1001 Albums Summary

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

• 3/5 • pretty much the only Chicago album I like - so much better than the insipid ballady schmaltz that came after • they own their sound and do it really well, but the length and self-indulgence is trying

• 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

• 2/5 • wholly unoriginal • sounds like a second derivative of the Monkees

• 2/5 • Meh. Liked Dy-No-My-Tee but the rest didn’t stand out and quality of tracks and production was uneven.

• can appreciate the flow, but no like

• great depth - a couple standout singles and quality songs throughout • love the lyrical content and song-cycle quality; if I were a bigger fan of the orchestration and genre it would be a 5

• 2/5 • props for trying out the ska/funk/punk/prog approach- let’s call it a failure and move on . . .

• 4/5 • breakthrough Latin prog sound, masterful guitar work from Carlos, a couple of great singles, enjoyable listening throughout while not so long as to be self-indulgent • if the best tracks were originals rather than covers, I’d probably give an extra star

• 5/5 • So good - every track holds its own. Maybe the best hard rock album after Led Zeppelin II

• 5/5 • 4 stars for the album and one for nostalgia • last of the great rock operas • interesting throughout with some fantastic tracks

• 4/5 • seen All Good People is the standout for me, but every song is good • one of the rare albums of non-ponderous prog

• 3/5 • deeply felt and technically masterful • not especially fond of modal jazz, and the utter lack of repetition or unifying melody or chord progression is impressive but leaves me feeling lost - I think that’s why it doesn’t resonate the way Davis’s Kind of Blue does

• 4/5 • what a great debut album • multiple memorable singles and the remaining tracks are all accessible (not necessarily true of later albums) if uninspired

• 3/5 • it’s fine, I suppose. Well crafted, polished production, but kinda boring . . .

• 3/5 • Model of thrash metal genre. Technical virtuosity, particularly lead guitar and drumming. • Vocally and lyrically weak relative to the instrumentality and production. A half-step (maybe a whole step) inferior to Metallica.

• 3/5 • impressive solo breakout album shifting from teen pop to more of a blue eyed soul sound • outside of Faith and maybe Father Figure, I don’t think it’s aged especially well • synths on some of the songs make the production sound tinny

• 5/5 • brilliant album - the launching point of the Radiohead sound and a bridge from grunge to the indie rock of the new century • a few outstanding singles (High and Dry, Just, Fake Plastic Trees), and no wasted tracks

• 5/5 • U2’s best album and the height of their post-punk phase - loaded with great tracks, especially New Years Day, Sunday, Two Hearts and 40

• 3/5 • Stylistically varied and polished performances, but nothing that really stands out

• 3/5 • Enjoyable but not remarkable. Not sure why it made the list, unless it’s because of a breakthrough in Hammond organ jazz.

• 3/5 • slick production and an impressive artistic shift/reinvention for Elvis • I like the country soul sound, but none of the songs really stick; if Suspicious Minds had made the album instead of being released as a separate single, it would be a solid 4+

• 3/5 • the best tracks have lovely sparse arrangements; harder songs are less interesting and more derivative • side A songs feel unbalanced, with an overemphasis on top-of-the-range volcals/falsetto • Hallelujah marks a shift and is a beautiful standout

• 4/5 • wonderfully crafted, if overwrought, prog-pop • acknowledging that it doesn’t really live up to its grand pretensions (Jungle … really?), the album is so full of great pop hooks (even on the lesser songs) and the singles are so great that it earns a bump up from 3

• 2/5 • like the innovative production and trip-hop beats, appreciate the flow, but find the lyrics to be inane and a major detractor

• 3/5 • a few enjoyable tracks, but overall impression is of The Beach Boys self-consciously trying not to sound like The Beach Boys

• 5/5 • beautiful, eclectic, and packed with great tracks • timeless

• 3/5 • love love the baseline on Roundabout, but don’t find the rest of the album enjoyable - too experimental/prog/self-indulgent

• 3/5 • it’s fine, but nothing that really stands out • curious why it made the list

• 3/5 • unobtrusive - I kept forgetting that I was listening to it

• 2/5 • Good as a lounge act, but not worth an album • Nearly every song sounds the same

• 2/5 • never understood popularity of this album. It’s essentially two songs: one funky/rappy with the same beat each time and no great innovation in the wordplay or flow; and one funky/ballady. If the album were 10 minutes long it might be 4 stars, but the repetitiveness kills it for me

• 4/5 • A great shoegaze revival from the original masters

• Mixed bag: a few really good tracks, a few fun and interesting experiments, and some filler that should probably have been left off

• 4/5 • No monster single, but several playlist worthy and every track is good • A testament to Cobain’s talent that Grohl was overshadowed in Nirvana, and a testament to Grohl’s talent that he was able to credibly define a post-grunge sound of his ownp

• 4/5 • Nicely catchy dream pop from Romy and Sim that stands above the rest by virtue of being built on the scaffolding of Jamie’s beats

• Fully realized sound and mood and several good singles • maybe it’s a victim of overplay, but I didn’t like it as much as when it first came out

• Good but not great. It’s the album where they established the sonic foundation for what woukf become Yoshimi.

• zzzzzzzzz . . . Apnea inducing

• 5/5 • The exemplar of trip-hop that excels in every component, beginning with the vocals and through to the beats, jazzy elements, fuzzy guitar, and mellow-yet-unsettling mood • A great listen all the way through, with a few fantastic tracks; Sour Times should have been the theme for a Bond film (in the best, Shirley Bassey way)

• 1/5 • Some catchy riffs and song structure left drowning in overwrought noise

• 2/5 • Sort of an extended performance art project from Waits, but the backing jazz band is legit and he’s entertaining •It might be fun to see the imagined show live but I don’t need to hear the album again

• 4/5 • Iconic post-Britpop and a phenomenal debut album • Several playlist-worthy singles and Yellow is still a gem after hearing it a billion times • Only real criticism is that the pace of the songs Is so uniformly slow that grows monotonous by the end - the whole is a bit less than the sum of the parts. Still wonderful though.

• 3/5 • Propulsive and creative, with a few catchy standout tracks (A Day at the Races, Thin Line, Sun of Us) • Love Cut Chemist’s beats and samples and Chali2na’s voice • Nearly a 4, but a bit monotonous by the end

• 3/5 • Hadn’t realized that they were such a jam band • Fun listen and wild to hear some Blues standards expanded upon in such a southern rock / jazzy way

• more expansive, less subdued sound than their debut album • good throughout and ends with the best tracks

• 5/5 • Indie chamber-pop at its best. The album is stacked front to back with great singles, and holds together sonically and thematically without feeling monotonous. • Such stripped down production

• 3/5 • Liked it better than I remembered • if only they could sing . . .

• 4/5 • Stones at the peak of their early years - dirty yet polished, so loose yet it all fits together perfectly

• 3/5 • A bit uneven, with some monotonous tracks, a few fun grooves and, of course, the one track that elevates it all: Praise You

• 3/5 • That voice . . . Hard to believe she was only 27

• 4/5 • The classic of the genre. • Packed with great tracks. The only Sabbath album I like listening to all the way through.

•3/5 • Golden Tears is good but nothing else stood out

• Walk This Way is fun. The rest haven’t aged as well . . .

• 3/5 • A fun listen and Boy Named Sue is great • I liked Folsom better

• 2/5 • Art rock maybe? If so, it’s dogs-playing-poker art • Weird Al meets Yes vibe.

• Quality hair metal (or is that an oxymoron)

• 3/5 • I like the title track and a couple others in isolation. • Unfortunately, the repetitiveness of the rhythm, percussion, vocal cadence, etc across tracks dilutes and degrades the overall listening experience.

• 4/5 • wonderful, memorable, and the model for concept albums since - but still too hokey and backward looking for a 5

• 4/5 • Pretty much a Cars greatest hits album

• it’s fine • obviously a wonderful voice, but the songs are overwrought and pretty much all sound like they were meant to be interlude tracks for some Netflix series

• 3/5 • Some great riffs and tight rhythm and guitar work, but the vocals drag it down for me

• 3/5 • Talent and energy abound, but the sound is so derivative. Eminently listenable, but not memorable.

• 3/5 • A good listen, but far from Elton’s best. Tiny Dancer is great, Levon is good, the rest are forgettable (except Indian Sunset, which is affirmatively bad)

• 1/5 • Sounds like the soundtrack of a death metal mockumentary

• 3/5 • can’t recall ever hear The MC5 before, but I like the album • title track is the highlight and the remainder is a step down but still good blues/rock

• 5/5 • A tad uneven, but Strange Brew, Sunshine, Ulysses, and SWLABR carry the album to 5 status

• 4/5 • Super tight suite - better as a whole. So many post-punk threads across 21 tracks. • How have I not heard Ex-Lion Tamer before?

• 3/5 • Two great singles (Mother and Child, Me and Julio) and the rest is forgettable, if inoffensive

• 2/5 • Do I like it? No; Do I appreciate that they are at the vanguard of sampling and industrial when it came out? Not deeply; Do I dislike it as much as Korn? Not at all (maybe Korn should sing in French) • Sounds a bit like Manhattan Steamroller went goth and scored the basement rave scene in Blade

•4/5 • deceptively loose and unrefined, but the songs are great and they hold together so well • love the album even though my favorite version of each song isn’t the original

• 3/5 • maybe it’s the vocals but a lot of the songs sound similar . . . Except Aqualung is better

• 2/5 • not offensive, but not engaging

• 3/5 • Not great, but a fun throwback to the early new wave, syth-pop sound • I don't think I'd heard Japan before, but clearly Duran Duran had . . .

• 2/5 • The raw, garage-grunge sound is cool, but the songs lack hooks

• 2/5 • Sophomoric R&B: musically simplistic and lyrically inane

• Didn't really like anything other than the title track

• 3/5 • After the first few singles, it gets pretty repetitive (with the exception of Lady Can Driver)

• 2/5 • Skillfully done, and Sugar is a good listen under the right conditions. I don’t need to hear the rest ever again.

• 2/5 • one good single (Stillness is the Move), but the rest is too art-rocky for my taste

• 3/5 • Fun photo-garage / photo-punk sound. Sesrch & Destroy is a quality single, but I didn’t love the rest. • The production is noticeably awful

• 3/5 • Like how the selections highlight his voice • Much prefer his rock/R&B work to the swing and orchestral pieces on this album

• 3/5 • Straight forward R&B/Pop. I suppose it's good, but doesn't resonate with me. • The tracks sound like they were written by committee - very polished, but uninspired and lacking a unique voice

• 3/5 • Didn't much like this when it came out, but side one has grown on me (especially Running Up That Hill); side two is still arty for me

• 2/5 • Nobody needed translated covers of Jacques Brel songs . . . Next!

• 4/5 • A bit uneven, but the jams are great and Proud Mary is exceptional

• 2/5 • Insipid • Sounds like the soundtrack to a mockumentary

• Hadn’t realized how much Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters owed to Waits. While not the original, I like Apple’s album far better . . .