1001 Albums Summary

I was happy to see this album pop up as my first selection because it takes me right back to college. Nowadays, as an ol’ man, I like Nirvana Unplugged a little more but damn this is still a great album. Had forgotten parts of it, so it was great to listen the whole thing again. Definitely a great album, one of the best from the early 90s.

I was happy to see this album pop up as my first selection because it takes me right back to college. Nowadays, as an ol’ man, I like Nirvana Unplugged a little more but damn this is still a great album. Had forgotten parts of it, so it was great to listen the whole thing again. Definitely a great album, one of the best from the early 90s.

I am only a little familiar with Joni Mitchell. Wow, she really is remarkable.

I’d say this album is not for me. Didn’t enjoy listening to it, but I can appreciate that it’s innovative.

Jazz isn’t really my thing but I found this very enjoyable.

Bored now.

Wow that’s a weird time capsule. Too saccharine. And I definitely didn’t need to hear Carpenters sap the energy from a Beatles song. Conversely, I can see why “cooler” artists would enjoy covering some of these songs b/c there are some decent melodies.

Super fun

I’ve loved this album since I discovered it in 1990. Playful; great melodies.

Meh. A little interesting but it wore out its welcome, especially the “electronic jug” sound which was cool as hell at first then just got straight up annoying. I definitely respect the way the artists were exploring new territory, but I doubt I’ll ever choose to go back to it.

Not my genre. There are some great things here but a lot that bores me, and the interludes really dragged me down.

It’s growing on me. I’m the kind of listener who doesn’t hear the lyrics right away, but I know I’ll appreciate this album more when I’ve really heard them. My score might be a little bit harsh.

Joni Mitchell is remarkable

Liked this more than I expected. They’ll get a little more attention from me going forward.

Not for me

This was a good discovery for me. I preferred the instrumental pieces more than vocal pieces, but it was overall really pleasing. Never expected to like it from the description.

Very mid. Liked that I could feel the Kinks coming through.

I love CCR, but this album isn’t my fave of theirs.

It didn’t help that this is my 2nd Blur album in 4 days. I feel like I’m listening to the Kinks if the Kinks sounded a little less pleasant.

I tried. I honestly gave it a shot.

Turn between 3 and 4? Quirky, charming, at times frustrating, and at other times beautiful.

Not for me

I’ve never been a Michael Jackson fan, even though he was exceptionally popular through middle and high school. And over time, I’ve grown to like it even less because I still hear it too much. Not sure I bag tell you why his music bugs me, but generally Iv would turn the dial of he’s on the radio.

Ooh boy, that’s some twang. It grated on me after a while so I couldn’t finish the album in the first sitting. In small bursts, it’s charming. My dad would have loved it.

I do like Paul Simon but this isn't my favorite -- though there are a few songs here that I love, the album as a whole is just mediocre.

For its historical significance, I get it. And it was cool to hear some of these classic pieces performed in this old school, classic and simple way. But overall? This was kind of boring for me.

Not really my favorite style of music but I can't deny thee talent here!

So many thoughts: 1) in general, I don't like rap. Since if this was a lurks tolerable. 2) The juxtaposition of high culture and low culture references... I honestly don't know if I liked it or wanted to roll my eyes at it. I mostly land on: that didn't work for me. 3) I askari didn't like the ethereal moodiness although it made it more lustrnable than a lot of rap or hip hop is for me.

If I were a passenger on a road trip and the driver said they need this album to help them stay awake, I'd say, "OK, but not too loud or it'll give me a headache, alright?" Other than that, I'll never voluntarily listen to this again.

Welp, I guess I get it. A couple songs were intolerable.

This is a tough one for me, because I used to love Van Morrison, then I kind of got over it, and then I cashew to learn more (distasteful stuff) about him as a person so I just let him fall away into history. Listening to a full double album was probably too much just like he is a probably too much. Can't deny he had talent.

I liked this a lot. Good find for me. Would I like it more or less if I knew what the lyrics mean?

Another tough one for me -- it certainly takes me to a specific time. And Depeche Mode really owns their distinctive sound, and I kind of like that sound. But their melodies are discordant just enough to bug me.

This music came out when I was in college. I was pretty indifferent, but I thought I’ll give this a genuine listen today. I’m still pretty indifferent. Even the song I remember liking was boring. Other than a few catchy refrains, I couldn’t get into this. Not my style.

It's been a while since you've thrown an album at me that I could get excited about -- and this is still not it! Kind of forgettable for me... I might give it another shot sometime in the future to see if it grows on me, but for now, kind of meh.

Liked it more than I thought I would. Still not my style but I enjoyed the energy.

I remember liking this album more. I still liked it but it wasn't the 5 I remember it bring.

OK, I genuinely enjoy a little synthpop now and then, but one "little" is fairly important there, and these songs were often too long and too repetitive.

This was a wild ride. At times, I almost quit, and at other times I thought I'll definitely come back to this a few more times. Was it a 2 or a 4?? I guess I'll split the difference.

Mostly love it

Um... Ok

Nice

Elvis has never really been my thing, but this album gave me a new appreciation for his talent. And frankly, it's sexy!

I could not stand to finish any one of the songs on this album.

Not for me. Some of the atmospheric stuff works at times, but mostly it's just too sonically ugly.

I think Taylor's a good songwriter but a very mediocre singer. I feel like she sounds tuned and/or she's half-singing/half-talking. I find it difficult to listen to too much of her at once, even though I usually like her music in smaller doses.

Another surprise: a jazzy album that I liked!

Love the vibe

I can't deny this is a masterpiece. I wish I just liked it a *little* bit more.

Totally inoffensive but not sorting to get excited about. I can understand how it might be just the thing for people who focus with music playing but don't want the music to actually pull their attention.

God I love this album. A little tougher to listen to do many years later because of the bittersweet nostalgia it makes me feel.

Crazy that this is one of the first CDs I ever bought, so I was expecting to be taken down memory lane, but instead it was all pretty forgettable.

Great discovery. I suspect it's going to grow in me.

Not even a little interesting. The jazzy, bluesy sound grates, her voice grates, the lyrics grate.

I did not know Pere Ubu. I liked the punk every. There were a handful of songs that I loved, but offset by a few things that were irritating. I'll come back to some of the good stuff, but I won't listen to the full album again.

I did not listen to much Kate Bush when I was young. I knew she was an object of some ridicule but I my never knew much about why. Then she had a renaissance recently, and I thought I had probably had missed something worthwhile. But now I'm thinking it was this album that my friends were reacting to -- it's just too strange. Too overproduced and too 80s.

It's hard not to appreciate this album -- classic and pure blues! Amazing! The only reason I can't give this a 5 is I don't tend to want to listen to blues; it's not really my thing. But this was still a great album.

I'm all over the map on this one. I've never listened to this album in full, and I knew it was iconic so I had high expectations. At times, it met them.

Oh boy, another challenge. What do I do when my respect is a 4 but my enjoyment is a 2?!

I don't really understand the praise that Bowie gets in general, and this album was especially mid

This is not my genre so I expected I'd hate this, but it wasn't so bad.

Funk/soul is not in my wheelhouse, but this impressed me.

My affection for this album is high. I don't know if there's anything objective shot my rating. I love it for too many reasons.

I've barely been aware of ELO. It's... whatever, but I don't think I need more of it.

This is an example of the great surprises that this web experience can give me. I think I would have otherwise never crossed paths with this artist.

*sigh* I'm not much of a fan

I don't get the appeal. It's just kind of boring.

Hm hm hm. I wish I could give this album a 3.5 -- there's probably more here that I would skip than enjoy, but it's hard to fight the nostalgia factor.

There is some truly beautiful music here. I can't give it a 5 because it fits feel repetitive at times.

I can't stand his voice. It makes me actively uncomfortable

Nostalgia: 4 Qualify: 3? I'm going to let Nostalgia have the win.

I was excited to see another global music entry. I enjoyed but week only cover back for a couple of these pieces.

Unknown to me. I found it a little weird but mostly quite enjoyable

I've never liked jazz. This 1001 musical experiment has shown me that sometimes I do like jazz, but this isn't one of those times. This is exactly the jazz that I don't have patience for.

Very enjoyable. Wish I'd paid more attention to them. I can't say it's a 5-star classic, but it's highly listened and I enjoy their vibe.

I don't tend to like rap. Somehow the old school ridiculousness of the Beastie Boys works for me *in small doses*

This was a new artist for me. I enjoyed it quite a bit and will return. There ate ways that this echoes many other artists with whom I'm slightly more familiar -- and I don't know who's influencing whom.

I'm such a sucker for The Velvet Underground. (I could do without the last two songs, so I always cut this album off early.)

I wish I could give this a 2.5. It's too harsh for my taste, but there are interesting ideas.

This got increasingly unpleasant. I feel like the curator of this list is drawn to make singers with aggressively raspy, harsh voices -- or maybe I've just been unlucky and had several of these in a row this week.

I have never really understood the appeal of this album. A friend gave me this album on CD because she loved it, but I've always been pretty indifferent. There are a ton of songs that start off great, with a good beat or fun disco vibes, but then the vocals start and just don't match the energy. The Music is the Victim is the exception for me -- fun from start to finish. I don't require all music to be fun, but the disconnect between the minor melodies and lame vocals with the more energetic rhythms of the backing track lead to a disjointed and displeasing experience.

I'm embarrassed to admit how much I love this album. The Cars was the first love concert I ever attended so there's a lot of nostalgia here. After all these years, I knew I'd like it but didn't know I'd want to listen to it straight through 3 times in a row! Does that mean I'm about to give this a 5?? Yep, I guess it does.

I like folk music, but this is so folk it's almost a parody at times. The female vocalist seems to come right out of a tavern in a D&D game.

This is one of the fun new discoveries for me. Good vibe, didn't love his voice but it works overall.

I can remember my friend Doug telling me I had to get this album. He loved it. I didn't. I do respect it: interesting sound, cohesive throughout. Ethereal. Moody. But not to my taste.

Well, sure, fun throwback. But 3-5 minutes is more than enough time for the nostalgia. After that, it gets tedious.

I'm not a rap guy. At all. I'm certainly aware of Tupac, but wouldn't have been able to bane a song or album by him. I've given pretty low scores to every radio or hip hop album that's vibe my way -- merely because I cannot get into the genre. I did not redirect to like this, but I liked it quite a bit. To be chear, I fully believe good rap artists are true poets. But I just don't gebretatose enjoy the style enough to give it the attention it deserves. This album has a mellowness and clarity that made it easy to listen to abd easy to follow. I do cover back to it a few more tires so I can more fully appreciate Tupac's poetry.

Here's the roller coaster ride I just went on: Track 1: what the?? This is the Temptations? I guess I've never properly given them a chance, cuz this is crazy interesting! Track 2: a decent cover of a great song. Works for me. Track 3: this is blowing my mind! I guess I totally had the wrong idea about this band. This might be heading toward 5 stars. I need to go read the Wikipedia page... Then as I read while still listening, the music reverted to the more typical Temptationd stuff, just as the Wikipedia page said it would. I'm disappointed that it became so much less daring.

I kind of forgot about this artist. I need to revisit his work because I do like this album.

These songs all sound interchangeable to me, and it's all unpleasant.

I did not know this group or album. I definitely liked their quirky style, both musically and lyrically. I also thought there was enough variety that it kept my interest. The thing I most disliked was that some of the instrumentation was so overly simplistic that I thought I was listening to a mediocre high school band at times.

Better than I expected.

I'm not that into the fast guitar, and I don't love the way Bob Mould sings. It makes me a bad Minnesotan b/c I'm not a huge fan of Husker Du either.

I always feel like Billy Bragg is yell-singing.

Boring, self-indulgent, tedious.

The lyrics might be a little dramatic for my taste. But overall this was a pretty compelling album. I'll need to come back to it. One listen was definitely not sufficient.

I respect that they were hugely successful and influential, but they never did anything for me.

I cannot stand listening to this man's voice.

Meh

Nothing about this is interesting to me

Other than the nostalgia factor, there's not much here.

I do love the early Beatles. I’m not as much of a fan of some of the covers here. I prefer to hear their sound with their own songs.

Definitely not my vibe but it kind of grew on me.

I’m up and down on this album, but I come back to it a lot, so I guess the ups win.

There were a few songs I had to jump forward because they went in too long without being interesting. Otherwise, it was kind of meh.

Too weird

Fun and weird

I don't like rap or hiphop so I'm not a fair critic here. There are a few rap artists or albums that with for me; this wasn't one of them.

Really, this guy again? At least this time it was listenable.

Much more interesting than I expected.

I think I've heard every song here before. I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed going through this collection. Every song a classic.

I can barely stand to listen to Coldplay. I feel like each song is so ploddingly repetitive -- not of each other, but within each song. Each song sets up some rhythm or motif -- and not generally one that I find appealing -- and then just pounds that into my skull for several minutes straight, without any real variety or progression. Ive never been a fan of Coldplay and never understood their wide appeal, but generally I just thought of their music as dull. But today, listening to an entire album all at once, I almost feel rage.

It's definitely more noise than I like but there are some high moments.

Hard rock is not my genre, but this is a classic. So many hooks that work. I'm surprised how high I'm going to rate this.

OK, let's start with the fact that I cannot stand Portishead. But this time I tried to really listen to the album to figure out what was it that kmahes it so off-putting -- because I don't like atonal stuff to much, I don't think this is atonal. It's not exactly pretty but there are definitely interesting sounds in here. So after really immersing myself for a full album, I realize my dislike is entirely about the vocalist. And the morr ethereal she gets, the more I hate it. Her consonants tick like a person chewing in my ear; her melodies are fine but her delivery is affected and pretentious and, to my ears, ugly. At times when she is louder or more forceful (while still hardly ever singing with any real force at all), I find her singing more tolerable but still the worst part of everything in listening to. And finally, at times when she's not singing at all, I actually really like this music. I dig the electronic soundscapes, but just cannot get owe how much I dislike listening to the woman's voice on top of it.

Is it weird that I often think early punk is playful and delightful?

Definitely for me. Not my genre. Pretty boring.

My first response was, "Well, this is kind of dull." I had just finished with Portishead which I did not enjoy but it was challenging and forced me to pay attention. This seemed so uninteresting by comparison. It grew on me though. A few songs pulled me in a lot, and now I'm going to have to give it another listen. Alas, after listen #2, this is overall meh.

+ I like folk music - but I like it when the lyrics seem a little more universal. This album is just too much middle-aged for my taste. + I like Joan's dynamic singing - but I don't love her vibrato; at this point it's been parodied enough that it's a lurks hard to take it.

I'm so white.

I wish I liked this more. I respect the hell out of it, and I get why people would love it, but it's a music style that doesn't hold my attention.

Pretty much unlistenable.

I once loved The Byrds. There's a lot of beautiful stuff here, but it's kinda boring too.

I knew I had a gap in knowledge when it comes to Led Zeppelin. I really only knew their big hits. But listening to this album straight through kind of blew my mind. Such diversity while always being obviously Zeppelin. Truly wonderful.

Tolerable, not my style at all, not something I would ever choose to play

This was fun but I'm not sure I will come back to it l. Not super compelling but fun.

Fun, Kinksy

My god I love the Pretenders. I'd forgotten how much. Chrissie Hynde's voice is killer, but the band behind her is great too -- distinctive, engaging. This was a long album abd I loved (almost) every second of it.

I feel like a terrible person for not enjoying this, but jazz is usually not something I enjoy. After a while, the constantly changing syncopation starts to drive me nuts, almost like nails on a chalkboard. It's not you; it's me. It's definitely me.

How is this an album? It feels like fucking around to get some ideas that might some day get on an album. Worse, I had zero interest in most of these ideas. The ones that were a little interesting were too few and too insubstantial.

I don't like Bowie as much as the author of 1001... does, but this was pretty good Bowie

I was not familiar with this. It was up and down, and the last 3 songs were decidedly down, resulting in my dropping the score from a 4 to a 3.

I just had a Bowie album a couple days ago. I generally don't like David Bowie. And two in such short order did him no favors. Why did the author of 1001... think everything Bowie is awesome. I did not like this album.

Fun. Sometimes I think I loved at the wrong time.

Only passingly familiar but I really enjoyed this. A 4 might be too low.

Eeeehhhhhhhhh. Fun at times. Annoying at times.

I'm not really sure why I'm listening to hiphop that I can't understand. Plus I don't like hiphop all that much... On the upside, the rhythms are fun.

I feel terrible because obviously these are talented musicians, but it's just not my music.

I love LCD Soundsystem but I always have to curate the song selection to get a true 5/5 from them.

I straight up like the rock'n'roll versions of these songs way more than what's in this album.

1) Hiphop is typically not a genre I like 2) but I can appreciate there were some interesting moments, both musically and lyrically 3) but for the most part, the messages or tens of the lyrics aren't especially compelling to me 4) and finally, going back to point 1: hiphop ain't my thing. Quite a few songs I slipped out of a little past halfway because the setting was getting boring.

It's really hard to rate an album where I mostly like the music but I don't want to listen to this much if it at one time.

Amazing voice. Groovy.

I always liked Brimful of Asha even though it was overplayed, but I never checked out the rest of this album. My loss. I suspect it would have been on repeat for a while -- if I weren't already trying to plow through 1001 albums!

I love that the Pogues exist. It's a cool album but not really something I can return to with much frequency.

Definitely some cool and fun stuff here, but there were several songs I didn't enjoy at all -- to the point that I skipped out of them. The good stuff is 4/5 but the overall average is only 3.

This is the kind of thing I could put on in the background while I'm working so that I'm not distracted.

Jazz just bores me, man. I'm sorry.

Far too country. The lyrics are just too hokey.

Sometimes boring. Often irritating. Occasionally funny. Only sometimes interesting. I hate when an album feels like a collection of experiments.

I just love this band's sound. It's that simple.

God how I love this album. Iconic.

I have some affection for The Cure but I'll never need a full album of The Cure at one time.

Beautiful voice. Can't stand the musical style.

Didn't really grab me, I guess. Quite a few songs felt interchangeable.

I thought I would hate this because of my own preconceptions about who Frank Zappa is. My preconceptions were inaccurate, but I still didn't like it.

There are a handful of songs by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds that I like a lot, but most of it is too moody for its own good. I'm disappointed that there isn't more to value in the lyrics given that I generally like a lot of their sound.

I probably like this more than most people. Since if it is nostalgia, but there are also since great songs here. Here's a question: How do I love U2 but hate Coldplay?

Have never listened to this album in full. Great rock. I might be scoring it too low.

OK, I can hear the 90s grunge right around the corner from here, but this is basically boring.

It's a challenge to rate something with so many iconic songs when those songs really can't hold my interest today. My enjoyment level is like a 2 or 3, but my redirect level is a clear 5. I guess I'm split the difference.

I don't need a full album of this all at one time but most of these songs bop.

This is a fine album. There was a time I had it in heavy rotation, although it has often felt just a little longer than I wanted it to be.

This was a lot of fun for me. Somehow I missed this group back in the day but I like their sound (for its time).

Sometimes this experiment blindsides me in the best way. I have generally liked the Stones over the years, but only somewhat. Some of their biggest songs are true classics, but I've never been overly hyped about any of it. This album changed my view. There was style and musicianship that I was simply not expecting. The album oozes talent -- and not Jagger swagger. Great find for me.

This was so insanely boring to me. I'll admit that R&B is almost never my thing, but on top of that, the lyrics were mind-numbing. I get tired of listening to people speak the words she is singing; adding music doesn't magically make the words interesting.

Their music is so beautiful. The only thing that knocks it down a bit for me is that the songs start to blur together for me after awhile.

Not very interesting. Not an album I truly needed to hear before I died.

I kinda like their sound but I don't tend to want a lot of it at once.

I don't know if it's nostalgia or if this is peak Prince, but this is the one Prince album I can come back to without getting bored.

Once again, I have really underestimated Elvis. This album is not as sexy as the one I reviewed earlier, and for that I'm knocking it down one star, but damn this man really can sing!

Super boring, never been a fan

Yeah, OK. They sound great, and some of it is really fun to move to, but overall it's not a genre that I enjoy.

Holy shit. I knew old Dylan vegetal apealed to me but I never took the time to sit with a full album. I loved this and have spent days relistening! I respect anyone who can't get past his voice, but it works for me.and the melodies and poetry are terrific.

Aw jeez. No.

For the life of me, I do not understand the appeal of this band. Everything sounds the same to me. Half-screaming vocals (the lead's voice is neither pleasant nor interesting); lyrics are mostly dumb, and the instrumentation is noisy, repetitive guitar shit.

Not for me. I could enjoy some of the grooves, but then all good will was repeatedly lost at the spoken dislogue segments.

A little too outre for my taste, but I can see how it might appeal to some. I respect the vision; I just don't like it.

So dull

This one's tough. I guess I want to like it more than I do.

So 80s. Kinda dull.

I gave up on this halfway through. I was feeling bored and a little irritated listening to this, so I checked to see how much was left. When I raised I'd only heard 4 of 8 tracks, I just couldn't continue. To me, this music is boring to the point of tedious.

Janis has a killer voice. The overall vibe is a little too gritty for me.

I will never understand the appeal of music like this. I was incredibly bored.

I guess I never really checked out this band. I thought I'd hate it. I'll be back.

In the decades-old The Smiths vs The Cure debate, I land just slightly in favor of The Smiths. But, wow, how this band takes me to a time and place.

I've never been a big Smashing Pumpkins fan because I don't like their sound. Hearing them in album form actually elevated then a little bit because it helped me appreciate some of the depth in what they're doing. But I still don't enjoy their sound.

This was a lot more interesting than I expected. The songs that still get the most attention from this band are the poppy singalong tunes, but this album shows The Monkees had more than that. Good discovery for me.

Not sure I understand what this album wants to be.

I may just be a simp but I do love this album.

She's too moany-whiny. The talent here is the song-writing and pop-production and sex-appeal. Britney herself is overrated.

Interesting. Nick Cave's stuff is sometimes on the edge of unlistenable for me. This was not that. This is lovely but also bleak, which makes for a great juxtaposition, but you definitely need to be in the right head space for it.

Most jazz is unpleasant to me.

I do recognize how this is something of a masterpiece... But I can't say I enjoy listening to it at a 5-level.

Somewhat pleasant, totally forgettable

Come on, it's Prince.

Way too sonically ugly.

This was a wow for me. I found it quite compelling but the darkness holds me back from giving it a 5. By the end, it was unrelenting.

This was highly unexpected. I loved Avalon when I discovered it a few years after everyone else in the 80s. I thought I would love this too. Nope.

I've loved this album since it came out. I'm almost embarrassed to give it a 5 because I tend to want to reserve that for masterpieces that will stand the test of time. I don't know that this will. But I don't know I listened to it on repeat for the last 24 hours because I love it.

It's difficult to convey how much I hate Michael Jackson's music. This has nothing to do with alleegations of bad behavior. First, I was in high school in the 80s. MJ was everywhere and I didn't understand it then. But his music was forced down my throat over and over; there was no escaping it. So the fact that I didn't like it much to begin with just got amplified by the constant airplay. I suspect if I hadn't been bombarded with MJ for so many years, my dislike might not be so intense But let's go over what I can't stand: (1) repetitive 80s synth beats. (2) Dance music will never be my thing. (3) His breathy interjections and high-pitched "ehs" have always seemed totally ridiculous. (4) His effeminate manner and voice is totally wrong for his love songs. It's bizarre and laughable; how did women love these songs so much? How did women swoon for him? [Every freakin' MJ lyric that references love or sex is and has always been ridiculous to me. He is not believable.] In fairness, I do recognize his talent as a live performer, both singing and dancing. But that doesn't change the fact that I don't like his music, and I would be happy to never hear any of his music again.

I love Norah Jones's voice. The winners here are huge; some of the others are a little more "meh."

So many classics.

I think Neil Youngs voice works with this heavier rock sound than it did on the previous album of his that I rated (Harvest Moon -- a classic, I know). I also love the expression of Native American themes here.

I'm not sure I could be any more bored.

I'm not a huge Elton John fan. I like the orchestration.

Interesting vibe. It grew on me as I listened, which says a lot. Not sure I really took in the lyrics on a first run-through but I definitely plan to come back.

This is weird. The Stones have a great sound here, but from a half-century distance (more than that), I can't tell if they're stealing from mid-century Black American culture or if they're honoring it. In many cases, this made me want to hunt down the Black artists who made some of these songs come truly alive. I actually felt that I had to go research how this album is viewed through a historical lens. And I learned that the Stones always acknowledged when they were covering someone else's music. And in many cases, they helped draw greater attention to the original artists. If that's true, then I guess everyone wins...? But today, in 2025, this album frequently made me want to listen to someone else sing it better.

I've always loved their sound. This was one of the first albums I ever bought.

Classic, but not really my thing.

I feel like an idiot that I've avoided Moby as much as I have. I really enjoyed this album. Not sure if it's a full-blown masterpiece, but I was surpassed and impressed by the diversity of experiences here. I'm not much of a fan of short pieces that don't become anything, but there are plenty of pieces here that are wonderful to listen to.

I can't deny there's greatness in here. I'd be happy to hear any of these songs pop up in a music mix. But I don't know if I needed to listen through an entire album; as a whole, it didn't particularly transport me.

Another one of these situations where I respect the talent but I find the style of music boring.

This was fairly forgettable for me. Language barrier can be a problem except when the music really grabs me.

Has Bjork gotten bjorker over time? Because I usually find her unlistenable, but this wasn't quite that bad for me. I still definitely didn't like it, but I've got sure heard worse from her.

Rhythm and sound: A+ The actual content of the lyrics is where rap and hiphop usually lose me; it's just not for me.

Less irritating than I expected this to be based on my preconceived idea of Black Saabath. I respect what they're doing but I don't enjoy it.

This comment is surely going to be too meta. This album-a-day exercise is challenging me in unexpected ways. For starters, I'm now only getting to about 2 albums a week. But more importantly, when an artist or album doesn't resonate with me -- as is the case here -- I feel completely lost on how to rate it. I know Christina Aguilera has a great voice. I don't care. I know there are interesting Latin rhythms here. I don't care. I am not the audience for this album. But it might still be a great album. I will never choose to listen to it again -- like, *ever* -- and it took effort for me to sit through it all. But I'll also not react negatively if someone else is playing it in their home. It's just not something I enjoy. What score is this?! Should it be based solely on my preferences? Should I be trying to score it based on some objective qualities that somehow reach beyond my personal preferences?? Does my paralysis in making this decision mean I need to take a step back from this whole endeavor? My apologies to the Christina fans out there.

Listening to Fatboy Slim is like eating chips: taste great at first, and you kind of binge for a little while. But then you start to feel like you've had too much. And if you try to finish the whole bag, well... you might not want to come back for a while when it's over.

This album blew my mind. Working in its favor: Piano is one of my favorite instruments. Working against it: I am finicky about jazz; there's a lot of jazz I don't like. But I loved this, and I feel like an idiot for not knowing this artist. I'm still on the fence about his vocalizations. I thought it was audience members at first, but eventually I Googled it to learn it was the artist himself. After that, I was able to get used to it.

Sometimes, the struggle is real. How do you rate something when every aspect -- from composer to singer to band -- is top-notch but it's just not your thing??

Boring to the point of tedium for me. It might be fine if I were just looking for some ambient background music, but giving the full album my attention grew difficult.

I like the sound of The Velvet Underground a lot. I even here, where I don't really like these particular songs of theirs, I still like their sound.

Yeah, this is a boring as I remember it. I could never get into The Cure; never liked their sound. But I feel like I'm betraying my generation.

Back in the day, I tried really hard to enjoy this album. I had a friend who just loved it. I never quite understood the appeal. It's fine but...

Not my genre.

Hm, love Springsteen's voice but these songs are pretty repetitive. Actually, I anyways think his songs are repetitive. This did grow in me, however, and I enjoy a lot of what he's doing here.

Whatever.

This web game has way too many mediocre English artists. I can't believe anybody would argue that I *needed* to listen to this before I die. Bored.

Honestly, I've never listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin. I actually thought I might like it more just because of how huge they are, but it really wasn't for me. Some great moments, but as a whole, it didn't pull me in.

Nostalgia: 4.5 Enjoying the music: 3, sometimes 3.5 If I could, I'd give this a 3.6.

I tried but couldn't get into this.

Wow. Not a genre I like very much but hard to argue with the sigificance of what these guys had to say.

Musically, definitely some interesting sound that I enjoy coming back to, although I maybe don't need a full album. My real problem is the lyrics and themes are trying to be edgy but come off more creepy.

I remember being introduced to Billy Bragg through some album that got a lot of attention in, maybe, the 90s. I hated that album and didnt understand the hype. I stayed away from Billy Bragg ever since. Therefore, I expected to hate this album, but I definitely liked it. It really didn't sound anything like I remember the other one being. The other felt like a lot of yelling. This was enjoyable.

Dull

Did not enjoy this at all.

I love The White Stripes' vibe and energy, but I'm rarely in the mindset where I want to stay with them for the duration of a full album.

I do like the White Stripes. They're very much outside of my wheelhouse, but for some reason, they work.

My rule is I only give a 1 to albums I cannot bring myself to finish.

This is of my era but not a genre I've ever enjoyed. I thought the nostalgia factor might carry me through but this wasn't much fun to sit through.

Love it

Dated. But still beautiful.

First thought before listening: I don't really think about this band any more. Should it really be on the just? While listening: this is richer and fuller than I remembered, a fine example of 90s alt-rock. They deserve to be here.

Maybe I suck, but I can barely tolerate the guitar solos -- not because they're bad but because it's just something I don't like.

I usually reserve a 1 to an album I was unable to sit through. I sat through this. I hated it, but I sat through it. There were 2 tracks that I didn't hate.

I've heard only a couple of these songs before. I do appreciate some of the juxtapositions, but overall, this isn't an able I'm come back to.

I didn't like the start of this album but it grew on me. I don't know if it's a strength or weakness that the album is tapping into to so many *different* 60's vibes -- from seemingly squeaky-clean crooning to rough guitar rock to hints of early psychedelic. As a whole, it's a fascinating time capsule.

Moody, mostly interesting though each track runs a longer than I need it to. The fact that I wanted to listen to it again right away is always a good sign.

Honestly, just boring

I love Beck. This album is in the running for my favorite Beck album -- probably depends on my mood but I was definitely in the right mood when it showed up.

Kind of boring for me but I do believe it belongs in this list.

I have mixed feelings about albums that feel closer to slam poetry than music. The lyrics were engaging, requiring that I come back and listen at least one more time. And at first, I really liked the driving rock beats of most of the songs, but eventually the music sort of disappeared because it was so mundane, unnecessary even. It became little more than spoken word poetry after a while...

They're iconic.

This genre is not for me.

I was expecting to like this more.

This isn't my taste.

I'm not sure if this album really deserves a 4, but given how many times I looped through it when it was new, I feel like anything less would be disingenuous.

I generally like folk AND 60s weird shit so I was predisposed to like this -- and I did, at first. But it overstayed its welcome. Jesus, Nico's sustained notes in Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams almost drive this down to a 2. I simply do not think she's good singer, but her ideas are interesting.

Not very familiar with this artist. A few moments really grooved, but mostly it disappeared into the background. It didn't hold my attention.

Naaah

This album doesn't quite grab me the way Bringing it All Back Home did, but it's still great. 9/10

I don't know what to do with this. I think I understand why this didn't really break through in the U.S. But I don't know if I have the words for it. It's quintessential 80s but not quite catchy enough nor substantive enough to make me want to come back to it. Like mediocre chips.

Felt fresh at first. Then familiar when I reached their big radio hit. And then it started to wear out its welcome. Not enough going on here to sustain my interest.

This is definitely not for me, but jeez I think they do what they exceptionally well.

This is an artist I'm aware of but haven't govern much attention. This album grabbed my attention right away. I really enjoy three melodies and his overall vibe.

On average, I prefer those Beyonce songs that have a strong hook or compelling melody. I don't especially like the songs that move into hiphop. Beyonce's music always has a vibe, but it's not really *my* vibe. (I do think she's kind of amazing even if a lot of her music isn't for me.)

R&B is definitely not my thing but this album impressive.

Somewhat conventional and even a little bland but somehow I like it. It's like comfort food.

I'm surprised I haven't spent time with this album before given how many listens I gave Avalon. I think I could have obsessed on this one, too, had I been paying attention back in the day.

Every once in a while, this experience brings me an album that I didn't previously know and that fully and aggressively grabs hold of me. There's so much life here.

Too emo

Exemplar of mid

I love Talking Heads. This is not my favorite album of theirs, but I think my blinding love for them distorts my objectivity.

I feel like there's a reason that a small number of B-52's songs break through into pop culture. A sustained listening experience withe the B-52's isn't a particularly worthwhile activity for me.

Still a favorite for me. I haven't listed to it in a while so I had forgotten that there are no skips here for me (although I would tire first of You Can Call Me Al if I relistened a few more times). There are some accusations that Simon didn't always give credit where credit was due, and I find those accusations credible. Nevertheless, I think the album is a masterpiece. I have a strange, find memory of walking across my empty college campus late when night when another guy came walking the other way playing Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes on a boombox. It was charming, ethereal, and fleeting. Any time I hear this song now, that delicate memory rises up.

Not my genre. But My Name Is rocks.

Some absolute classics, and I find a lot of the songs here to be quite beautiful.

Nostalgia: 4+ Actual Enjoyment: 2.5

Couldn't get into this one. The rhythms weren't interesting enough, and each song overstayed its welcome.

Not my genre but it seems really good for what it is.

Not my genre, but I can't deny the appeal. Some of these just kick ass.

Not for me. Deeply boring to me, but I guess a 2 is unnecessarily critical.

Hmmm. Interesting as a time capsule.

Something about this album made it difficult for me to stay with it. I liked quite a few of the tracks but I guess it lacks an overall coherence sufficient to keep me engaged for us runtime.

Full disclosure: I don't like jazz This was only 34 minutes, and I fell asleep twice trying to get through it.

Dolly Parton has such a great, unique voice, but I'm not a big fan of country. I truly enjoyed listening to this album but I doubt I'll return.

Nah. Felt like laying down the underlying rhythms for Talking Heads songs that never actually gain the story, complexity, or vitality of actual Talking Heads songs.

I just don't like jazz.

As a child of the 80s, I feel a little dumb for not knowing that ZZ Top was around a good decade earlier. I did find this bluesy-rock to be more interesting than their big 80s anthems, but it's not really up my alley.

Borders on tedious

Maybe I need to be somewhere warm to be in the mood for this, or maybe I just want UB40 classic hits. Either way, this was so-so.

I feel like I might've liked this if I were listening to this while getting high with my high school friends in the early 80s. On the other hand, I have no desire to go back to that time. And no desire to subject myself to Pere Ubu again.

A classic but not really to my taste

It's so weird how often UK music has a distinct sound that's different from anything I grew up with in the US.

After only one listen, I found this to be pretty increasing. I'm not sure if it will keep growing in me or get frustrating if I give it more time, but I'm going to rate it based on my first impression.

This is Neil Young that mostly works for me

What to do with an album with so many 5-star songs but who has the time to sit through a double-album these days? This is the most 4.5/5 I've felt yet.

A little moody. A little boring.

I was not previously familiar with this album or group. I think I would have liked this album a lot more if I’d listened to it at the time it came out — it seems like it might have been up my alley. Now it seems a little to dated to really grab me, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt with my rating.

Great Americana Reaches 5 stars at times, but I couldn’t quite commit…

I adore Talking Heads. They do no wrong for me.

Definitely overplayed, which makes it harder for me to stay objective. But I have to admit her performance on every song is amazing, and I do genuinely like every song -- even though there are some I really don't want to hear any more, but that's pop culture's fault, not Adele's fault.

Instrumentation and musical composition were often (but not always) compelling. But the vocals were tonally unpleasant and lyrically disgusting.

I agree with the haters

I like CCR but this isn't my absolute favorite of theirs

How crazy that I just reviewed a Kinks album -- whom I love -- and I commented on how influential that were, only to now be given The Jam who have The Kinks all up in their sound. When David Watts came around, I forgot I wasn't still listening to The Kinks. I love The Kinks. I like The Jam.

I liked the energy of a lot of this, although it did start to overstay its welcome. I'll err on the generous side today.

I'm a huge Kinks fan. I feel their influence all over this list.

Although I've heard of this artist, I really didn't know his work. This album didn't do much for me one way or the other.

Heck yeah!

Hated the first song and was wondering if I would DNF this album, but I ended up loving the rest of it, so much so that I immediately played it again. Still hate the first track, though.

This genre isn’t for me because I have a ton of trouble focusing on the lyrics — and without catching the lyrics, I don’t think I can judge the music fully. I did like the quality of the music here, but not enough to spend more time here.

R.E.M. is one of my favorite bands, so most of their albums will get a 5 from me. I can't begin to guess how many times this album re-energized me on a long road trip. The piano in certain spots (World Leader Pretend, above all) makes me swoon.

Eh, I guess this was kind of boring to me

Jazz is usually not my thing, and this fits perfectly in the jazz lane that I can’t stand.

I’m the right age to love this album, but it never clicked for me. I’ve never particularly enjoyed The Police sound, and I find every song to be relatively monotonous. Even there’s breakthrough songs get irritating quickly. I’m generously giving it a 3 for nostalgia, but my enjoyment is probably closer to a 2.

I'm sure it's an important album but life's too short to spend even half an hour listening to what I experience as tedious chaos.

I was pretty meh until Paintwork, which was again. That song alone made me want to relisten to the whole thing, and it won me over.

Well, I love R.E.M. Especially their 80s stuff. I haven’t listened to this album in such a long time, and I still love it! Obviously there's some huge classics here, but how had I forgotten about Exhuming McCarthy?!? I'll be stuck on this album for days now!

These guys made some beautiful music, and wow does this album evoke a specific point in time!

I'm pretty much just a no for the whole idea of synth-pop.

I've never been into Stevie Wonder's music. The two big songs here (You Are the Sunshine of My Life and Superstition) have always seemed kind of corny to me, probably because I came of age a decade after these songs were released, so to me they were practically elevator music. I did enjoy the funkiness of Maybe Your Baby and the beauty of I Believe, but not so much that I expect to revisit this album in the future.

Too much noise for my taste

Is it funky? Sure. Did I want to listen to an entire funk album? No.

This is just crazy -- so much fucking energy, so upbeat, so pure. But also some f'd up imagery. But also blitzkrieg bop is now used in a friggin' cruise line ad. I'll admit, this music makes me want to move my body, and it makes me feel all sorts of different things, for good or bad.

This was new to me. It didn't quite engage me, but I think it would have if I'd heard it in the 90s.

I appreciate this album is loved by critics and is widely considered a masterpiece. Unfortunately, it’s not a genre I particularly enjoy.

So much of this album-rating experiment is tied to whether a particular album hits you on a day you are open to receiving it.

It's a vibe.

Started it just fine -- both the things I knew and the things I didn't. And then it just went on forever, giving itself time to become totally boring and then straight up irritating.

None of my favorite LCD Soundsystem songs are on this album, and yet it might be my favorite album of theirs.

For some reason, I have never liked the sound of Steely Dan. Any time this has come up, people think I'm nuts so I know it's just a personal subjective response. For this album, I decided to really listen closely to figure what I'm negatively reacting to. First some positives: I did like this album more than I expected and more than much of their later work which I know a little better. In particular, I think the music is lyrically engaging and at times the melody and/or harmonies are really beautiful. What I don't like: the jazzy elements turn me off (I don't like jazz much anyway); I don't like the timbre of the clavinet or synths AT ALL, and the melody and harmonies are ugly (to me) about as frequently as they are beautiful.

Not for me.

This is lush and boring. I feel the same way about Oasis. And this sounded way too much like Oasis.

I like Bruce Springsteen's sound, especially when he slows down. But a lot of his stuff sounds the same so I don't particularly like to listen to a full album in one sitting -- I get bored. Yet in smaller doses, I'm always to hear anything he does.

I adore this album. I already loved Nirvana before this album, and I truly respected the MTV Unplugged series. But when those two things came together, it was magic for me.

I did not enjoy this

This album was as unpleasant as its title.

Not my genre, but I find this album to be compelling and I'll breed to vibe back to it again in the future.

At first, I rolled my eyes when I saw this album come up because I thought of people I knew who were over-the-top obsessed with Morrissey back in the day. Those obsessive friends were kind of ridiculous, but this album IS good, sometimes beautiful, and definitely better than I remembered. I think when fans get too obsessive,it taints the art.

It's weird that this is punk cuz it's pretty boring

Unfortunately, this is just not my genre, but I wish I could like it more because there were obviously interesting things happening here.

Vibes

Two Morissey albums in one week. Your Arsenal won me over right away, but this album not so much. I even gave it several listens just because of the way Arsenal had grown on me, but this one just didn't take.

Hmm, I think of myself as a casual Beatles fan. But I guess I've never sat through this album before. And that's what it felt like: I was sitting through it.

My least favorite thing in this exercise is bumping into an album that swings between 2 and 5. Do I settle on 3, which I consider OK but I won't come back to this album much if at all? Or do I settle on 4, which to me means I'll definitely be coming back?

This did not work for me. Alternate between boring and a little bit irritating.

I’m torn between 4 for the nostalgia factor or 3 for how interesting I actually find it to be today

I hate jazz, and I hated this jazz as much as any jazz I’ve ever hated.

Definitely harder/heavier than I like, but also pretty boring.

I still enjoy some of this but taken as an entire album, it gets kind of flat by the end.

What an experience! First of all, his voice! Second, beautiful music — some of the lyrics don’t really resonate with me, and I generally don’t like live albums — but in this case, the combination of lyrics and environment end up telling a story, which brings me to… Third, what a brilliantly conceived package this is! The collection and sequence of songs is so well thought out so that it creates an emotional trajectory. Creative genius.

Not for me

This is a tough listen for me. The driving bass and drums are pretty cool, but the singer and the guitar on top of that were mostly irritating.

Not really my genre. But the musicianship here is amazing.

This is the 3rd Leonard Cohen album I've encountered here. I really don't get the appeal.

Nice voice, good storytelling, but I'm not that info country so I won't come back for more.

I usually reserve 5 for a masterpiece album, and this is may not deserve that label. But I love R.E.M., and I love this album.

What is it about 70s punk that once seemed so aggressive and subversive but now it practically sounds sunny and poppy?

I wouldn't listen to this in an airport, probably, but it's extremely pleasant.

I don't tend to like metal because it's too much, too aggressive, too unpleasant, but I actually found this to be straight up boring.

Charming enough, but it's pretty tough for country to get more than a 3 from me.

A little up and down -- I like some of the lesser known tracks near the back end more than the heavy hitters.

I don't enjoy this album at all, but it doesn't shock me that others might. Even though I'll never choose to listen to this again, I usually reserve a 1 for sonething truly appalling or unlistenable -- and this didn't reach that level of negativity.

This album is outside my wheelhouse, but I like two things about it: First, it evokes a specific time and place about as well as any album does. Secondly, it's groovy.

Jesus this is boring. I thought so when it was new and I still think so now. I've never understood the appeal.

Hard to argue with the vibes here. This is a genuine classic from its era. Personally it's not a 5 simply because it's not a genre I want to spend a lot of time with.

I hate this

I love these guys but this isn't my favorite from them

Respect it, but it's not for me. Definitely has some choices I haven't heard before.

OK, this rant may be a little unfair because I don't wirecutter like contemporary R&B to begin with, but I really struggled here. I don't like interstitial taking between all the sings. I don't melismatic singing. I don't like the tinny-sounding production -- and sometimes her voice is tinny whereas at other times it can sound pretty nice. The music mostly feels jittery and chaotic. I will credit the lyrics for often being feminine and powerful. But overall, I don't want to listen to this again.

Thank you for reminding me about Nick Drake!

My memories were more positive than my current experience. Too much 80s synth pulling attention away from Annie Lennox, who is awesome.

High energy 80s vibes

I'm not a fan of jazz. This was OK as jazz goes.

I previously felt this was band was overrated but it turns out I can spend a lot of time with this album.