1001 Albums Summary

I like Pictures from Home. I assume the way the drums sound is due to the remastering - the drums are particularly loud and clear. I hear them more than the guitars. "We all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline..." Come on, let's go space truckin'.... The singer's voice sounds really good in the slower songs when he's not screaming. The screaming just sounds like generic rock screaming.

Jesus Walks slaps. The songs are melodic and richly textured.

It's 1998 and I have a great job in the city. I live in a two flat in Roscoe Village with my college roommate. I'm making a lot of money, I'm hanging out with my friends, I'm having more fun than I ever thought I would, and I'm listening to this album over and over. This album is in my hindbrain. I'm on day 6 or 7 and this is the first album with a woman's voice on it that's been assigned. I'm surprised to discover that Lauryn Hill is younger than me. I don't think I've ever heard any other hiphop songs about motherhood.

I like the drum intro. This is a lot of fun. I like the jangly rock sound with the goofy lyrics. I wish the words were a little clearer and easier to understand. The energy is great.

A guy with a guitar. Inoffensive. It's the musical equivalent of beige carpeting - I can barely make myself pay attention to it. Good for working background music. This makes 9 albums with men's voices and one with a woman's.

Lovely voice, very pretty songs. Makes me think of people in nice clothes and high heels drinking wine in high-end kitchens. This kind of music is as unconnected to my life as are country songs about trucks.

Nice. Melodic.

The riff on Seven Nation Army feels like it shouldn't have needed to be written, like it's existed for decades already and we've always been able to sing along.

Not my favorite Depeche Mode album. Sounds droning and repetitive after a couple songs.

More fun than I was expecting. Technically impressive guitar, but also just energetic and whimsical jams.

I've never listened to Arcade Fire before; I really liked this album. The songs all sounded very similar, but that built up on the theme of alienation and dislocation from living in the Sprawl. Having the mix of make and female voices helped too.

I liked this more than I thought I would. It must be the Manchester chav in my ancestry.

This album is so much fun - it's melodic and energetic. Rob Halford's voice is wonderful. Knowing he's a black-leather-trendsetting queer icon makes it even more enjoyable. Breaking the law breaking the law!

A fun variety of songs with a couple classics I recognize

I quite like this! I like how it goes from quiet guitar to rap (with no bitches or hoes) to the yellscreamy scratchy opera-industrial chorus. I like the introspective and emotional subject matter of the songs too. Great for yelling along with.

Was not aware that the phrase "stupid-ass" was in use in 1968. I got a giggle out of that. "In a stupid-ass waaaaaaaay!" Mention of "slapping ass" in multiple consecutive songs. Compare and contrast the benefits of girls vs dogs for emotional support. Lots of anxiety about military service, low-grade 60's sexism. I like the production, and Scott's voice is amazing, but the melodies and lyrics aren't sophisticated enough to support the subject matter.

I like this kind of music so much more now than I did in the 90s. I must be about 30 years behind the zeitgeist. Scuzzy-sounding guitars and a nice quiet male voice, mellow and relaxing.

Didn't like this much - I can see why their later albums were more successful.

Upbeat and fun, nice harmonies. 1 extra star for Mr Blue Sky

Great harmonies, dick-and-jane subject matter. I guess it's an insight into young middle-class boomer men.

Mellow. Great background music for working, but not something I'd actively pay attention to.

I thought this was great. I love the driving energetic punky vibe with the traditional gaelic sounds and instruments. The lyrics sound like modern folk music, with references to sacred music sometimes, and a nice sense of storytelling. It made me want to jump around and drink cider and punch things and hug people.

I love the cover art, I love "This will be our year", and "friends of mine" is so sweet. They have a straightforward sort of teen bop sound, like the early beatles, but their songs are thoughtful and compassionate. Except for A Rose for Emily. The lady has a house and a thriving garden, she's doing fine, leave her alone.

I don't appreciate Jeff Buckley as much as everyone else seems to. I don't get it. His voice is fine, if you like quiet crooning. His guitar playing is beautiful. He's just not my jam.

This was fine. Classic grunge. It didn't interest me.

I've never been a huge fan of U2. Their music was ubiquitous for years, and it all blended together as part of the general background noise of my youth. Their distinctive sound makes all their songs sound very similar. I like Bono impassioned caterwauling; it's fun to sing along with.

Straightforward blues rock. I like Hard to Handle, but She Talks to Angels reminds me of bros.

I don't mind Dire Straits, but I've never listened to them on purpose.

Wake up and Make Love with Me is funny and kind of sweet. "I don't want to make you/ I'll let the fancy take you" I like hearing british singers use their regional accents instead of a fake US/blues drawl "If I was with a women I'd make her believe I loved her, all the time I would not like her much" Gimmicky but cute

I like the first album better than this one, but maybe that's because I'm more familiar with it. I like Lorde ok

Cute and fun. Now I have a new song to sing to my cat Walter.

like low-fi girl on a hiking trip in the fjords

I like this album more now than I did when I had to listen to it overandoverandover in the early 90s. I like the guitar best. I still don't like Jane Says. It reminds me of angsty grunge boys smoking cigarettes. I liked them, I never liked the song.

Boooooeeeeey! Quite liked this. Energetic, clever, impassioned.

This was fine. Straightforward rock, and I always like hearing non-US voices. Not particularly memorable

Toot toot doodle toot. Very relaxing as background music while I work. Not something I would seek out.

psychedelic fun. lots of different sounds mixed together.

I like the textures and tones in warszawa and subterraneans

great stuff. Pure and true.

Not my jam

I like her voice and the arrangement of the first few songs, but later in the album the songs seemed haphazard and disorganized.

I love this girly grunge-pop sound and the bubblegum-goth vibe.

This album has a lot of things I like: easy to sing along with. Variety of volume and tempo. Multiple voices in chorus or other parts.

racist guitar guy is good at guitar. Layla is a bop.

Interesting ambient low-key music. Not my jam.

Good stuff. I liked this in college, although not at the level others did, and I like it now. I like the quiet/loud, the bass, the buzzy sound, and the way the highly singable lyrics match the melody.

What the hell is this album cover. A collage of Rodin's Kiss, some made-up neoclassical building with a terrible art deco eagle, and Marvin Gaye as that one burgher of Calais, with badly-drawn robes instead of rags. Really bad font contrast too. Also I thought the music was meh. I forgot I was listening to it.

Energetic and fun.

First song "Movin' on up" = awesome. Hand claps, gospel chorus, jamming guitar, uplifting lyrics - I love it. I really like this whole album; I listened to it 3 times in a row.

a couple compelling songs, but not as fun as Nevermind

Nice harmonies, excellent guitar, sorta samey.

Upbeat, fun soul sound, catchy tunes. Competent soul pop.

Not my jam. I liked the sound of some of the songs, e.g. Big Girl, Three Bricks, with the strings and horns behind the rapping, but I didn't like the rapping itself. The meter, rhymes, and subject matter were not appealing to me. Reading the wikipedia page, I seem to have missed the narrative complexity of the album.

Nice to hear a female voice. Easy to dance to, not much else going on.

2 great songs, some well-produced boring songs.

Droning layered sound. Good for background music while working. All the songs blend together

I wanted to like this but it was so boring I couldn't make myself pay attention. Maybe better for a quiet walk or a long drive than a normal morning at work.

I liked this! Kind of like massive attack but with more of a big band sound.

The rapping is fast and skillful, but I don't like the sweary interstitial tracks. Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe is catchy.

nice music but not interesting

His voice is annoying but his lyrics are great. I particularly like Ballad of a thin man.

I had no idea the "despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage" song was Smashing Pumpkins. My husband laughed at me. I've never listened to this album due to being surrounded by Pumpkin-loving boys in the 90s and not wanting to encourage them. It's pretty good.

The mediocre songs are ok, and the good songs are really good. I still want to yell along with Sting on every chorus. I've never heard Mother before, and it cracked me up. Every girl that you go out with thinks you're a man-baby, buddy.

Fun. A nice combo of a classic US-rootsy sound with localized UK subject matter. Quite melodic.

Fun, sort of upbeat

Bangin' piano.

Female voices! I want to like riot grrl music but I don't. I like the idea of them and I'd probably like them as people, but I don't like the music, or at least I don't like this much.

I like her voice and the bluesy roots, but the tunes were not especially interesting.

Jams.

I liked the sort of soft punk sound, and some of the lyrics were cute and clever. All the bonus tracks were a bit much; the songs all sounded the same after the 11th or 12th

One banger after another, with a couple weak ones in the last third of the album. King has a way of putting words with music that makes the song flow as naturally feelings and words do inside your own head.

female voices are always nice. Good unobtrusive background music for working, with a nice sound, but nothing really stood out.

The mellow groove is very nice.

I like this kind of music now more than I did at the time.

I like her rapping and the use of Spanish, but in general thought this was mediocre lightweight pop and didn't finish listening to it.

Fun and happy. One extra star for Groove is in the Heart, an all-time bop.

Great sound, mellow groove.

Ambient music hooray! I love listening to ambient music while I work, and I know nothing about the history and development of the genre, so this was a fun learning and listening album for me.

Couple good songs

Competent music but not exciting. Not my jam

I didn't like this one as much as Highway 61 Revisited

I like how Cash uses the age in his voice as a deliberate effect.

My parents had this album when I was a kid and it lives in my head and serves as the standard all music is compared to.

A nice folky rock sound. All the songs are sort of the same, but they're all nice.

I like the reggae funk sound, but nothing really stuck out

sort of industrial ambient sound, good for background music while working

I like the funkier bass sounds of the first couple songs, but the rest of the album was hard to pay attention to

This is nice to jam to. Reminds me of my friend who loved Bob Marley and named her series of large dogs after him. Her memorial bench has a plaque that says "every little thing's gonna be all right"

Nice horns and big-band sound.

Stairway! I've heard these songs all my life but have never sat and listened to the album, and have never been able to match titles with the tunes even when half-singing along with some of the right words.

I feel like it's a little embarassing, but I like Coldplay, mostly because of how much they sound like Radiohead Lite

upbeat and funny, not my jam

I recognize that this is interesting, competent music, but I can't enjoy listening to it while working. Too much to pay attention too. Would probably be great in a club or while driving.

Nice vibe.

ok I guess

Did not capture my attention. Pleasant, but dull and drony. I'm not a fan of the "very quiet lady" genre of music.

I like the funky bass in the first couple songs. Combined with the atonal singing it reminds me a lot of Bowie in this era. Life during Wartime is great, but the last few songs didn't keep my attention as much. I listened to it twice.

I really like this album. I love the weird variety of sounds, Nico's morose bellowing, and the strange punkish drama of it. It sounds like the music the theatre teens that I know would make if they stayed up all night. It glamorizes misery, but if you're miserable I guess being glamorous helps.

I really enjoyed this. The 80s synth sound was charming, the lyrics were upbeat and sweet.

Fun! I like the horns and the funk bongo beat, and the grandmaster flash apache remix. Gets a little repetitive in the last half of the album, with all the bongo covers of 70s rock hits.

They're great guitar players, nice groove for background music.

Can't stand Cocteau Twins droning pathetic pseudo-melancholy. It grates on my nerves. I'm not listening to this.

Fun! Nice energy

The variety of sounds was interesting, and having them sung in a language I don't understand made them relaxing background music. Pretty enjoyable.

I liked the songwriting, the male singer's deep voice, and the general vibe, but I wasn't going to listen to 2 hours of this. I like it, but the lyrics require more attention than I can spare while working. Better for a long car drive.

I like White's straightforward bluesy rock; it has a good classic sound but seems fresh.

This album starts out really strong; the first several songs have a good variety of mood and tempo. The second half was a slog to get through. I think there were 3 or 4 songs with the same chord progression in the chorus as "goodbye yellow brick road". I tuned out halfway through.

Good dance music, good work music. Energetic and upbeat but not intrusive. Listened twice.

Great guitar sounds, one long jam.

White guys playing guitars again like every classic rock station ever. I suppose this was interesting at the time.

Nope. I have a friend who's in a hardcode band; he's great. I went to one of his shows and had a good time; the people in the crowd were very friendly. I like this album cover image with the rough ink drawing. I do not like the music. Too shouty and harsh.

I'm not a big fan of U2 but their impassioned wailing occasionally forms a melody I enjoy. This album was ubiquitous and it doesn't irritate me.

I don't have the right knowledge to appreciate this kind of music. It sounds like music to me. It's fine.

they're getting self-indulgent by this point - whimsical, all over the place, lots of traditional influences. Less compelling than some of their other albums but still interesting

fun and funky

I recognize that this is excellent, influential pop, but I don't like it much. Too same-y? Not quite quirky enough? Meh.

I'd never heard of these guys. Fun sound.

I quite liked this, the textures and variety of sounds were interesting but also made great background noise for working. I particularly liked the one with the dog's "ow-ow-ow" in the exact rhythm of the percussion. It was funny and clever. Persian Love was great too.

Very nice; witty, melodic, and mellow. Good accompaniment for working. I listed to several of Berman's albums, then read his Wikipedia page and was dismayed to learn of his death. RIP.

The familiar hits (alive, even flow etc) are fun to sing along with, and Eddie Vedder has a great growly voice, but the rest of the album was not very interesting.

3 bangers and a few boring songs, not too much dead weight, great 80s sound and a mellow voice. One whole star for Everybody Wants to Rule the World.

fun, light sound. the lyrics were frequently silly.

quiet folky classic songs. "this wheel's on fire", "I shall be released" and "long black veil" with the verses sung in the correct order. I only just now learned this song was written in 1959.

Good stuff. Melodic, nice harmonies, and Burke has a rich voice. The production was complex but not overdone, and I could hear the guitar clearly in some songs. I listened to it twice.

Everything under the sun is in tune.

I remember liking this, but today I can't remember anything else about it. I really like the cover art.

Quite fun. My grandparents lived a couple miles from Moss Side. I like the 60s-tv-theme-song sound with horns and bass.

I like his voice. Some of the songs are great.

I like the "folk songs of doom" vibe - the combination of the singer's growly voice, the driving guitar, and the grim baroque lyrics.

Words are very unnecessary. Melodic, introspective, mellow vocalist, wonderful 80s electronic sound

Great album. Minus one star for "Run for Your Life", which is a shitty song.

I have never enjoyed costello's music. It's competent; I don't find it interesting at all.

Funky! A mellow vibe.

this was fine. Nice and melodic not too testosteroney

Heartfelt, interesting lyrics and bluesy singing style, but Amy Winehouse just doesn't do anything for me.

Fun, I like the horns and orchestrated sound. Listened twice.

Competent straightforward rock.

I guess this is a genius groundbreaking album. It sounded fine to me. Couldn't get into it.

I just don't like Joni Mitchell. It sounds like random warbling to me.

Blur is fine. All their songs blend together for me.

Great stuff. Loved the horns, the wordplay, and the feminism. Listened twice.

Perfect work music.

Two turntables and a microphone!

I like the insightful, clever lyrics matched with the electronic sound and the mellow lounge-singer voice

The problem with being a seminal rock band is that 60 years later you sound like everybody. Also it's just tedious at this point to hear baby boomers singing about their generation, when we haven't heard them shut up about their generation since. But it's good rock and roll, if you're into that.

I love the horns and intricate guitar sounds. Melodic and complex but relaxing, good work music

I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man! That's just, like, your opinion, man. I don't know if I like the Eagles per se, or as people, but I like most of the songs on this album. They are the songs of driving out of town, driving to a new home, driving off to see the country. I can remember which exit I was at on I-57 for certain lines of Life in the Fast Lane, and realizing that other shoppers in the grocery store were singing Hotel California along with me.

I like grunge ladies singing, growling, and yelling about things I relate to.

I kept tuning it out while I was listening, so it must not have been annoying. Pleasant and melodic.

I like the harmonies, but it didn't have the blissed-out feel-good vibe of other albums, or fun psychedelia. Kind of a boring application of their signature sound.

Really not my cup of tea. I thought the warbling organ cover of Simon & Garfunkel's America was particularly self-indulgent.

I like all these songs, even though they are a sanitized gun-loving folk music of a whitewashed west that never existed. They're what an 8-year-old boy playing cowboy in 1959 would have called cowboy music. Still fun to listen to.

Pretty dull. The costumes are fun but the music is barely mediocre.

Great bluesy guitar riffs, nice growly singer voice, but the songwriting isn't compelling. I wanted to hear some clever lyrics or interesting caterwauling, but the songs themselves are unimaginative.