I've listened to enough Afro/Soul-Funk to know that I can only really enjoy about 25 minutes of it. But I can see both the inspiration and the novelty of this album. But Suite II Overture was my favorite part and it was obviously the only non-pop-funk song on the album lol

Starts off strong, rocks hard, and then runs on for about an hour too long.

What a pleasant and optimistic lil album

On the first song, I really thought they were saying "Alex I see you" which creeped me out. This album breaks the stereotype of the 80s new wave pop album. Lust to Love is low-key punk? The fact that this album came out in early 1980s and yet boring 80s pop still dominated the decade baffles me.

The songs get a little too repetitive for me, but bonus points because sonically it has that signature Nirvana excitement. Also how does Nirvana have like 2 albums yet they still repeat guitar riffs?

I'm sort of shocked this made it into the top 1000 albums given that it's pretty generic rock. Not that they are perfectly comparable since Kings of Leon has more of a Southern spin, but aren't there like 3 Red Hot Chili Pepper albums better than this?

This album is actually one song too short, I'd love to have a little bit more. Great album artwork, I like to think that I'm the clown in the suit sitting with the pigeons in the gutter. Also listening to some of War's other albums this weekend, I discovered that they are the creators of the George Lopez shoe's theme song. I would've never guessed, the vocal distortion / lack of soulful singing in that song is a total shift from the rest of their work on TWIAG and Why Can't We Be Friends?

I apologize to vaasavi and the vaasavis and Bruce Springsteen and his family for my lack of professionalism. I did not direct my full attention to this album. Unfortunately, I find it far too boring to relisten. Springsteen is one of those artists where Americans are forced to listen to him in many situations, and while he has some really well written songs, listening to full albums can feel like pop-rock torture.

The influence of Joy Division on more modern music is incredible. I don't pick them up often because I think some of the bands they influenced down the line are more interesting, but I always enjoy diving back in. How good is 24 Hours? 4/5

I'm a big jazz fan yet I don't see why this in particular was recommended. There is a nice blend of smooth jazz, a little bit of bop, and a small tad of scooby-doo searching through an old creepy cellar music (Sameeda). I still enjoyed it (3.5 / 5), but I would like an explanation for why this was selected. Can I speak to the manager?

Oasis may be a meme, but they can really rock. Supersonic and a few other songs are just flirting with that same early-90s space rock revival sound that the Verve were perfecting on A Storm In Heaven and A Northern Soul. Oasis just didn't lean into the distortion as much as other bands during this time which is probably why they came out of the decade as the most popular. 4/5

I love Songs in the Key of Life, but this wasn't as enthralling for me. I do wonder if people who use to listen to Stevie Wonder all the time were just happier people. I always picture a group of people smiling and dancing next to the a record player when I listen to his albums. 3.5 / 5 rounded up to a 4 because I REALLY like Songs in the Key of Life

I effing love this album, it has so much excitement, passion, and a big sound. And that isn't just me being a nostalgic millenial because foremost, I am not a millenial. And also because I only started listening to this album in 2019.

I'm not gonna argue that this is in the same realm as All Things Must Pass - but I don't think they need to be compared (though the jab at George's religion in I Found Out is unnecessary). Both John and George are drawing great elements from late Beatles sounds. John has that funk-rock positivity that I love. This album rocks in simplicity. Does anyone else think Remember sounds a lot like I Dig Love?

I can't quite put my finger on it (though the album cover is a big contributing factor), but I find this dude creepy. Him singing about hooking up on moondance gives some serious pervert vibes to me. However, this album is infinitely better than Astral Weeks, I respect how much his sound and lyrics evolved from that garbage can. 4/5

if this inspired Godspeed! then I will acknowledge it's contribution. But listening to this out of context, it has moments of intrigue tempered by moments of blandness. 3.5 rounded to a 3

I don't have much to say, this was just really nice to listen to

This is the only Stones album I listen to because it's got all you'd ever want on it. Gimme Shelter is an all time banger, the twang in Love In Vain, You Can't Always Get What You Want is a Glee Cast classic ... hit after hit 5/5

sergeant pepper wanna be. honestly though, there were some enjoyable songs on this album - when i was ready to move on with my life, Walking Through My Dreams pulled me back in. 3.5 rounded down to 3.

That's one manic cat singing up there, 3/5

Similar to the Killer's, there isn't anything bad here but by the end I'm bored 2/5

This song rocks harder and is more engaging than other rock albums we've listened to imo, plus they bring in that the Doors-era psych spin to their music, so 4/5

What was it about pre-00s male artists that love writing songs about "stupid" or "dumb" girls"? Rolling Stones, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Run-DMC... the only worse trend was referring to sexual partners as "little girl", i.e. in Going Home, he says "touch me one more time ... little girl". The ablum has some good jingles (Doncha Bother Me, Going Home), but some songs are just grinding to listen to (Out Of Time is a 5:30 song that is 4 minutes too long). Yet, I have to give this credit for sounding like the early 70s in the mid 60s. Clearly this album was influential to rock and roll. 3/5

This sounds so much like the late 00s early 10s. You have your chamber pop songs (first few songs), you have your indie pop/rock songs (Grounds for Divorce)... all in the same vein as a band like Local Natives. An Audience With The Pope could be a B side Hozier song. There's something about this era that makes it sound like the lead singer is saying something really profound. Certainly a song from this era of indie music needed to make it on the 1001 list, and this is overall a pretty good listen. Not sure I see what was exceptionally special about this album vs. the rest of the genre, but solid 3.5 / 5 rounded up to 4

Not gonna lie I really enjoyed Gematria. It's a classic white man's account of the hardships of the American experience for so many: the country isn't leaving you behind or oppressing you because you're black, a woman, or any other minority, it's coming for everyone who isn't in power. And if your coping mechanism with the injustices of American imperialism or domestic failures of the American dream is religion, how will you cope if God doesn't even care? While it's an extreme opinion that overlooks actual structural racism or hardships for minorities, the overall sentiment probably resonates more with the working white poor. I also am convinced that a Deftones album is on its way because songs like Gehenna are clearly influenced by Deftones vocals. The album is definitely too long, I think it probably should've ended right before Snuff which just sounds like a A Day to Remember song which has that uninteresting teenage angst sound to me. 3.5/5, probably would've rounded this up to a 4 before Snuff but down to a 3 after because it was just too long to listen to metal.

I understand why this album makes the list because it's a genuinely unique and creative album, but there literally isn't a single song/spoken word poem on this album that I would ever want to hear again. The beats are sub-par and unexciting (somehow it even misses the mark for a simple boom-bap beat), the subject matter is unappealing and comes closes but almost always misses the mark on meaningful introspection. The rhyme schemes are creative but wasted (imo) on bad songs. I seriously struggled to finish this, would've rather kept listening to the Verve. 1/5 as a musical album, 4/5 as an album that is probably worthwhile to make the 1001 list.

This is legitimately one of my favorite albums; I've already listened to it twice this week but am happy to make it a third. Speaking as a relatively uninformed American, I recognize that there is something beautiful about modern artists bringing a fresh twist on classical / traditional music in Latin American countries. I think Natalia Lafourcade is the best modern example, but BVSC's inspiration from the dark yet musically rich days of Batista is beautiful. Now to the actually composition of the songs, I liken it to the rock n' roll days of Neil Young and Crazy Horse where the lyrics are simple but the jams are drawn out, sophisticated, and exciting. El Cuarto de Tula is one of my favorite songs of all time. 5/5

Wow, two of my favorite albums in a row. This album is as close to perfect as an album can get for me. The double tracked vocals over Elliott's complex yet effortless guitar riffs and the expert production of the album makes it seem like he's whispering his poetry directly into your head. The flow between upbeat and uplifting songs and heartbreaking downtempo songs is unrivaled. The fact that he wrote the lyrics and orchestrated the music, sang vocals, and played guitar, drums, piano and bass on this album blows my mind. I wouldn't even say this is his best album, but it's still a 5/5

First off, at first I thought using Jay Z's Public Service Announcement to kick off the album was a cool idea with some cultural context that I don't understand, but doing some research I see no online discussions of the PSA sample, so I guess that's lost to history. Regardless, her voice is out of this world. Also the transition from Walk Away and Fighter is flawless. The album in general dragged on a little too long for me, so it's a 3.5 instead of a 4, and it gets the round up since this was better than a lot of other albums we've had. 4/5

Why is this American dabbling in brit-pop? The highlight of the album was the unexpected entrance of the accordion and brass on the opening track, which was otherwise just a tired and uninspired reflection on growing up. I just didn't find this all that interesting but it's an acceptable 2.5/5 down to a 2

ATCQ is always a good vibe, fun rhymes and good beats. But I tire of it by the end of the album. 3.5 down to a 3.

This album is so fun and rocks hard. I don't listen to many blues-inspired artists but love the ones I do. I'm not sure I would go as far as to say I'm a big Black Keys fan, but I love this album. 5/5

So many great moments in this album that puts it at #1 on rym's top album of all time. It undeniably has the best intro song of all time. It may be a 100-way tie with other incredible albums, but #1 nonetheless. Sonically, the incorporation of jazz into the album and keeping the listener engaged through the funky interludes is masterful. The use of the low strings and horns to build an ominous feeling as the "remember you was conflicted" unravels is so good. The first time I listened to Mortal Man and it's revealed that he's reading the poem to Tupac, my mind was blown. The second verse on Blacker the Berry has to be one of the tightest verses in all of rap, and Assassin's feature verse is unbelievable. The music video for Alright blew my 18 y.o. mind. I also learned that if you leave a voicemail on a rapper's phone, good chance you make the next album or mixed tape. This is also perfect evidence that 60+ min albums don't HAVE to be too long, but only the most perfectly curated albums can be 78 minutes and still capture attention the whole time. The fact that the "single version" of i exists is so depressing. Imagine listening to this album your main takeaway being "wow i don't like how he says the police want to see a black man dead." It's the same energy as watching an episode of Queer Eye and the main take-away being "why is that dude wearing a dress." I hate revealing how white I am, but listening to these conscious rap albums from Kendrick and Vince after watching Menace II Society makes me respect these artists for sharing their art with the world so much more, recognizing that the average listener won't understand their lived experience. It's impossible to pick out a favorite line, but I whimsically love "The devil wanna put me in a bowtie" 5/5 ofc

I'll take L'Orange over this any day of the week, 3/5

This is like a really bad Bombay Bicycle Club

Honestly listening to this album felt like we were just cruising with the top down shooting the breeze with these fellas, talking about rock bottom 3.5 rounded down to 3/5

10 minutes in, I thought "woah, Lynyrd Skynrd has a song on the Happy Gilmore soundtrack! And it's actually really good!" By the end of my second listen through, I realized there is a lot of depth to this album. I love the southern spin and the intentionality of this album. A lot of these classic rock albums we've been listening to sound more carefree and effortless, like it was recorded off the cuff. But this sounds like a well curated final product which is really refreshing. I might have actually dropped the kings of leon album down another star had i listened to this first because this is a guiding star of southern rock. The only pause i have from giving 5/5 is the stupid southern toxic machismo of Mississippi kid, but ill still do it

I love the Doors, but this is a second-tier album from them. That being said, it's still a 4.

This album's lows are way too low, and that's coming from a huge fan of 90's alt and slacker rock. The highs are still there - the edge of the acoustic guitar on Happily Divided perfectly dabbled into a bit of slowcore style drab. But this ranks very low on my list of good alt slacker rock albums from the 90s, especially since it came out at the same time as Pavement's best albums. 2.5 rounded down

I like slacker rock, but slacker pop walks the line between being carefree / fun and being outright annoying. Around 22 min in (My My Metrocard), the novelty of the late 90s/early 00s dance-pop slacker pop had run dry. 2/5

I don't like the actual music but the interludes are dope so I'll throw it a 3.5 rounded down

I really don't know how I feel about this album. Most of the songs were blues bangers, but the album played like a collection of singles more than an album. I'll throw it a 4/5 noting that I really need another listen

This isnt even a top 5 Beatles album for me but it's still a 4

I really didn't find this interesting, the lyrics are corny and sonically I was unimpressed. 2/5

I'm so shocked that I enjoyed this both lyrically and sonically that i'm gonna go crazy and say 4.5 / 5, but then go less crazy and round down to 4.

The beats, production value, and bars blew me away even though it's what Wu-tang is known for. However, I struggle to get past songs like Three Bricks that are quasi-glorifying violence. 4/5

I'm shocked by how much I enjoy this album since I avoided it my whole life. It just rocks, it's a timeless album.

Wow this was BLAND. A few times I thought the album had started over because I was convinced I'd already heard the song. The Time of the Season is the only song that stuck out to me. 2/5

They may be one of the godfathers of slacker rock, but there's a little too little rock and too much terrible singing for me to get behind. More Striped White Jets, Blimps Go 90, and Alright and this gets a stronger consideration from me. 2.5/5 down to 2

While i did perk up a bit after realizing The Band played with Dylan on the Basement Tapes, it didn't overcome the fact that The Band is mostly bland. 2.5/5 rounded down to 2 as I expected more

Lowdown has a great sound to it ... and then a bunch of songs afterwards do too. I can get down to this, probs need a few more listens. If Vaas couldn't catch Elliott Smith's lyrics, not a chance she gets the lyrics from these punks. 4/5

This is such a haunting and rich album. I love that he picked Fiona Apple as a feature, and his song selection is top tier (other than Danny Boy, not a fan of that one). I do wish he had picked a Dylan song, but I can't projection my own wishes on a legend's last album.

Is it just me or do these guys have nothing to say at all? Like, I know it's essentially just pop music mapped to "hard" rock, but how do they have nothing to say at all? At least one or two songs kinda rock, so I guess 1.5 rounded up to 2/5

This is more pop and less rock than I expected. It was actually better than Guns N Roses. Maybe it's being forced to hear these 80s pop songs on soundtracks, in grocery stores, and in commercials my whole life, but I find the sound of this album so tired. It's not 1/5 bad, it's probably 2.5 rounded down bad.

In my opinion, this is a top 5 album we've listened to so far, and remarkably, this isn't even a top 5 Dylan album for me. Maggie's Farm is definitely a top 5 Dylan song though. 5/5

WAY TOO LONG!!! I thought the album was coming to a close around Sparrow, and the album was barely half way finished. Then A Funk Space Reincarnation really sounded like an outro. 2.5 rounded down

Even if I didn't know what soul was, I would still listen to this and think "wow this guy has a lot of soul", so I think it's well classified. The instrumentation supports his soulful vocals so well, I loved the happy trumpet breaking through in Wonderful World. Ironically, I think Wonderful World has basically become a mantra in the US - I don't need to know much as long as I'm happy. The song plays better sung by a world-class musician who dropped out of high school due to economic disparities driven by racism tho. 5/5

Funk always sounds so strange to my ear since I listen to it so rarely. I love the vibes and the intentional care-free style of it. "Who Says a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?!" is my favorite song with its cheeky lyrics and rocking sonics, "P.E. Squad / Doo Doo Chasers" was also a great jam song. I really liked how I was advertised nutrition bars during it since this album isn't on spotify and therefore requires an ad-filled listening experience. Like every time we listen to an album outside our usual genre, I'm gonna play this safe and give it a 3.5 because I don't have much to compare it to. Since I liked The World is a Ghetto more than this and that was a 4, I'll round this down to a 3.

Finally some Chicago boys! Kanye on the beats and Common on the mic is a killer combo. If only this album could've come out 2 years later, adding Lupe as a collaborator would've completed the Chicago trifecta. The intro is one of the best of the era imo. Plus this album can have goofy verses like those on "The Food" and then drop flawless bars on Real People all supported by a light and breezy jazz beat. It blows me away how Common effortlessly addresses the traumas of living in south side Chicago, acknowledges his own temptation to pass on the trauma, and still challenges himself to humanize his abusers and the abused all in the same song. "I wonder if the spirits of Bob Marley and Haile Selassie Watch me as the cops be tryna pop and lock me They cocky, plus they mentality is Nazi The way they treat blacks, I wanna snap like paparazzi" ... "Told to go beyond the surface, a person's a person When we lessen our women, our conditions seem to worsen" It's Your World is also one of my favorite outros. Rap isn't my go-to genre, but no genre can amaze me lyrically as much as rappers. My dad argues that Sondheim is the best social commentator, but there's nothing that inspires me more than the most abused members of society challenging everyone to be better. 5/5

Seems like Pink Flag > Black Flag. I can see how Billy Joe Armstrong was influenced by these guys, but I'm a strong believer that punk can be more than fatalist or nihilist musings of angsty teams. I look for something a little more tongue-in-cheek and optimism in my punk which is probably why I like pink flag more. Go figure that Rise Above is black flag's most popular song. Not every album can be Dookie, but albums that aren't Dookie aren't getting 5s. This one is getting a 3.

Apparently I listened to this album back in 2021 and rated it 4/5. It gives strong Magnolia Electric Co vibes, just a little less rock-heavy and more folk-heavy, but like all albums on this list, it came out a few years before the album it reminds me of. I'll throw it another 4 despite not having anything more to say on it. It sounds like something I'd like so no reason to dig too much deeper

One of those bands where people think the writing is really deep and get a lot out of the songs, but I definitely don't. Songs like Life in the Fast Lane are just a waste of time for me, where's the intrigue? The writing is slightly more complex than the average pop song, but not by much. The rock songs with boring lyrics are blended in with boring ballads like Wasted Time which makes it that much harder to listen to. Plus you add in the plausibly problematic fact that these guys are consistently judging women "out in those bars" after a breakup. "I could be wrong, but I'm not, no I'm not" is also one of the most obnoxious things I've heard a boy band say after telling a woman how she feels. Even writing a song about environmentalism ain't gonna save this from a 1/5. I'll be curious to see what the rest of the group thinks, because I think the Eagles will be lost to time here in another decade.

I listened to this 3 times and never came away with any discerning thoughts. I think I liked it, so let's give it a 3.5 rounded down to 3. Easily could be a 4.

The album cover is interesting, but I just struggle to get into thrasher music. The guitar sequences all sound the same to me. Why not add some distortions and just be shoegaze smh. 2.5 rounded down(?) because it really wasn't good, bad it isn't super bad

I genuinely don't know what I'm supposed to get from this album. It's quirky pop rock that could've been notable had it come out in the 60s, but it seems like pretty cookie cutter neo-psychedelia rock. 3/5 because it was a fine listen.

Another day, another chance for me to not have an interesting review. The best part of the album is the album artwork. Musically, things are fine and interesting enough. The blues-y guitar is nice, and the vocals are only slightly tainted by that 70s pop jangle. A 3.5 rounded up

Listen, it's going to be really challenging for me to give a Nick Drake album less than a 5. That's just how it is.

She's got such a strange carefree way of singing in general that I struggle to enjoy her music. Like you can't just talk quickly without rhyming and call it singing. However, there were actually a few songs i liked (Raised on robbery, free man in Paris, twisted), so I'll give it a 3.5 rounded down

Not gonna lie, I was pretty surprised when I thought my phone meeped out and failed to submit my rating yesterday, only to realize that it was in fact another Joni Mitchell album that the 1001 gods prescribed to me. This album has all the same flaws as the last. Admittedly I thought The Jungle Line had an interesting sound, kinda like Q*bert music 7 years before the game would be released. I guess this is a solid 3/5. If I was in a worse mood, i could've justified a 2.5.

It's crazy to think back to 2012. OF mixed tap Vol2 comes out and you realize that the ceiling is so much higher than Goblin, and then Frank drops cO and you realize these punks are going to actually produce great music. It takes Tyler 5 years to release an actual album, and here's Frank producing great work in 2012. Now my white straight man take - this album also perfectly capitalizes on the chill-wave era in an unexpected way. You have bands like Neon Indian, Washed Out, and Starfucker creating really great bops but with slow-paced development. Even thinking about the xx coming out of this era, you have popular musicians incorporating sparsity in their albums, letting the lyrics trickle out over either an exciting or devastating backdrop. Frank never rushes into an album and there's so much more emotion in his music because of it. Also random observation - doesn't Bad Religion have the same organ sequence as Jesus Lord off Donda? It's the same 4 notes on the same organ looped over the whole track ...

This sounds like what some old baptist woman queued up for us after she learned we were listening to songs about wet tits yesterday. I'd love to give this a 1 star because the whole album's lyrics must've been written in one afternoon, but I really didn't mind listening to it. 2.5 that was almost rounded up, but You Got A Reputation makes me round down. Singing songs shaming people for "running around" should tear the Byrds' reputation down.

The first half of this album sounds like an uncovered lost album from MGMT. Strange Ones to Sitting Up Straight was a high point of the album, that stretch sounds like MGMT and the Pixies collabed. I also loved the harmonica on Time and basically the rest of the album. The first half was nothing special, but the second half was strong. This deserves somewhere between a 3 and 4, probably a 3.75. We'll round ... down.

I thought the sound of screaming fans was obnoxious in the Era's Tour movie, but this is on a whole different level. I would never listen to this again unless there is a remastered version that removes the crowd sounds, and that's coming from someone who loves live albums.

This album sounds like a band with nothing to say stole the vocals (and to some extent the sound) from a Deftones album that was released a year earlier. The fact that Korn had any fanbase by 1998 when people could've just move towards a much better Deftones doesn't make any sense to me. 1.5 out of 5 rounded down because the rapping is so lame on this album and All In The Family is just uncomfortable in so many ways. Also that's the worst outro I've ever heard. I don't even know why this album made the list, it seems like people generally like Korn's debut more.

What is it about metal bands where they produce a completely homogeneous album and then throw in an actual song as the final track. The whole album blended together for me in a bad way, and my loyal fans already know that I thought it was 10min too long. 2/5 just to separate this from the Korn album.

I checked last.fm and I've listened to this album almost 100 times in my life (mostly from high school and college) and it still holds up. The xx taught me how valuable pace and sparsity can be in an album. When you aren't layering instrumentation, even silence starts to sound like an instrument. Every single song on this album is a 5/5 for me, and unless you start blending songs from Coexist into the track list, you would never want to shuffle the album. Now back onto my soap box about how too many of these albums are too long: this xx album is 38 minutes; 3 years later, they release their 2nd album which is 37 minutes; another 5 years goes by, and they release a 39min album. In 8 years, the xx didn't waste a single second of my time. That's the blue print for all these albums that are over 60 minutes with filler junk songs. I understand why Katy Perry is writing garbage songs to fill up space between her singles on albums, but why are these 1001 top albums trying to fill up so much space? Anyway, this is a 5

It's funny that Born in the US is the famous track of this album because the song immediately following it is so much better. In general, this has both that 80s sounds and country-ish vocals that I really dislike. But Cover Me really had a nice sound. 2.5 rounded down. You put a song like "I'm Goin Down" on an album and you aren't cracking into the 3+ stars.

This album is weird, sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way. One of the songs was a 4.5/5, a few were 3/5 and one or two were 2/5. So I will average it to a 3/5. That feels marginally optimistic, and if I did another listen it could be a 2.

I never knew this was a cultural phenomenon until much later, but I still harbor unfettered hatred for U2 from their stunt with iTunes. Coercively listening to music is never pleasant and I can't overcome my disdain for their sound. Even if I try to be partial, this would never be greater than 3/5 because there's just something interesting missing from U2 - an edginess maybe? Stick to featuring on Kendrick albums, buddy.

There's something relaxing about simple gunslinger stories over soft acoustic and rhyme scheme. But I've never been a fan of the Johnny Cash / Nick Cave style of idealizing violence behind some masculine machismo. That being said, the whole album felt like a dark spin on something Andy Griffith would sing to Aunt B on his porch after dinner, and the vocals on El Paso were impressive. I can see me picking up this album when I need some light and breezy music. 3.5 rounded down seems reasonable.

Soul auctioneer sounds like a Gorillaz song, the others are just fine background music. Nothing contentious about this one, 3.

A bunch of 5/5 songs. Hateful was my favorite. If this album was 5 songs shorter, it could've been 5/5. But it droned on about 15 songs too long without adding any differentiating bops, so 4/5

A contender for my least favorite Beatles album, but it's still not a bad listen. 3/5

Maybe it's the era I grew up in, but many of these very early slacker rock/pop albums make me think the albums were genuinely prepared in a matter of hours. I want complexity that feels effortless and lazy on the surface, not simple carefree tunes. Nevertheless I enjoyed this album other than the song about drugging girls. There were some Pixie-esque vocals which was appreciated. 3/5

I prefer Neil Young rocking out with Crazy Horse. This slower soft rock/folk has a much lower floor and ceiling, but overall I found this to be a fine if not uninspiring listen.

Sinatra is always an easy listen, the horns and the plungered trumpet with the silky smooth vocals is vintage. Nevertheless, even though Sinatra does what he does really well, the ceiling for his brand of music is pretty low. There isn't anything daring or dazzling about perfecting generic mid-century tunes. Not sure Sinatra can crack above 3.5 for me, so he's rounded down 3

I'm curious to know when the average Sly & The Family Stone listens to their music. Is this "driving in a car down the highway" music? Getting drunk with your friends and singing along music? I can't get into funk/soul and would just like to know how best to enjoy it.

I think the headline for this album is "Fun Twangy Instrumentation, Suspect Vocals". The Night is an interesting song, just a wood-chopping brother of a Confederate martyr who wishes those damn Yankees hadn't destroyed the local railroad and extracted all the local wealth, damn carpetbaggers. At least they left the wood. Guess this this song from 1969 was written before the South undermined the Reconstruction Era and prioritized Jim Crow laws.

When I saw this was 28 songs I thought OH GOD NO. And then I saw it was only 30ish minutes and thought "sweet". Then towards the end of the first song I thought, wait are they saying words or just grumbling syllables and was genuinely shocked to learn real English words were being uttered. Apparently this album falls under the subgenre "Stenchcore" which is a first for me. I actually liked Siege of Power, they almost tapped into a bit of glitch-pop imo and could've been produced by MC Ride. The vocals are consistently obnoxious to me however, at least I can understand MC Ride. And on Control, why do they rhyme "head" with "death" when they could just have used "you're dead" instead of "your death"? I guess that's the fascist in me talking... I also loved "You Suffer", it totally caught me off guard. Here's a blurb I found about it: "The song has earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest recorded song ever. It is precisely 1.316 seconds long. The song’s writer, Justin Broadrick, said: 'You Suffer was largely a comedy thing, one-second song. Utterly retarded. It’s ridiculous, but it was hilarious. We played that song in front of 30 local kids, like, every weekend. We played that song 30 times. It was a laugh.' " I actually laughed at the mouth noises during Success lol Also, kudos to anyone who picked up that both the lead guitarist and lead vocalist changed half way through the album. Apparently the core contributors of the band changed during the recording of the album and they just split the album into two, the old at the front and the new at the back. Even though the vocals are grating at times, I can get down to some of these thrashes, again because they're glitch adjacent and cracked me up at times. 3.5/5 rounded down.

Listen, I'm not a big david bowie guy. And I'm just talking about musically, I'm not going to judge his cultural importance because he obviously was a vibrant character of the 20th century. But I don't think he has an album above a 3/5 star. His voice is reminiscent of an era of music where rockstars could get away with completely uninspiring vocals. That being said, I can see how this album is influential (musically) because I can see similar elements to The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here which came out 1 and 3 years later. If this album came out in 1975, I'd be giving it a 2. But since it seems to have had some influence on Pink Floyd and certainly others, and because the second half of he album is much stronger than the first (only Moonage Daydream is worth a damn the first half, but Ziggy Stardust and Suffragette City are good tunes), I'll throw it a 3 star.

Overall meh, not too much to celebrate here

Without listening to them too much, it seems like the Temptations dabble in a few different subgenres, and all of them are enjoyable to listen. I can't pick any specific standout songs on the album but I just bopped back in forth in my office chair throughout. Easy 3.5/5, will say 4 because I never wondered how much time was left.

This album starts strong and sustains greatness throughout. Also an all-time album cover. The songs are sweet if not tantalizing at times (lol), engaging, and pleasant. I come back to this when people try to say that Paul Simon's solo work is superior, which is absolutely isn't. Baby Driver is a rare example where an American group builds off 60s Brit-Pop without being annoying. This is probably a 4.5 / 5, but I'll round it up today where I may round down another

I love long winding songs, and maybe it's because my water bottle was just run over by a campus bus, but I almost DNF'ed this album listening to Grey/Afro. I even took a break half way through it because my headphones died. I liked how this album had a completely different sound on each song for the first half, but I just wanted it to END the second half. This album is unequivocally not required to be listened to before dying.

This sounds quintessentially 90s, like a slightly less edgy Mellow Gold. but by 96 this slacker sound had already permeated and this album isn't consistently interesting throughout, so I'm a little puzzled by its inclusion. Still an overall fine album, but I wouldn't rush to a relisten.

My first instinct was to designate this album artwork as the least inspiring cover of all time. But after finishing the album, now I'm questioning whether its actually satire? Because she looks like a prude preacher's wife, and the first half of the album sounds like a Taylor Swift album to me, where you have your songs about how your man is the most important thing in the world to you, and then you have your songs about being wronged by a lover/ex, etc, and willing to stick up for yourself when push comes to shove. But then as you work through the album, you realize that she isn't some hopeless romantic perpetuating the idea that women are only as good as their man - she's out on the town, cheating on her cheating man, and the whole works. And suddenly I'm wondering, is the prude on the album cover actually independent and fiery? Anyway, not the best music.

The first time I listened to this a few years ago, I had never listened to any of the Door's albums. After even the first listen, I absolutely fell in love and am still blown away by this album, along with a few others. The fact that a debut album can be one of the best of all time and still hold up so well 50 years later is amazing.

I've never listened to ZZ Top before and only know them because the one guy was on Bones and they had the theme song on Duck Dynasty. Pretty cool album, I liked the Blues inspiration, and the TV Dinner song was hilarious. Pretty easy 4/5 for me

I've listened to this album 4 times today and am confident that I find it to firmly be a 4.5/5. I find a really interesting diversity in the bands that I see inspired by this album - Wilco, The Black Keys, amongst others. I haven't studied the lyrics, but the sound is just interesting and unique. Will come back to this in the future. Round up just because it's the first time in a while that I listened to an album I haven't previously discovered and really enjoyed it.

I don't know about this one

Finally some jam songs from the 90s. Brendan #1 is excellently orchestrated, reminds me of some jam songs by Ride a few years later. I was expecting this to be more shoegazey since their big hit (I'm So Tired) is like a legendary song in the shoegaze community. While this album wasn't as good as I was expecting since Fugazi is so highly respected online, I still really enjoyed the sound of the album, and it sounded much more mid-90s than early. So 4/5.

My god, this has to be the best week of 1001 we've had. Only Morrissey can double track his vocals where one track is him just moaning and it sound so incredible. The way the Smiths are so ironic and tongue-in-cheek band yet evoke so much emotion is what makes them great. MiM isn't my favorite Smith's album (I'll even take the Hatful of Harrow compilation over it), but it's still a great album.

When I listened to this back in 2022, I thought it was lame. But this time around, I enjoyed both the rock-oriented and softer songs. The lyrics and vocals are sincere and not cheesy like I thought the first time.4/5

Beck is always cool but never great imo. Most of his work is between a 3.5/4 for me. I'll round up because I'm just happy to be listening to music again after a week off

Who doesn't enjoy some Cabaret every once in a while? They give you their charity with pious Christian prayers. They look after the unwed young mother, for they need every prole they can get. They'll also provide the coffin.... (when he dies). Proletarians! Don't fall for this swindle! They owe you more than you give. They owe you everything: The land, the mountains and the factories ..... They owe you happiness and life. Take what you fight for. Don't take their lies. Think about your class! And be tough!

I've never listened to Gene Clark before, and again I might be riding the 8 day hiatus high, but I seriously enjoyed this album. Such a diversity of sounds and themes. After listening to Chapel Roan in the car the last few days, I'm just happy to listen to something that has more substance. 5/5

This album must've rocked people's socks in the 1970s, it sounds so modern. The lead singer's vocals are mildly annoying but overall the album is enjoyable. Marquee Moon is an all-timer, especially 9min in when you think it's wrapped up and they come back in with the kick drum. Overall the album sounds like an earlier version of the strokes, and as a huge strokes fan I have to give this a 4, but I can see myself rounding down to a 3 on a different day

I don't like ABBA, let's move on

Obviously this album had some issues with it, most notably they kicked the album off with one of the worst songs on the album. Funny enough, I would listen to this over the ABBA album 7 days out of the week. SET ME ON FIRE, KEROSENE. Probably a 2.5 and I'll round down, but could be rounded up

I used to genuinely hate new wave music and I could never explain why. Then recently I listened to the Pet Shop Boys' "Introspective", which isn't even new wave, and it somehow unlocked my appreciation of late 80s synth-rock/pop. There's something about the contrast between the upbeat stretches of songs and the more somber rock-oriented stretches that brings the fabric of these albums together. This is a 4.5 rounded up.

This was OK, kind of obnoxious. It had some highlights though, Good Vibrations, slidewhistles and what not. 3/5

Voodoo Child is so legendary, as are many of the songs on this album. It's amazing that for a funky, very unique sounding 1960s artist, Hendrix is almost universally loved by everyone. Including me. 5/5

Similar to Meat is Murder, while I love the band, this isn't my favorite album by then. I'll take Room on Fire, First Impressions of Earth, or Angles over Is This It. Nevertheless, this album is a fun listen and Last Nite is an awesome song.

Clearly I am missing something, why is Elvis Costello the producer on this album? And why did this album have a great sound to it while the Elvis Costello album we had was so damn bland? I really enjoyed this, likely because I rarely listen to Celtic rock and it's refreshing. Maybe there are better albums than this in the genre, but since it's my only point of reference, it's a clear 4 at min.

Every other album from the 1990s is a social commentary about how terrible capitalism is, I get that. Even in 2024, my favorite album of the year was the same. However, you can write a commentary about the hopelessness of economic inequalities without resorting to nihilism-induced violence, where the only solution is to senselessly kill everyone. Why this album is so violent I don't know, but the great guitar work can't overcome it. The only truly redeemable song is Minute of Decay which doesn't cross the "kill senselessly bc there's no meaning" line.

My only real knowledge of TV On The Radio comes from how much I liked the song Happy Idiot back in high school. I also think their cover of Mr. Grieves is hilarious. But the one time I tried to pick up one of their albums in recent years, I absolutely hated it. This has some quintessential 000s sounds that I really enjoy, but ultimately there isn't enough here to keep me charged for an hour. To put it simply, it's too art rocky for me. But since it was a fine listen, i'll round up to 3.

I absolutely love this album. It isn't something I'll listen to every day, but I return to it once or twice a year because it's one of the most ingenious and charismatic live albums. I might give a slight edge to Live at San Quentin because I like the song selection more, but the interactions with the "fans" at Folsom are fantastic. Callback to that terrible James Brown live album, but this is evidence that you can incorporate crowd-sounds without it being grating to listen to

It's a fine reprise, but can someone explain to me why I just listened to Time of the Preacher 3 times over the course of 7 songs and then not again the rest of the album? But overall I really enjoyed the album, it was just a nice relaxing listen, the lyrics seemed meaningful, and Bandera was such a nice outro that it replaced my initial impression that this album was just a bootleg of outtakes with the impression that this album was purposefully crafted. 4.5/5. I'm feeling less generous this morning so I'll round down.

First half of the album: Even for someone who is usually pro-drone (musically, sorry Obama), The Hall of Mirrors made me hate Europeans. Legitimately, I started to think maybe we should exit NATO listening to some of these songs. And why does the album artwork for the German version of the album look like it unironically used a first grader to perform photoshop? Second half of the album: I am starting to see what they are doing here. I feel like I'm trapped 20 hours into a 24 hour turn in the steel mills at the turn of the 20th century, with a villainous Manager staring down at me. The transition from Trans-Europe Express -> Metal on Metal -> Abzug was pretty sick. I was ready to hock a 1 on this album, but by the end I think it's (if a slight stretch) a 3.

WOW Aerosmith is far superior to the ACDC album I've listened to through 1001, the vocals are much less grating. I don't see a lot of value in this album other than it's early release date, I guess 3? Could be 2.

I need context for why, for the most recent year included in the list thus far, the creators of 1001 decided to selected Nick Cave's band's 17th studio album. To some extent, perhaps this is some magnus opus by an old-head rocker that sums of his career beautifully, like American IV. But from a legacy perspective, I would put my money on Igor or Alex G's House of Sugar leaving a more lasting impression on the music industry than this album. After listening, this is admittedly my favorite album by Nick Cave, but I also have never been able to finish one of his albums before. A cohesive tribute to the dread, acceptance, and peace of the dead. A little monotonous, but I can get down with it. Might never listen again tho

My only conception of the Offspring is negative because my 8th grade math teacher assigned names of 80s/90s rock bands to each student as secret keys for us to see grades on our tests, and I was assigned Offspring because I'm a twin. He seemed like a dope football coach so I always assumed the band would suck. Now listening to them, it's hilarious to hear songs about revolution and sticking up against corporate and elite cronyism when I have no doubt that the dope eventually became a Trump supporter. Musically, I loved this album. Songs like Genocide are high tempo and relatively strong lyrically with great guitar work, and the songs are much more sophisticated than your basic jam bands with multiple complex progressions on songs like It'll Be a Long Time. In my younger days, this would be my ceiling for how hard I want my rock to be. Songs like Self Esteem were clearly inspired heavily by Nirvana and Green Day. Only downside here is that for the second time this year, I've thought I heard a line that I absolutely loved then after looking up the lyrics realized I misheard. On Genocide, I thought they were saying "On our fellow man we prey", and then turned it around with "For our fellow man we prey", the idea that the working class's oppressors are human, but since the working class does not individually have power, they also must rely on humans to save them. 4.5 rounded up out of surprise

__________________________ Song title | ?/5 | ____________________|_____| Around the World | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Parallel Universe | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Scar Tissue - | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Otherside | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Get on Top | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Californication | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Easily | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Porcelain - Fortunate it's the first track on side C so it can easily be skipped ____________________|_____| Emit Remmus | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| I Like Dirt | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| This Velvet Glove | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Savior | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Purple Stain | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Right on Time | 5/5 | ____________________|_____| Road Trippin' | 5/5 | ____________________|_____|

I definitely need to listen to this again to have a good review, but I am confident it's not less than a 4. I hear similar sounds in Strokes songs as this album, an influence I never noticed before.

This album was all over the place. I respect her as an artist for trying so many different sounds, but this has some of the defining obnoxious characteristics of 90s pop. The na-na song is just annoying and some of the songs are too repetitive (oh is she leaving las vegas?, fading out to "for you for you" for 30 seconds). But there are some songs where her voice sounds really strong (can't cry anymore i think?).

This album comes shooting out the game with Infect Me With Your Love, it's got a banging beat and a great trumpet sequence. If sex ain't wiggling around like a lizard in a can, then I don't know what sex is. But how good was that harmonica ringing through the night in Heartland, that caught me by surprise. Heartland is both musically and lyrically really fun, I love the piano work too, plus this is the 51st state of the uuuuuuSA is a fun one.

what a random album to pick, Blue Note was already in its heyday by 1957 and 'Round About Midnight came out the same year which is much better. Either way, still a good album. Starts off on an unimpressive note, and while none of the songs on the album are really memorable, Godchild and boplicity are highlights. 3.75 rounded to 4

I've never known much about Elvis other than Conan loving rockabilly more generally. This album was packed full of really enjoyable tunes and kept me awake during the sleepiest part of my drive. Thanks EP

I found these songs stronger lyrically compared to the Elvis album other than some gymnastics to land the rhyme (Then he asked if he could walk my way, I hoped sweet things he'd say) but musically less exciting, but that's just a genre preference to rock. Strong showing by like the fourth female artist we've heard. During the song Wishin' and Hopin', she ends the song with "do this and you will be his" which is a total unravelling of You Don't Own Me, so -1 down to 3

This is good pop, I enjoyed the first few tracks and Dear Jessie, and the variety of topics discussed. Any pop artist that doesn't exclusively sing about boys is going to get a bump from me. Like any pop artist, I'm sure I would've been sick of these songs by 1990 if I was growing up back then just like I'm sick of Taylor Swift and Chappelle Roan now. But since this is fresh, it's nice. 3.5 rounded down

This is my analysis which is consistent across both listens: Return of the Grievous Angel : too repetitive to the point of annoyance Hearts on Fire : too repetitive to the point of annoyance I Can't Dance : too silly Brass Buttons - too repetitive and forlorn to the point of annoyance $1000 Wedding - what is even going on Medley - Now this has some legs, why isn't this whole album recorded live, 5/5 song Love Hurts - Still a little too repetitive but the backup vocals works better on this song Las Vegas - still too repetitive but pretty darn catchy In My Hour of Darkness - is the first half of the album really so bad, because the second half ain't bad Repeat

There isn't a single miss on this album. Sometimes there are stretches of albums where you say "wow A to B to C is such an amazing span", but this alum is incredible from A to Z. I can understand why pop girlies and buddies could get lost in Radio Cure or Ashes of American Flags, but Jesus Etc, War on War, Pot Kettle Black , and Heavy Metal Drummer should be universally loved. While the largest pleasure of this album is the beautiful ebbs and flows, ups and downs, etc, it is the small pleasures that keep me coming back to it year after year. The trumpets calling out on I'm the Man Who Loves You which gives this a classic late 90s/early 00s Ska sound, the double tracked vocals on Pot Kettle Black a la Elliott Smith. 5/5

I love the white stripes, I think Jack White is dope, but his solo work leaves me mostly uninspired. Don't get me wrong, this is a solid album - the likes of Love Interruption and a few from the second half of the record are great. But the high points aren't so high and the album overall has some monotony issues. Great album artwork tho. 3.5 rounded down

I listened to the original release of this album (rather than a remastered version), and I think it desperately needs remixed. The use of only the L or R speaker throughout this album is so damn irritating. I almost DNF'ed on the very last song and it wasn't even 3 minutes long lol. This album was a snoozefest other than a few exceptions that still weren't worth relistening. 2/5

Adding to the long list of "Alex's favorite song on an album is the one with the least # of scrobbles on spotify", I liked Zia. The rest of the album was pretty generic to me. My biggest gripe with this album is that i've listened to too much indie popneo-psychedelia in my life at this point. Does this 2001 album sound like a 2008 album? Sure it does, but in 2025 I've had my share of it. Still, while I'd rather listen to Starfucker over this, I respect that this Bees album came out 7 years earlier. 2.75 rounded up.

Every one of these songs could've been on my NBA Live 2004 PS2 game. Phew, talk about an album that aged poorly. To be clear, I am not a huge Eminem or Dr. Dre fan, so the fact that their influence is all over this album is not a good start for me. It's not that this album is terrible, but the fact that this was the most successful album of 2003 is pretty embarrassing. 50 definitely has one of the best mixes of bravado and rich spoken vocals, but the flow and rhymes are so bad, and they're so bad for almost 80 minutes. A case to prove the point from the biggest hit from the album, "come give me a hug if you into getting rubbed" is cheezy as hell, and I always thought rhyming "club" with "bub" was so cringy. P.I.M.P. is like the only track with an interesting beat that matches the aggressive style of 50 Cent. 21 Qs works well from a softer smoother sound, but I credit Nate Dogg heavily for that. Funny enough, I felt throughout the album that 50 Cent sounded like a shitty Jay-Z, and apparently he struggled to get on a record label in the 90s because people felt he sounded too similar to Jay-Z. This album definitely set up Kanye for commercial success, because if people thought 50 Cent was clever, their heads must've fallen off during College Dropout. 2.5. rounded down

This is such a savage follow-up to 50 Cent, because here's a rapper from the same city who has perfect delivery, flow, charisma, and production - 3 of which were missing from 50's album imo. 30 years later, Illmatic is still consistently recognized as one of the best rap album of all time. Rappers are still saying their new albums will be the "illest", like shouting "Kobe" knowing you'll never compare but recognize that he's the standard. It's not even worth calling out the flows that blow my mind from this album because I wouldn't even make it past NY State of Mind. One of my favorite parts of this album is that it is not normative or prescriptive; it's descriptive, viscerally describing Nas's experience without glorifying what Nas and his disciples will ultimately critique and unpack in later works labeled as "conscious rap". One bone to pick - anyone who says that Nikki's verse on Monster is the best rap feature of all time is completely misguided. AZ's first verse on Life's a Bitch is just about flawless, coming in on the hard boom-bap with "visualizin the realism of life in actuality" is so hard that it's still frequently sampled in songs today. Maybe one more bone to pick - Listen to some of the top rappers that the 2020s has decided to embrace - Future, Drake, 21 Savage, Travis Scott, even Kendrick's last album - and compare the language they use to the language Nas is using. These artists are using the same language in every song, we've come to expect the same limited vocabulary to describe the celebrated lives of a rich rapper. Here's Nas with 30 years of less rap material to draw from using the most unique flows, drawing from his own life, experience, and vocabulary on his FIRST ALBUM. Why has the rap fanbase decided that they deserve less? OK, I'll quote one verse that's the best and simplest of the album - "Life's a bitch and then you die, that's why we get high cause you never know when you're gonna go" 5/5

Wow that last note she holds at the end of Money Changes Everything is wild. After the first track, I thought "a little too poppy for me, but if there are moments like that, then I might end up enjoying this album. Let's focus on the positives, not the negatives today." And in general, this would be a really easy album not to like - "she's gonna say time after time time after time and I can't take it anymore ... who bops was it that was bopping again?" Plus her singing style is borderline annoying anyway (is she trying to be punk?), but you know what - I chose positivity, so I am going to stick to the strengths of the album. All The The Light had some awesome keyboard work that is reminiscent of Beach House, the synth was used to perfection, and the duet played perfectly. The very serious and intense back up vocals saying I'll kiss YOU" are hilarious. 3/5 ** Biggest Millennial White Man Take of 1001": I would rather listen to STRFKR's cover than Cyndi's version. But hats off to Cyndi for creating a timeless gem, my 80 YO grandma was just saying yesterday that she dumped her boyfriend because she'd rather go out to the bars with her girlfriends than be at home with him lol

I didn't walk away from this experience with a deeper understanding of why some people are obsessed with the band, but I did find it a pleasant listening experience. 3.5 rounded ... ?down?

This deserved another listen, but on first rip I liked it. The use of the bell in the first song was pretty dope. 4/5

While listening to fast and loose I thought the song was on min 6+ at one point. Turns out the song is only 3 minutes long. That sums up this album, far worse than the ZZ Top album. I mean this band is just gross, the chase is better than the catch is so hard to listen to. I don't think it's cool to have to tell a woman to not be scared when you're fooling around, seems like a red flag, not sure why it's a point of pride for this dude. It's tough to pick whether this is worse than Eminem but they're in the same ballpark 1/5

This album immediately starts with a much more full-bodied sound and sticks with it. I was dancing through the airport listening to this and wasn't even bothered by the length. First time I've ever listened to it.

Some of these songs are fun, but no decade could make music as boring as the 80s