imagine that this would sound amazing live in an Irish pub, while you're drinking Guinness, shouting loudly at your lads, and getting smashed. I can only imagine this since this is not an experience I have personally had.
This album wasn't bad - it was admittedly kind of fun - but "vaguely pirate music" is very much not my thing.
This is one of my most favourite albums. I don't have a huge vinyl collection, but I do own this album on vinyl, so y'all know it's automatically a 5.
I was in my mid-20s when this album was released. At the time, I was feeling lost, directionless, and isolated: I was trying to figure out what was next for me after a job ended badly. I related deeply to this album, which is about solitude, heartbreak, and big, vivid emotions. I remember laying in my bed crying to "Liability" and "Perfect Places" because I felt I was "too much" for people and didn't belong anywhere.
I can't overstate how much I love this album. It'll always be evocative of my 20s, during which I was trying to figure out my identity and also everything else. I was often really mean to and hated myself in my 20s, and now that I'm in my 30s, I look back with such admiration and kindness for what that person went through.
Of course, I was never cool enough to be invited to any grand house parties like the one Lorde loosely chronicles on this album. But I'm pretty sure that if I was invited to one, it would've felt a lot like this.
Favourite tracks: Green Light, Liability, Supercut, Perfect Places
Leonard, I know that you're rightfully a Canadian icon, but this album is dreadfully boring. I know for a fact that acoustic guitar was not the only instrument that existed in 1967. (Yes, there are other instruments on a couple of other songs but the majority of the album is heavily driven by acoustic guitar.)
This is another album I'd put on if I was having trouble falling asleep.
When I started this project, I intended to give every album I encountered a fair shot, which is what I thought they all deserved. I'm about 60 albums in now, and... you know what? This is my project and I can do whatever I want. And I'm deciding that this album doesn't deserve a listen.
Fuck you, Fred Durst.
I wanted so badly to like this - it's brash, confident, feminist, and extremely gay punk rock, and I have a huge crush on Carrie Brownstein (who I didn't realize was part of this band; I know her from Portlandia). But I just don't like any vocalist, male or female, shouting at me.
I haven't yet encountered a jazz album on this list that I don't absolutely love, and this is no exception. Bossa nova is one of my most favourite genres of music.
I imagine that this would be classy cocktail bar music, perfect for a Friday night out with your beau. I can only imagine because I am definitely not classy enough to go to a cocktail bar.
This album was released right before I started my first year of university. Picture this: I'm 17, confused, directionless, and deeply, deeply uncool. This album was released and its iconic "x" was all over Tumblr. Listening to this album made me feel extremely cool, because the xx and this album have always felt extremely cool to me. (As if that's how it works.)
I'm a millennial who grew up listening to music through the radio and then by buying singles from iTunes (lol), so at the time I mainly consumed my music through my own playlists, rather than through albums. (This is still mostly the case outside of listening to albums for this project.) xx was one of the first albums that I listened to as an *album* because it's such a slick, cohesive set of tracks.
I hadn't listened to this album in a while, but I still love it. It's dreamy, atmospheric, melancholic, minimalist indie pop-rock that I've always thought is perfection. Yeah, it's a bit dull at times and sometimes Romy and Oliver are just kinda singing in a bored and disinterested way *at* each other rather than together, but I don't care. It's one of the albums that got me into seeking out more indie pop/rock and expanding my music tastes - I don't think I would've gotten into The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, etc. without it.
Favourite tracks: Intro, VCR, Night Time
Ironically, this album sounds derivative of the dozens of arguably more famous bands who were clearly influenced by it. To me, it sounds like a 70s version of The Strokes with more energetic singing. I really enjoyed listening to this - it was trashy, messy, and a hell of a lot of fun.
I can't get through this. The vocals are atrocious to me - guttural screaming is very much not my thing.
Really did not like this. Vocals were weird, shouty, and off-key, and the instrumentals sounded like a high school band somehow got a recording contract and made an album of them jamming in their garage (which probably isn't far off from the truth).
Incredible - excellent from start to finish.
Mixed feelings on this - I really liked the instrumentals and wacky energy on this one but did not like the creepy lyrics. I understand that it's meant to be jokingly creepy but it still came off as creepy to me.
I love jazz, but this was a bit too frantic and scattered for me. This album might be proof that it is indeed possible for there to be too much improv. Still, I enjoyed it and it'd be good background music for any holiday parties I ever host. (I do not have enough friends to host any holiday parties.)
This was weird, eclectic, goofy, and really fun to listen to.
I genuinely was not expecting to like this as much as I did, especially since I'd never listened to Simon & Garfunkel before. This album is outstanding - I wasn't sure if the rest of it would hold up to the rightfully iconic title and opening track, but it really did.
I understand why people might love this album but I don't like anyone yelling at me. Sorry, Chester.
I love jazz. There's nothing else to say.
It's strange listening to this on November 6, 2024, the day that orange, deranged, monstrous criminal won a sickening second term as US president. This didn't fit the mood at all, but that didn't take away from how fantastic this album is.
I was already familiar with "Don't Know Why" and "Turn Me On", two tracks I absolutely love, so I was really excited to listen to this. This album is intimate, soulful, and gorgeous. Norah Jones' voice is soothing and smooth, and this was an excellent listen, despite the circumstances.
I gasped when I saw this - this is exactly the kind of unquestionably classic album I wanted to listen to from this list.
I really liked the first Pink Floyd album I got on this list - The Wall - which I gave a 4, but this was better. This was only my first listen, however, and it didn't connect with me as much as other new-to-me albums have (which admittedly have mainly been jazz, soul, and funk), so I don't feel comfortable giving it a 5. But it's a truly stellar album and I will definitely be listening to this again.
Look, I hate who Kanye has become these days: anti-Semitic, misogynistic, Trumpian, to say the least. But before that, he was a damn musical genius. This album is a masterpiece and it's a shame that I'm never listening to this ever again because of how shitty of a person he is.
This is the third Pink Floyd album I've gotten out of 85 generated albums: I got the last one three albums ago. I don't really think this needed to be on the list. It was OK, but a bit scattered. I think the other two Pink Floyd albums I've gotten ("The Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall") were better, but I'm not even a tenth through this list and feel a little Pink Floyd-ed out already.
Very mid. Song 2 was obviously the highlight but the rest was a blur (sorry).
Still convinced that Oasis is better.
I think this album is forgettable, especially compared to the music from other soul singers such as Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone. Anita Baker's voice is fine enough but the songs aren't particularly special: it sounds like music that'd be played in a grocery store. It's smooth but too smooth, as if all the interesting parts of soul and jazz were ironed out.
This was suprisingly all over the place. Some tracks were mediocre and forgettable, while others were excellent ("Slow Love" was a highlight). This was my first time listening to Prince and I honestly expected better.
Well, it's better than "Larks' Tongues in Aspic", that's for sure.
I admittedly was prepared to judge an album by its cover and was fully expecting to hate this because I've never really listened to heavy metal. I'm actually surprised by how much I liked this - it's energetic and fun. Transylvania is such a great track.
This was a fun, upbeat, and energetic album - glad it was only 34 mins long, though with 16 tracks on the album, some of them were just so short and didn't have enough time to fully flesh out their ideas. It's a bit repetitive, for sure - the tracks started to sound the same toward the end. There are only so many variations that punchy guitars, keyboards, and drums can take.
The concept of this - mixing a classical symphony orchestra with heavy metal - was intriguing and I think it worked a lot better than I thought it would. Still, I could only get through about an hour of this before I found it too repetitive.
The stalker song was alright
Absolutely loved this from start to finish. The electric guitar is stellar throughout, and it's so groovy and funky. This is music that's right up my alley, and I'm excited to check out more of The Isley Brothers' discography!
I found this extremely boring and weary, except for "Transylvania Blues". Most of the album was too slow and plodding for me, and I really disliked the singer's voice.
1.5 rounded up
This was stellar. After listening to a string of okay-but-not-my-thing albums, this was a breath of fresh air. Funky, groovy, excellent jazzy instruments - I loved this from start to finish.
I really liked the title (and last) track in particular, but everything else was... kinda just fine.
This was better than the other two albums of theirs that are on this list, but that's not saying very much since I gave them both a 1. This is not a 1 only because of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
This was so much fun! I have a Christmas playlist that I love to put on shuffle during this month and this whole album (except for the last track) is going on it. My favourite track was The Ronettes' version of "Sleigh Ride" - it's undeniably a classic.
I don't have a huge vinyl collection, but I do own this album on vinyl, so it's automatically a 5.
It's been a while since I've listened to this album in its entirety, but I still love it as much as I did when I first heard it. This is a perfect album for me - I love how fun, cool, and comfortable it is, like a well-worn leather jacket. Although my favourite album from The Strokes is actually "Room on Fire", this one is a veryyyyy close second.
Favourite tracks: Hard to Explain (basically a perfect track), Someday, Last Nite
I couldn't make it through the first song of the album - it was too slow and dreary for me. This is really not my kind of music.
This is just not my kind of music.
I was still on Tumblr and Twitter when this album was surprised dropped into the world, and that's all anyone was talking about for weeks. So I, of course, listened to it - and honestly, it was... fine? I personally don't really get the hype around Beyoncé. Like, I understand her significance in terms of being a Black female pop star who's uncompromising in her vision for her music, but I think the "Queen Bey" thing is massive overhype.
Anyway, l think "Lemonade" is Beyoncé's best album and should've been the one on this list. This album is fine - I appreciated the chance to listen to this album again - but I think "Lemonade" is a more consistent, focused album with better ideas. Some of the songs on this album were just... bleh. There were too many underwhelming songs about sex.
Favourite tracks: Pretty Hurts, XO
I think Adele is a much better singles artist than an albums artist - to me, "Hello" and "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" are two of the best singles, period, from the past ten years. Adele's voice is undeniably unique and incredibly strong, but I strangely haven't been able to connect to most of her non-single songs. Personally, she has always seemed too mature, too unreachable, perhaps, for her age. It's a bit strange, for example, that she's singing about her divorce and wishing being younger at 25. I mean, when I was 25, I was still feeling like a lost child trying to navigate this messy world, but maybe that's just me.
Merely looking at this album cover gives me a flurry of memories and emotions. This is my favourite Taylor Swift album - it was originally released at such a pivotal time in my life, and I can't understate how much I love this album.
Also, the original version is vastly superior to the Taylor's Version, so that's what I listened to (and will continue to listen to).
Favourite tracks: Style, New Romantics (yeah, it's a deluxe track, whatever, it should've been on the main album)
"Basket Case" is one of my favourite songs of all time, and I love "When I Come Around" too. To be honest, the rest of the album was fine, though I found it a bit repetitive.
3.5 rounded up
This is totally obnoxious but in the best way. It's dumb fun. I didn't think I would like this much as I did, but I'm a 90s kid who started consuming media in the early 2000s, so maybe it's in my nature to like stuff like this.
I didn't think I knew anything about the artist but then I discovered that it's actually Stuart Price, who has made some absolute bangers, including the The Killers' third album (which I think is underrated) and Dua Lipa's "Levitating", one of my favourite songs ever.
This is totally elevator music but I loved it.
When do they stop tuning the instruments and play the music?
I'm kidding, sort of - but this was all over the place, scattered, discordant. I generally really love jazz as a genre, but this was too experimental and chaotic for me.
I like to think that I'm pretty attuned to modern pop culture. But I had never heard of this person or their music before. And honestly, I don't think I was missing out on much.
This was fine, but very much middle-of-the-road R&B. Dunno how this album won a Grammy - maybe there was nothing else that year that was better.
This was beautiful. This is exactly the type of album I was hoping to discover through this project. Keith Jarrett is insanely talented and I'm blown away by how phenomenal this album is.
The first track was a "crock of shit" and I didn't want to listen to any more of it.
The two stars is solely for "I Can See for Miles".
I generally liked this but it dragged on and on and on and on...
I could not tell when the songs started or ended because it all just sounded the same.
An extremely strong one-two punch to open the album with "Zero" and the iconic song "Heads Will Roll". However, it mellows out after that and doesn't maintain the electricity of the first two tracks. Still loved it though - especially the incredible album cover, which I think is one of the best ever.
4.5 rounded up
I grew up listening to American country music, and this album was an insult to actual country music. It sounded like a group of drunk lads in a noisy pub.
1.5 rounded up
Okay, so yes, this album is basically 15 songs that sound the same. But it's so joyful, pleasant, effortlessly easy listening.
Favourite track: I've Got You Under My Skin
This was my first time listening to Brian Eno's music. He produced one of my favourite albums of all time, Coldplay's Viva la Vida, so I know he's a musical genius. I'm not sure what I expected from his own music, but this was scattered and all over the place, although I liked the last couple of tracks. Overall, a bit too avant-garde for me.
2.5 rounded up
Look, sorry, Coldplay is my favourite band. Though this isn't my favourite album of theirs - that's "Viva la Vida" - I still think AROBTTH is a really strong album. There are so many iconic Coldplay tracks on this album (e.g., "The Scientist" and "Clocks"), and the sequence of the first five tracks is such an incredible run.
For me, I dislike "A Whisper" and "Daylight", which I think are two of the worst Coldplay tracks ever, but it also has some of my favourites, in "In My Place", "GPASUYF", and the title track. I also love, love, love the album cover, and I think it's one of the best album covers in existence.
This album is really a 4.5 for me, but I've cried too many times to "The Scientist" for it to only be a 4.5.
This was... odd. One of my mom's favourite bands during my childhood was the Bee Gees, so I grew up hearing some of their music. This was definitely not that.
This was some sort of slow, folky, baroque pop. It dragged on and on and did not need to be a double album.
2.5 rounded up
This is an easy 5 for me: I love so many songs on this album. "Whatsername" isn't just my favourite Green Day song, but it's one of my favourite songs ever. And I never stopped listening to "Holiday" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".
From start to finish, this is a stellar album, and I think it's Green Day's best. I mean, how many albums inspired an entire Broadway musical? It's a masterpiece.
I don't know how someone who is seemingly 21 has a voice and creates songs that sounds like she's perpetually 45.
The singles from this album are stellar - they were instant pop classics when they were released. I can't say the same for the rest of the songs, which I found boring and tedious.
3.5 rounded up
I listened to Michael Jackson's Thriller right before listening to this and I'm not sure if this was terrible compared to Thriller or if it was just bad.
It's probably both.
I don't think I was in the right mood to listen to this.
There were moments of this that I liked, but for the majority of it, I felt that Thom Yorke was kinda just up his own ass. It was interesting to finally listen to the album that was *everywhere* in 2007, though.
Yeah, this was stellar. The 1-2-3 punch of Thriller, Beat It, and Billie Jean is one of the best song sequences in music, ever. I don't think the rest of the album is as strong as those three songs, but also, those three songs are god-tier and can't really be beat.
It's the best-selling album of all time - what else is there even to say. 4.5 rounded up
