• 2/5 • A couple of good tracks, but album is inconsistent • Vocals are a weak point

3 • Overall 3/5 • Some great singles (Paint it Black, Under My Thumb) • The more melodic tracks are strongest; the original Blues-formula tracks are pretty weak • The misogyny is off-putting; fairly easy to ignore when Under My Thumb is heard in isolation, but the thread through the album is a serious demerit

• 5/5 - Siamese Dream is a straight up 4 that gets a 1 point bonus for being a touchstone of my 20s • Several great singles that hold up after 30 years of play, especially Cherub Rock and Today. • By the end of the album the distortion and Corgan's voice have run their course, but we're left sated, neither overstuffed nor wanting.

• 5/5 - maybe the greatest Rock album ever • Stairway isn’t even the best song on the album! • They knew it was so good it didn’t need a name . . .

• 3/5 - Not my jam • Lot's of paradigmatic soul grooves, but the extended song length and ponderous spoken elements feel self-indulgent and my attention wanders • Walk on By is a nice reminder of how versatile Burt Bacharach tunes can be. Who's been covered more than him - maybe Dylan? K - tracks are too long for my limited attention span. Had a hard time getting other versions of the songs out of my head.

• 4/5 - 2.5 for the music, 1.5 for its place in history and influence on the genre • Tutti Frutti and Long Tall Sally are deservedly loved. The innovations of tempo, arrangement, and vocals are apparent and created a new template for rock and roll to follow. • Unfortunately, the rest of the songs on the album follow that template as well. It's monotonous and detracts from the key singles.

• 2/5 - not my jam • Opening track was fun, upbeat hillbilly rock (with questionable lyrics); but the rest of the album was just variations on the formula

• 3/5 • aside from being morose and sleepy, I couldn’t say this album was any real innovation or break from The Chairman’s prior or subsequent work • it’s a testament to Old Blue Eyes’ voice and artistry that a downbeat album consisting solely of covers could be considered for this list (and still earn 3 stars from me) • if it were one of his Xmas albums I’d give it 5 stars!

• 2/5 • The album represents a garage-y turn for NY, so points for creative range, but that doesn’t make it especially good • NY’s best tunes are master judo moves that turn his god-awful voice to his advantage. This is a judo-free album. • Love the fuzzy 90s guitar work, though. The album is epitomized by Over and Over Again, where I started to groove on the guitar opener only to have the mood ruined when the vocals came in. • This album might best be listened to in Karaoke mode

• 4/5 • Grime is probably my favorite flavor of rap/hip hop and Skepta is among the best • Favorite tracks: Konichiwa, Shutdown, and That's Not Me

• 4/5 • Girl From Ipanema is magic; the rest of the tracks could be death metal and I’d still give it a 3 • The bossa nova is cool and jazzy; a bit repetitive, but at 34 minutes it doesn’t overstay the welcome

• 5/5 - Deserving of all the accolades • Manzarek and Kriegler at their best; Morrison before becoming too self-absorbed and/or wasted • I normally find psychedelic rock tiresome, but not this album; masterful balance of hooks, jams, and lyrics • More organ!

• 3/5 • Not a deep album, but worthy of the list for Dexy’s unique sound and Come on Eileen • I hadn’t heard their cover of Jackie Wilson Said before and liked it a lot - now I can say I like two of their songs . . .

• 2/5 • I like this genre of hip hop. I don’t like this album. • The tracks generally have good beats, hooks and production • The flow, when its not strained, is pedestrian • The lyrics bounce between insipid and inane. The tracks are reminiscent of Kate Tempest, but he’s no poet . . .

• 4/5 • White Rabbit and Somebody to Love are fantastic and make the most of Grace Slick • I was surprised at the variety in the tracks: not solely psychedelic, but acoustic, blues, etc. Some good tracks but not at the level of the iconic singles

• 3/5 • Love the driving guitar, surf influence, hooks, and overall post-punk proto-grunge vibe • Demerits for the vocals

• 2/5 • Enjoyed some of the rhythms and instrumental elements; didn’t care for the falsetto vocals or lyrics

• 1/5 • Curious why this made the 1001 list. Maybe as an exemplar of psych-era manufactured pop? • Should be the soundtrack to a mockumentary . . .

• 3/5 • An album full of good tracks but none that hooked me • Love her sound - the punk/indie/grunge aesthetic married with her excellent vocals. You can hear Steve Albini’s engineering at work

• 5/5 - The prototypical Southern Rock/Blues album • makes you want a cold beer on a hot night

• 4/5 • Great standards, great live performance • More swing/jazz in the arrangements than I was expecting (in a good way) • Would love to have seen that performance live

• 4/5 • Liked the album better than I had expected - not a masterpiece but thoroughly enjoyable • Strength not limited to the singles • Clear gospel, R&B, Ska, and Caribbean influences make for a fun a creative mishmash • Production was rougher than I recalled

• 4/5 • Height of UK indie from the first few years of the century • Great singles with Jaqueline and Take Me Out and strength across the rest of the tracks • I can hear the UK post punk/early New Wave influence of The Jam, etc.

• 4/5 • Hardly high art, but fun throughout

• 5/5 • Beautiful album - The Weight is obviously the highlight, but every song holds its own • Practically the Platonic ideal of Americana/Roots Rock • The engineering is so in the background that it almost feels live, and they sound like they're having a ball playing together

• 3/5 • Quality songs, though none that particularly stand out • Pretty impressive and fully formed reggae sound for a new band on their first album

• 3/5 • Love the arrangement and photo-trip hop sound • Not a big fan of the spoken word vs. singing component • If I could understand the French, the subject matter would make me like it a lot less . . .

• 5/5 - Maybe #1 all time; definitely top-10 • set aside that it represents a critical turning point in modern music, every song holds its own and makes the whole better • So much complexity - headphones are best

• 4/5 • Love the singles (Fame & Young Americans) • Enjoyed the blue-eyed R&B in between, but not really standout tunes • Very adept pivot from the glam rock era

• 2/5 • Not a fan of folk or ancient music and this seems a blend of both • Admirable musicianship though, especially the percussion

• 2/5 • A couple of good tracks, but album is inconsistent • Vocals are a weak point

• 4/5 • Great album from their mature period • Favorite tracks: Drive, Man on the Moon, Nightswimming • The Atmos/Spacial Audio remaster is fantastic - so rich

• 2/5 • Ugh - don't like it; the lyrics and delivery of same are so unimaginative that some of the songs sound like they come from SNL skits • There are reflections of other Aussie acts of the period (INXS, Midnight Oil, Hoodo Gurus) but this album can't keep pace

• 4/5 • Poppier than I prefer from Dire Straits, but solid tracks throughout

• 2/5 • hasn’t aged as well as Bowie from the same period and with a very similar sound

• 3/5 • first listen; glad I was introduced to them • not my favorite genre, but really well executed • love Skin’s vocals; seems like a big influence on Evanescence a few years later

• 3/5 • liked it better than I remembered from the original release • I like the overlay of her sensibilities over the house/dance influences

• 4/5 • Lovely blend of jazz, country, folk, and pop delivered with a torch singer aesthetic

•4/5 • firmly in their mass-market pop phase, it felt a bit like a sellout at the time, but it’s still a really good album • Stand and Orange Crush are undeniably catchy, but I prefer You Are the Everything and Get Up

• 3/5 • Love the G-Funk sound; appreciate the flow and delivery of the lyrics (especially by Snoop); don’t like the lyrics at all

• 3/5 • pretty anodyne outside the title track, but what a title track • wacky to hear a gospel-ized version of a Bee Gees tune (How Can You Mend a Broken Heart)

• 2/5 • Love the guitar work, but not the vocals • the tracks largely sound alike

• 3/5 • sappy pop, but influential • surprising that the best tracks are on side B

• 2/5 • exceptionally well executed unexceptional folk rock • wild that it went #1 in Holland and never caught on anywhere else - what’s with the Dutch?

• 4/5 • the template for great soul music • hadn’t realized he penned Respect

• 4/5 • apex of the nu-metal/rap rock heyday; not my favorite genre, but great in moderation

• 4/5 • Classic from the godfathers of trip-hop • Strong throughout- Unfinished Symphony is the standout track

• 3/5 • can’t help but love Good Times, but not as fond of the rest of the album

• 3/5 • not a big fan of indie goth rock or of Cave’s vocals, but the songwriting and arrangements on a number of the tracks are great • particularly enjoy There She Goes, My Beautiful World

• 3/5 • all the elements of a great 90s britpop album present, but doesn’t quite hit the mark • overwrought, over-orchestrated, and too precious by half - Suede trying to out-Oasis Oasis

• 4/5 • coherent and cohesive mood throughout and every track is listenable • a couple of standout singles (Lovesong, Fascination Street), but the overall dour mood tempers my enthusiasm

• 2/5 • not sure the world needed a revival of Bacharach-esque 60s orchestral pop - at least not this one

• 4/5 • not my favorite KoL album (Aha, Shake, Heartbreak) but consistently good tracks with a few standouts • more produced and orchestral than their earlier work • I like Crawl and I Want You better than the highlighted singles (which are also good)

• 5/5 • Bonus star for being a favorite of my formative years • excellent songs throughout., especially Shout, World, and Head

• 5/5 • exhausting sustained energy and breakthrough production - a great album • especially enjoy Don’t Believe the Hype, Bring the Noise, and Rebel Without a Pause

• 4/5 • retro but somehow original and idiosyncratic

• 4/5 • good debut, though I like the refinement of AHA Shake better

• 2/5 • inoffensive, but nothing remotely memorable on this album

• 4/5 • tour de force

• better than I remembered it, if somewhat uneven in the back half • love the two big singles (though I prefer Soiouxie’s rendition of The Passenger) • he presaged punk with the stooges and indie/new wave with this album

• both derivative and poorly executed • the cover of War Pigs is well executed, but not an innovative interpretation

Not my jam, but an extra star for innovation, historical relevance and for what they accomplished with primitive instruments.

• 4/5 • Amazing diversity, yet everything is well executed, interesting, and fun to listen to • hadn’t realized until listening carefully the extent of Freddie’s self-accompaniment through multitrack

• what a beautiful voice and sensibility for using it • some of the arrangements felt overly repetitive, especially Just One of Those Things, but the album is strong front to back