1001 Albums Summary

Always been a fan of the White Stripes but mostly through their singles and never really delved deeper in albums. I found myself drifting in and out of this album with the more popular tracks being the songs that pulled me back in. Lyrically interesting and always been a fan of the efficient, driving drums and the spitty, bluesy guitar work and this album is a great example of how those two elements make The White Stripes unique and (sometimes) attention grabbing.

Lyrics great Sonically really great. Rich and interesting Really like 'Let Down' & 'Electioneering', 'No Surprises' Didn't think I'd like it as much as I did with limited Radiohead exposure/familiarity. 4/5

Amazing voice and some great versions of classic songs. 5/5

Never liked The Smiths and this album does nothing to change that. Some nice guitar sounds and Johnny Marr is great but it’s all ruined by Morrissey. Dull vocal delivery as always, accompanied by the smarmy, pseudo-intellectual moaning. He maybe has 3 lines of remotely interesting lyric or melody on the whole album. Here’s hoping I avoid any more of this dross.

Highlights are 'Drive My Car' and 'In My Life' but I'm always more struck by the middle road-ness of the other songs. Nice harmonies and occasionally interesting guitar parts (I'm looking through you). Inoffensive, nice but just alright. My issue with listening to The Beatles is that having a modern reference point removes the original context that made them so groundbreaking. So now, I just hear twee pop songs. That said, the attitude that everything they produced was an instant classic is hyperbole at best. Even The Beatles had filler tracks and Rubber Soul is no exception. It's a nice listen (apart from Run For Your Life, WTF?) but nothing more, to me.

A guitar legend and some great songs on here. A finish of 'All Along the Watchtower' and 'Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)' is pretty damn strong. However, the album itself doesn't half drag on a bit. Could be half the length but you might as well jam for a few extra minutes per song when you play like that...

Probably the best live album of all time. Impossibly cool and made even cooler by having the prisoner announcements included through the album and by playing a song written by a Folsom inmate to close out the album.

Completely uneducated when it comes to hip-hop but not completely ignorant. A fan of Beastie Boys and A Tribe called Quest so I enjoyed this. it definitely grows into itself and it also helps if you can tune Flava Flav out. There's only so many "YEAH BOOOOOOOOOOIIIII"s you can take. The guy was stealing a living. Highlights are She Watch Channel Zero?! & Prophets of Rage.

Money for Nothing gets this an automatic 3 stars but beyond that, it's a bit boring. Knopfler's guitar work is obviously great but the songs themselves aren't that interesting on the whole. It's all a bit limp.

What a voice. It's great to listen to Anita Baker's runs and there's some pretty tasty bass playing too. It's a shame there's also quite a bit of filler on the album. Anita's voice is great but the songs themselves are just too samey. Standout track 'No One In The World'.

I like Abba. The singles from this album are fantastic pop songs. The album tracks are a bit forgettable so I did find myself waiting for the singles to come around but it's a pleasant enough listen. It's just 70's pop, not sure why people get so upset about it either way.

I honestly thought I liked Led Zeppelin. At least casually. Having listened to Led Zeppelin II, I now know that I'm not a fan. I've never had time drag like when listening to this album. 41 minute run time felt like 82. 'Whole Lotta Love' whilst being a classic riff, is also mostly made of Robert Plant wailing and screeching. As is the rest of the album. For every great riff, bass or drum part, there's equal parts nails on a chalk board vocals. You can even tell when Robert Plant has ran out of lyric ideas because he'll just start shouting "BABY, BABY, BABY, BABY". Rated this based on the other 3 in the band having some great, albeit few and far between, moments.

Found this pretty boring to be honest. Like being on hold at the doctors.

These are the kind of albums I was hoping to find when listening through the 1001 generator. Something different and new (at least to me). Honestly, never intentionally/actively listened to jazz or big band but really enjoyed listening to this. Amazing playing and really dynamic. Loved 'Midnight Blue' and 'The Kid from Red Bank'. Drum fills in 'Fantail' and overall musicianship is great.

It's awful but that's ok because it's "avant garde" and it's not meant to be listenable or have structure or be bearable and...and you just don't get it, ok?! Impressively boring. Remember, things could always be worse, you could be listening to PIL.

This was ok. there were moments I found myself get into it and then others where it blended into the background. Higher Ground, Living for the City are highlights but wouldn't go out of my way to listen again. Would give 2.5 stars if I could.

Enjoyed this. Highlights, aside from the hits, are Dead Flowers & Moonlight Mile.

Always quite liked SOAD's rhythms and lyrical phrasing. Their first album shows first signs of how quirky and creative they'll go onto be on future releases. However, there are only flashes of this and it does get a bit samey as you listen through. Highlights for me are Sugar, Soil & War.

You think that everything you've done's fantastic Your music's shite it puts me to sleep There. Fixed it. Kind of boring. The most interesting part is a T-Rex riff. Lyrically dull and essentially just nursery rhymes over a pub band who liked The Beatles a bit too much. I don't understand how this was considered exciting or new but Oasis have always been their own biggest fans so hype and tabloid headlines help with the promo. The mix is also pretty bad: muddy and no space. I'm sure Oasis will crop up again and I expect that later albums are better than this. At least I hope so.

This is a nice listen. I was a fan of folklore and evermore is in a similar vein. Cosy, soft acoustic based songs. It does feel a little like a b-sides compilation from folklore as not all the songs are particularly memorable. Highlights are Coney island, Ivy & Cowboy Like Me. A decent album but not one of Taylor's best.

Enjoyed this darker funk album. Some great parts of songs but no one song that will get stuck in your head. Highlights are Brave & Strong, africa Talks to You ("The Asphalt Jungle") & (You Caught Me) Smilin' - the bass on this track is so good, but then again, the whole album is covered in great bass parts. Assuming there are other Sly albums on this list so will look forward to them coming up.

Like listening to paint dry. So full. 80s Soft jazz rock? I’m alright thanks. 2/5 as it’s inoffensive to listen to but so, so boring.

Great voice and a very listenable album. Jazz is still not totally my thing so hard to get too excited about this but I did enjoy.

I remember seeing The XX a while ago supporting Foo Fighters on a tour and thought they were quite boring then. I still think that. Vocally and lyrically, it's an interesting but the music itself is so monotonous. There's barely a change in tempo/energy for the whole record. Opening track 'Dangerous', like many of the tracks, just feels like it needs to go somewhere but doesn't. It's an overall pleasant enough album but just melds into one, long mid-tempo indie pop track.

Quite liked this. A few filler tracks towards the end and it's long. Highlights are Not If you Were The Last Junkie On Earth, Every Day Should be a Holiday and Hard on for Jesus.

This was nice to have on in the background. Which is partly why it only got 3 stars. I can appreciate the musicianship but some of it just seemed to disappear into the background. I think partly, this just isn’t really my genre so it’s difficult to get blown away at any point or hear anything that grabs my attention. Like I said, it’s a nice listen, but nothing life changing.

What a beautiful voice. I'm not a die-hard country fan but this is what I think of when I think of 'real' country music, great storytelling. Highlights are Before Believing, Sleepless Nights & Bluebird Wine.

As a live album, it’s pretty good. It’s well mixed and the performances are solid but the songs themselves are just ok. I wouldn’t find myself going back to this or any other Frampton record to be honest.

Heard of Teenage Fan Club but never listened to them so didn’t know what to expect. The album opens with high gain guitars and feedback and the launches into a mid tempo pop rock song which is a little underwhelming. The rest of the album sits at that middle of the road level with the occasional increase in urgency/grit. It’s not bad but it’s not great either.

Very middle of the road. There are odd bits that are interesting but ultimately, it’s bland soft jazz rock. Wouldn’t choose to listen again.

Yeah, it’s all a bit derivative. All artists borrow but this feels more like theft. Lyrics are socially conscious but not remotely subtle or clever in how they talk about the issues, it’s all very preachy. The music itself is pretty good. The band are tight with some great bass lines but it’s just let down by the vocal and lyrical content. In Jamiroquai’s defence, Virtual Insanity & Deeper Underground are great songs. They’re just not on this album.

Had never heard of Grant Lee Buffalo before and ended up quite enjoying this. Unique vocal style and a few really solid songs that made me want to listen on. Shades of Neil Young but also can hear similarities with contemporaries like R.E.M and Smashing Pumpkins. Some of the vocal delivery also reminded me of Lana Del Ray strangely enough. Maybe it's the tone/intonation, who knows?! Highlights are The Hook, America Snoring and You Just Have To Be Crazy.

This was ok. I didn't think this album was so poppy and at some points has Iggy Pop doing some kind of punk Frank Sinatra impersonation which is weird and doesn't really work. Lust For Life & The Passenger are the obvious stand outs.

CeeLo Green...Is The Soul Machine. Then why no soul CeeLo? There's the occasional soul beat or hint of soul but nothing that could be classed as out and out soul. I think maybe All Day Love Affair comes the closest? It's kinda fun in parts but the only other song I really liked was Childz Play and that's 'cause I like Ludacris. This is like so many R&B rap albums of the time but not one of the better ones. There's no doubt he has a a voice for soul but he just doesn't use it for that genre on this album and he's not really a rapper either. Also, how and why is this album 1hr 5 mins long?!

It’s slightly better written hold music. Totally fine on in the background but nothing particularly interesting.

Not a Beatles fan but at least when they started they were doing something new and exciting. By the time we get to 1971, the Beatles are over and this album proves that there's no I in team. The title track is insipid, just some rich bloke being out of touch. Peace and love unless you step out line, eh John? Although I do like the main piano line. As for the rest of it, he really should have just left the white man blues to the Rolling Stones. At least they were good at it. The whole album feels insincere and self-absorbed. The production's good and ultimately, it's not unlistenable.

Tainted Love is a banger but the rest of the album isn't really. Find the vocal style a bit annoying too.

Enjoyed the lyrics and band performances of this but I'm not a massive fan of Costello's vocals. So much so that I don't think I'd listen to him regularly. Highlights are Pump It Up, Little Triggers & Lipstick Vogue.

Pretty solid collection of classic Christmas songs!

After the first track, I was instantly into this. Raw, wild and great vocals.

Solid album that at the time, felt like a new era in British rock. Lyrics and delivery are interesting and guitar parts are angular and catchy

I bet at the time this was great but hasn’t aged that well. Especially compared with similar releases from the same time period.

It’s ok 90’s grunge/rock. Not sure why I’d need to listen to it before dying though.

Just think. There are people in this world who consider Kid Rock to be the peak of musical excellence. I'd imagine he has fans worldwide. Anyway, register to vote.

Jump, Panama and Hot for Teacher are classic hair metal tracks but the rest of the tracks aren’t quite up to the same standard even with EVH’s guitar playing pulling them along.

Not my cup of tea at all but Scotty’s got a pleasant enough voice

Raining blood should be the opener for this album. Bizarre decision to put it mid album! It’s all very much one tempo but that is thrash metal, or it was at the start. Other bands did it better but maybe not as fast. This album is too monotonous for me despite being a metal fan.

The music is ok but the vocals are so annoying

Never fully listened to a Dylan album but enjoyed this. Yes, he can’t really sing but he’s part of a long list of people who made a career in music despite their vocals. At least his lyrics are interesting and so is the delivery. Bit same as you listen through but there’s enough there to keep you interested

Never fully listened to a Dylan album but enjoyed this. Yes, he can’t really sing but he’s part of a long list of people who made a career in music despite their vocals. At least his lyrics are interesting and so is the delivery. Bit same as you listen through but there’s enough there to keep you interested

Combines genres and introduces new sounds and rhythms to punk but does get a little repetitious as the album progresses. Highlights are The Right Profile, Rudie Can’t Fail & London Calling.

Kind of anaemic indie pop that never quite goes anywhere. Lead single ‘Wake Up’ probably does the best job of having some backbone but the rest is just a bit dull

A nice listen and something a bit different to my recent run on 1001.

More Steely Dan?! How? Why? I could’ve gone my whole life without listening to a single song and now I’ve listened to three albums of this boring drivel. There are very few artists who have produced enough great music to feature multiple times on a list like this and Steely fucking Dan certainly ain’t one of them.

Dull music for people who think they’re interesting.

The LED just aren’t for me. Immigrant Song is great as are a few other tracks but can’t listen to Plant’s voice for that long. Nails on a chalkboard spring to mind.

Wouldn’t even be on 100000000001 albums to listen to before you die