1001 Albums Summary

Everything up to Ogre Battle is good. From there on, every song is great

A pleasant listen but nothing all that remarkable. I love Under The Pressure and Burning but most of this just blends together and a lot of the songs go on for a tad too long. An easy listen but one I don't think I will revisit a lot.

Well sung covers but not really my thing

It’s The Beatles: of course it’s going to be great

The first masterpiece is here. Went in with no expectations and was blown away. This took me on a trip and there's not a song I would skip here.

An easy listen. I liked it but something's missing for me.

Once again, a pleasant listen. Apple has a beautiful, soulful voice but it all felt kind of samey to me. No bad tracks but very little standouts as well

A bit surprised by the negative reviews this has on here. Maybe it's nostalgia speaking on my part, but I thought this was a pretty great debut pop album. Great production from Pharell and Timbaland and some absolute classics on this thing.

This felt like it was actively trying to get me angry. And worst of all, it succeeded. It’s only 49 minutes long but it felt twice as long. And it just keeps going. It just turns into noise after a while

Albums like these is why I love this project. I normally would have never listened to an instrumental, piano album but I did and actually really, really enjoyed it. I could without some of Jarrett’s vocalisations here but still, it’s pretty great

Loved Red Hot Chilli Peppers and this album when I was a teenager. That love has diminished somewhat in recent years but you can’t deny that this is one of their best albums. Loved a whole bunch of songs here, pretty much everything from the first half, and didn’t care for others. It’s still pretty great however and more soulful than I remember.

This is just super fun and incredibly high energy. Short and sweet and I unexpectedly loved it

I had heard songs of this one and liked them a lot, so I was really excited to give this album a go. I loved the operatic bombast of the songs and the storytelling here. Normally, I'm not a big metal fan but this was really great and one I will revisit a lot.

This had way more blues and country than I was expecting, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some great songs here and Sympathy for the Devil is just an all timer

2 Stones albums in a row, lucky me. This is even better than the previous one. It starts with “Gimme Shelter” and ends with “You can’t always get what you want” which is pretty spectacular. The songs in between are all really great as well. Curious to see how the others that are in this list compare, but this set quite a high bar.

I’ve only known of this album by reputation, so I was super excited to see this pop up today. It’s incredible. Hit song after hit here and there’s not a skippable song here, a sign of an amazing album

Some nice songs and the concept is pretty neat, but this felt overlong and just alright to me

Another album filled to the brim with hits. Albums like these are the reason I started with this. I knew CCR by name but never sat down to really listen to a full album, but I was blown away by the songwriting, the music and the craft at display. One I will go back to a lot for sure

I like the craft at display here, but this just wasn’t for me and that makes the 1 hour and 4 minutes feel quite long.

It’s cool to see a double album that keeps a consistent quality all throughout. Every song ranges from okay to pretty good. I liked it but wasn’t blown away by it. An enjoyable listen but not much more than that.

Color me surprised, but this is actually really good. He sounds really good, the beats are cool and it has that fun old-school hip hop feel to it

Not a big reggae fan, but this was a nice listen. Some fun songs, some pretty decent harmonies. It’s nothing great but a pleasant and easy listen.

From the songs I’d heard, I wasn’t a big Taylor Swift fan and when this popped up, I wasn’t looking forward to it. This was better than expected. For me, she works better with a more stripped down approach like this album. I don’t think this is great, but it at least creates a nice mood.

Not usually a big fan of live albums, but this one is great. It has a tremendous amount of energy and some great songs. Eager to check out more of Sam Cooke's stuff now.

All I could think while listening this was: what a voice and what an incredible collection of songs. This belongs with the best things I’ve heard so far doing this.

I liked this, but it’s also a lot. I mean A LOT. I felt exhausted when this ended after an hour and 5 minutes. This felt at times like overindulgence on Metallica’s part

Perfectly okay: nothing more, nothing less

I liked the music here quite a bit. However, Tom Waits’ voice is just so grating that I ended up not really caring for this. 16 shells is a pretty good song however

Listened to this twice, because I somehow knew it would grow on me the more I listen to it. It's pretty great with this blues-rock vibe that I really enjoy.

Coincedentally, I listened to this on a dark, gloomy day when it was pouring rain. It helped set the tone for the album, because man, this is bleak. What makes this really good however, is the fact that it is also strangely beautiful with this grizzly voice of Cohen. Not one I will revisit very soon, but a kind of wonderful experience.

A frustrating listen. A few of the songs are pretty good but most of them are quite awful and just sound like noise to me. This was really on the line between a 1 and a 2 for me, but ultimately it came down to a 1. The reason why is purely the lead singer, for the simple reason that he sounds like a teenager trying to act like a blues/rock/punk frontman and failing at it.

Love the production on this. It’s not on the same level as “Back to Black” but for the debut album of a 19 year old, it’s mighty impressive. Great songs, with some unexpected cynism and humor in a lot of the songs. Great stuff.

A fun, enjoyable listen but something’s missing for me to call this great

When I saw this was a double album, my hopes weren’t particularly high. Luckily, I liked this a whole lot. Big fan of the jazz and blues vibe of this and it kept me engaged for over 90 minutes, which is not easy to do.

I liked it overall, even though it feels self indulgent at times, especially running at 76 minutes long. Oh yeah: Free Form Guitar almost ruined this whole record for me.

An album with songs ranging from pretty good to really good and “Smoke on the Water” in the middle. This gets a light 4 thanks to that track.

This feels like a generic country album. It’s not horrible, Dwight Yoakam’s voice is pretty good and it very short but not something I’ll be revisiting

This was a bit of a surprise. A nice and easy listen. Sure, there are some tracks I didn’t care for but overall a good listen.

Went in with very little expectations and was blown away. Great production, a beautiful voice. This will be one that I will go back to for a long time.

This really isn’t my kind of music. To me, this just feels like background music so it felt kind of long. It’s not horrible, just not for me.

This was alright I guess. I don't really care for the sound of this album even though some of the instrumentation is quite good here. Not something I will go back to in the future.

Really great but too long. I love the sound and Ray Charles is so smooth here. Sure, it gets a bit samey towards the end, but it didn’t diminish the album for me

I only knew of The Velvet Underground by reputation, so I went into this thinking: “Okay, show me what’s so great about his”. After listening, I fully get it.

I don’t want to sound too harsh, but this felt like a low rent version of MGMT. It’s not horrible but nothing stands out here

I listened a lot to this when it came out, so I was happy to see it show up here. It’s still great with some amazing riffs, and it just has such a great vibe to it.

I knew Isaac Hayes, like many people of my generation, from South Park and the Shaft theme, so I was interested in listening to a full album from him. It’s a good soul album but an 11 minute and an 19 minute song is a bit too much, especially that last song.

A hip-hop classic and one of the best debuts from a rapper ever. He just sounds so at ease and relaxed on this, like he had been doing this for years. Snoops output after this is spotty at best, but this remains an absolute classic

The first track was okay, the rest sounds like dated electro music, so not my thing. I did quite like Donkey Doctor however.

Second CCR album in this list after Cosmo’s Factory and it’s official: I’m a fan. It doesn’t reach the same level as that album but it’s a really great album with a great vibe and atmosphere to it. One I’ll revisit a lot to be sure.

With a length of 2 hours and 13 minutes, this fits well into the catalogue of Metallica: namely big and bombastic but also overblown and goes on for too long. I always thought they worked best in small doses and this albums proves that thesis.

A thoroughly unremarkable ‘80’s pop album if not for 2 things: Karma Chameleon, which is a great song and Boy George’s vocals. It’s light and enjoyable but nothing more than that.

This album is like a kick in the face, but in a good way. It has an incredible energy and bravura to it and not a single bad song on it.

My first time listening to a Hendrix album and no surprise: it’s pretty great. No real “hits” on this but really good and solid songwriting that are really wel delivered.

Compared to other punk bands albums from the same era, it sounds pretty generic. It’s not horrible but it did very little for me.

I listened to this whilst taking a walk and the combination of light rain, autumn weather and the sun going down together with this album was magical. I love this album anyways but it made me love it even more.

The songs may be performed well, but this album just wasn’t for me. Luckily, it’s quite short, so that at least saves it from being a 1*

Another example of me acknowleding the music here, but this wasn’t my thing.

Always was more of an Oasis guy, but Blur is a great bad nonetheless. A great album with a surprising amount of variety. The great thing is that all songs feel quite different but they still make a cohesive album

This was already one of the best rap albums ever made in my book, so it was no surprise this gets the full 5* with ease. This is storytelling at it’s best with bangers and more introspective tracks fitting seamlessy together. My personal favourite Kendrick record.

Moody and gloomy and not an album you will listen to and leave smiling. That’s not to say it’s bad. Bonnie manages to create a real atmosphere with this album and it’s at least interesting. It’s solid but not something I’ll revisit soon

I was dreading this when I saw it pop up this morning. Morrissey is a bit of a prick in my eyes, and this album didn’t change that view much. I found this quiet tedious, even though there are a few decent tunes on this thing. Not a 1* but it came pretty close to it.

Jones has a nice voice and I like the first couple of songs. The problem is, for me at least, that almost every other song on this thing sounds pretty much the same as those first songs. As a result, it became old really quick.

I swear, if I hear another british guy from the 60’s who uses an overload of sitar, it will be one too many. The only reason this doesn’t get a 1, are the title track and “season of the witch”, the rest is drab

The thing is, Adele has a beautiful voice and a lot of the songs were deservedly big hits. It’s just a shame that this feels a bit toothless. It’s well produced but it feels like a very standard pop album

The best Stones album not made by the Stones

I had heard of Tori Amos, but never really listened to any of her work. A shame, because this is really good stuff.

Let’s get this out of the way first: Kanye is a real asshole piece of shit but that doesn’t mean his music automatically is as well. College Dropout ranks among the best hip hop albums and just albums in general ever made. His latest output is shit but his first 5 albums or so are classics and this one, together with MBTDF is probably his best. Not a bad song on this thing.

Just ditch the English version of these songs and stick with the French version. She sounds so much better and more comfortable in those.

For some reason, I just got on this album’s wave length. It’s noise at times, but also strangely good

Another classic here. An incredibly smooth listen thanks to Common’s delivery and production from Kanye on the top of his game. Everything from this period that he touched is just incredible, which makes his recent output just seem so much worse.

Really not my thing but Nothing Compares 2 u is a really good song, I have to admit and the reason this gets 2*

A collection of well sung christmas songs: fine but nothing more than that. Also, ending this thing with a christmas wish from Phil Spector doesn’t feel right in hindsight as well.

Yeah, this very much has an early 2010’s hipster vibe to it, but it’s pretty decent. It has a couple of songs with a decent groove to them.

Listening to this, I had a strange revelation. As much as I dislike Morrissey, I can’t help but really like this album. So respect to the rest of the band for making a succes despite the presence of Morrissey.

First album that I just couldn’t finish. This is just a lot of noise and got on my nerves real quick.

Yeah, I really unexpectedly, liked this album. It starts off really good and then it blew me away with Changes, which is such a pleasant surprise. Most of the riffs here are really great as well + ozzy’s very distinct voice helps a lot as well.

Maybe this seems like a backhanded compliment but this was better than I thought it would be. A lot of the songs are fine, but nothing particularly stands out, with the exception of “Angels”. That’s where his strength lies, less with the Britpop songs that are on this album

Perfectly listenable, but it becomes repetitive real fast. I’ve no problem with making tracks 7 minutes long, but at least make them interesting.

This takes me back to high school. Just a fun record with a lot of energy and you get the sense that everyone had a blast making this.

The definition of a pleasant listen. Nothing all that special but it has a nice vibe to it.

This sounds like a weaker version of Duran Duran. A very middle of the road ‘80’s pop record with very few memorable songs.

Interesting, but has an elevator music feel to it, and not in a good way.

Maybe it’s because I didn’t sleep well but this got on my nerves real quick. Apparently this was really influential, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it or that it is necessarily good.

Yeah, great stuff. I just love Robert Smith’s voice

This is probably the nostalgia speaking, but this is an easy 5* for me. In my eyes, it’s a classic and the best thing Linkin Park has ever done (which isn’t that hard to be fair). I get some of the negative reviews if you didn’t grow up with this, but it’s short and sweet for me.

I’ve listened to albums that are given the name “dad rock” by a lot of people here and that I don’t really see it. This however feels like the closest one I’ve gotten so far. It’s very listenable and the songs aren’t bad, but nothing stands out. I can really imagine 40-50 year old guys rocking out to this thing.

This is my first experience with Dylan and I have to be honest, I had to get used to his voice and delivery. Yet, the songs are so great and after a couple of songs it clicked.

One of the best albums of all time. Those first 3 tracks are ridiculously good and the album remains consistently amazing.

I found this to be insanely good. The craft and musicianship at display here is incredible and the energy that seeps out of this thing is insane. This is the kind of surprise that I do this challenge for.

Still good, but somehow just misses the usual greatness associated with The Beatles.

This was quite fun. The thing is however that Take on Me and The Sun Always Shines on TV are such great pop songs that the rest of the album pales in comparison with them.

Not bad, but it gets monotonous rather quick

A nice and pleasant listen with a lot of soul, but somehow not something that I think I will revisit any time soon. Some songs are better than others but nothing is truly great in my opinion.

Didn’t even need to relisten to know this is an easy 5*. I did it anyway and it’s still just as great as I remember. Understandably called one of the best (if not the best) rap album of all time.

My second Led Zeppelin album and it once again blew me away. A real muscular piece of work and a real journey.

This varies from bland to mildly annoying. The singer has a rather irritating voice. Musically, it has some decent parts, but as a whole, it didn’t work at all for me.

A record that feels like a mix between a new-age album and a pop rock album, but does neither particularly well. It’s super unremarkable fare.

This is just very lame. The reason this doesn’t get a 1, is the fact that mrs Robinson, the only good Simon and Garfunkel song, is on this thing. The rest is just nasal, boring stuff

I’ve seen Muse live a couple of times and I always left a bit underwhelmed. Listening to this again in full, I find this even weirder, because this album rocks. The songs are great, some are really modern classics, it’s big and booming, but somehow that doesn’t translate in their live performance. Still really great though.

Going into this 1001 albums list, I had certain thoughts about certain artists. Actually sitting down and listening to albums from them: sometimes it changes my opinion on them. Dylan for example; I grew to like a whole lot more. Neil Young isn’t one of those artists. I didn’t care for him going in, and after listening to this album, I still don’t. Heart of Gold is an undeniably great song, but that’s about it for me. It’s not bad, but I don’t particularly care for this thing.

I found this to be only slightly less annoying than “The Dreaming”. I think I just have to face the fact that Kate Bush’s music is just not for me.

Great stuff. Not a big fan of live albums but this has an incredible amount of energy to it and Cash, it turns out, is a pretty funny guy. Add to that some quite good songs that are executed in a very impressive way and you have a classic.

Went in with a bit of a hesitation, since I find Imagine to be a bit of an overrated and hypocritical song, but this was a really pleasant listen. Some unexpected production but in a nice way.

When I saw this album pop up, I was far from excited. I was bracing myself for a bad ‘80’s pop record but this was surprisingly good. Of course, the production here is very ‘80’s but it’s Tina Turners voice that blew me away and is just so incredible. She makes this thing very listenable.

I loved REM’s 1986 album that’s on this list and this one is even better. More poppy but almost every song on this is really great. Consider me a REM now.

This may be controversial, but I would call this a really good album, not one of the best ones ever made. Maybe I’m just not into that s ‘60’s sound

It’s very simple: this is the very best album ever made. The fact that this is over an hour long and never feels a second too long is testament to that.

The people dismissing this album as just another gangsta rap album… Did we listen to the same album? Tupacs flow is incredibly smooth, the production is g funk at its best and in terms of lyrics, this is very introspective and he paints an incredible picture of his life, POV and a place in time. Incredible stuff and the fact that this still feels incredibly fresh is proof of its quality.

Didn’t care for the noise tracks, but really liked the tracks that had a more Britpop vibe. Overall, a mixed bag but leaning more to the positive side.

Not a fan of the wispy voice of Smith. Songs are okay, but this is over an hour long and it gets really monotonous after a while

No idea why this album is in this list. This sounds like evey generic r&b/rap album from the early 2000’s. Not bad per se, but it’s too long clocking in at 1 hour. Reminded me of a lesser version of Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse.

My second Beach Boys record in a week and it may be weird to say, but I prefer this to Pet Sounds. It just sounds more fresh to me and less dated and this I would absolutely call a world class album.

One of the best debut albums ever. An easy 5*

Only strengthens my belief that Radiohead is one of the most overrated bands ever.

Not a big fan of Madonna but this was pretty decent. The first half is definitely better than the second, but it’s ok.

I liked this for a good while, but it gets really “samey” after a while, eventually ending up annoying me.

This is a like a big nothing burger. Xanax in music form. I was annoyed from track 1 and continued to be until the end.

Super annoying. This sounds like a band consisting of a bunch of old, drunk uncles at a party, trying to relive the good old days. A real pain.

This is okay, but sounds and feels really dated in 2025.

I really like the instrumentation, the guitae riffs,… but the constant screaming really put me off

A nice and pleasant listen, but it all sounds a lot alike and luckily, it’s only 38 minutes long. If it were longer, I would’ve probably cared less for it, because it gets quite repetitive after a while.

I really dig the instrumentation here. Some really catchy and fun melodies and riffs here but it’s ultimately undercut by the singer for me.

Having listened to this and Parklife, it’s close, but I think I prefer that album slightly more. It’s very close, but the songs on that record are just a tad bit stronger. Don’t get me wrong, this is still very good. Song 2 is a classic and there’s not really a bad song on this.

Was this my thing? Not really. Did I enjoy it? Yes somewhat. So 3 stars

As a time document, it’s a pretty interesting listen. As an actual album however, it’s a lot of the same and it gets repetitive real quick.

Part of doing this list, is also discovering and accepting that you’re just not as into some artists like others are. Nick Drake is an example of this for me. This is certainly not bad and I can appreciate it on a certain level, but he doesn’t hit as strong for me as he does for other people, and that’s okay.

This felt like homework to me.

Kanye’s magnum opus. Even if he, in the last few years, turned out to be a really bad person, his first five or six albums are really great, with this as his masterpiece.

So, i listened to this while doing groceries and weirdly, it fit perfectly. This is perfectly decent, inoffensive background music. It’s pleasant enough to listen to but nothing really stands out.

I may be biased because this is my dad’s favourite band and because of that I’ve heard this album dozens of times before. Still, this is awesome stuff, a lot of memorable songs here, a great energy and I love the whole energy coming off of this thing.

Another true discovery. Albums like these and being so pleasantly surprised by them is why i do this challenge.