336
Albums Rated
3
Average Rating
31%
Complete
753 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1950s
Favorite Decade
Blues
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
42
5-Star Albums
41
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Fiona Apple
|
5 | 3.19 | +1.81 |
|
Little Earthquakes
Tori Amos
|
5 | 3.23 | +1.77 |
|
Winter In America
Gil Scott-Heron
|
5 | 3.25 | +1.75 |
|
It's Too Late to Stop Now
Van Morrison
|
5 | 3.25 | +1.75 |
|
Music in Exile
Songhoy Blues
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
Rock 'N Soul
Solomon Burke
|
5 | 3.37 | +1.63 |
|
Either Or
Elliott Smith
|
5 | 3.38 | +1.62 |
|
Eliminator
ZZ Top
|
5 | 3.38 | +1.62 |
|
Blunderbuss
Jack White
|
5 | 3.4 | +1.6 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Off The Wall
Michael Jackson
|
1 | 3.78 | -2.78 |
|
The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem
|
1 | 3.49 | -2.49 |
|
Sound of Silver
LCD Soundsystem
|
1 | 3.42 | -2.42 |
|
Amnesiac
Radiohead
|
1 | 3.41 | -2.41 |
|
The Fat Of The Land
The Prodigy
|
1 | 3.41 | -2.41 |
|
Songs Of Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
|
1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
|
Seventeen Seconds
The Cure
|
1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
|
Debut
Björk
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
|
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus
|
1 | 3.32 | -2.32 |
|
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
|
1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Led Zeppelin | 4 | 4.5 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.67 |
| Pink Floyd | 2 | 5 |
| Dire Straits | 2 | 5 |
| Van Halen | 2 | 5 |
| Muddy Waters | 2 | 5 |
| Nirvana | 2 | 5 |
| Van Morrison | 3 | 4.33 |
| Beatles | 5 | 4 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Eminem | 2 | 1 |
| Leonard Cohen | 2 | 1 |
| Björk | 2 | 1 |
| Tim Buckley | 3 | 1.67 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Radiohead | 1, 5 |
| The Cure | 4, 1 |
| The Rolling Stones | 2, 5 |
5-Star Albums (42)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Fiona Apple
5/5
This is one of the most unique, unconventional, and refreshing albums ever made. It’s intimate, personal, beautiful, ugly, perfect imperfection. There is so much talent on display here, it’s awe-inspiring.
2 likes
Johnny Cash
4/5
A fun listen to an artist that captured a snapshot of a time and place. They don’t make musicians like this anymore and they certainly don’t have concerts like this anymore.
1 likes
Michael Jackson
1/5
Once the cat is out of the bag, it’s impossible to go back. Knowing now that Michael Jackson was a pedophile, sexual groomer makes me not want to listen to his music. Some people say you should judge the art and not the artist but I disagree wholeheartedly. People want to ignore his vile behavior and enjoy his great pop songs. To those people I will say this. Imagine for a moment that the order of his life was reversed. What I mean is imagine if it was known that he was a pedophile sexual groomer and then went and later wrote great pop songs. Would you support him then? Would you listen to his catchy tune then? Nothing about his life would be different in this hypothetical except the pedophilia knowledge came first. I doubt anyone would be his fan or listen to his music, no matter how great the songs were.
1 likes
Can
3/5
An ambient, relaxing, chill, rhythmic soundscape. It’s easy to listen to and enjoy.
There is a review on here praising the drummer and stating that he is better than other luminary drummers of the era that are world famous. As a drummer myself it took me many years to understand what it was about all the drummers people love and how to play more like them. Once I discovered the secret to all of them, the illusion of mind blowing drummers (and drumming itself) was kinda ruined for me. Here’s the trick that they all do…..They all play syncopated 16th notes nonstop between their whole kit. Take your hands and play along and you will find they are just playing 16th notes the whole song without stopping, sometimes throwing in a quick fill of 32nd notes here and there. 16th notes nonstop doesn’t impress me anymore. I enjoy drummers who let the music breathe and play for the song. This drummer just plays 16th notes constantly and it’s the reason why I can’t give the album 5 stars.
1 likes
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
1/5
It honestly sounds like dementia patients having musical diarrhea. There are no redeeming qualities besides when it eventually ends. Pretentious and pompous as a “great album” when in reality it quite the opposite. It’s the first time in my life I wished I was deaf. Is it art? Sure, but it’s not good art. It’s terrible art in the worst way possible. It’s a potpourri of baby vomit and freshly stepped in dog shit but in musical form. Walking into an any Guitar Center and hearing musicians randomly play parts of songs overtop of each other is about as enjoyable, and the same level of talent, as this album.
Jesus this is just fucking awful noise. I’d rather have a colonoscopy than listen to this. If I could give it zero stars I would.
Here is how I know the people reviewing this with 5 star ratings and giving it praise are full of shit…. If they went to an elementary school talent show and hear a bunch of 8 year olds playing this, they would cringe and have a hard time sitting through their performance. Afterwards they would give the kids words of encouragement stating that with some more practice, they can get really good.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (41)
All Ratings
Fela Kuti
5/5
I really like this one. Afro fusion rhythms
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Two great songs, one good song, the rest was a waste of time.
Gil Scott-Heron
5/5
A really great album.
Radiohead
1/5
Not my style. I love the early Radiohead but this transition album made me transition out of enjoying them further.
The Black Keys
3/5
It’s very repetitive and monotonous to get through. There are a few enjoyable tunes but the vast majority sounds and feel like filler songs.
Blur
2/5
Besides the one hit song on the album, the rest was a waste of time. It’s very boring and non inspired. Of it wasn’t for Song 2, I’d rate this album a 1.
Motörhead
2/5
While not my style of rock and roll/punk/heavy metal, I can appreciate its influence they had on other styles of music.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
A fantastic classic rock album. Truly a great masterpiece.
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
Great album of soulful funk. These are some very talented musicians.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
I enjoyed the music but and lyrics but I am not a fan of his singing octave.
Mudhoney
3/5
A good album by a band that helped create the grunge sound. I prefer Dinosaur Jr over Mudhoney but it was still a solid album.
Public Enemy
3/5
Public Enemy #1. I enjoy their early 90’s stuff a little more as it hits harder.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
The album was better in the second half. Enjoyable but not great.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Great album. Looking back now I consider this rock and roll way more than metal. Solid album with some sleeper hits.
Ryan Adams
4/5
This is my first time listing to Ryan Adams. He’s very talented and a good songwriter. There was something about this him and this album that I couldn’t put my finger on that made me not love it as much as I should considering how talented him and his band is. The closest way I can describe it is, is they have heart, but they don’t have soul.
Pink Floyd
5/5
A classic for a reason. Typically I’m not a fan of double albums but this is one of the better examples. There are so many fantastic songs here.
Britney Spears
1/5
Nope.
Echo And The Bunnymen
1/5
A very talented lead singer. The vocal mix is too loud and the underlying music is too boring.
Paul Simon
5/5
A fantastic album from the 1980’s. A classic from that time.
Solomon Burke
5/5
A great soul album fr its era.really nice melodies and singing.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
1/5
It honestly sounds like dementia patients having musical diarrhea. There are no redeeming qualities besides when it eventually ends. Pretentious and pompous as a “great album” when in reality it quite the opposite. It’s the first time in my life I wished I was deaf. Is it art? Sure, but it’s not good art. It’s terrible art in the worst way possible. It’s a potpourri of baby vomit and freshly stepped in dog shit but in musical form. Walking into an any Guitar Center and hearing musicians randomly play parts of songs overtop of each other is about as enjoyable, and the same level of talent, as this album.
Jesus this is just fucking awful noise. I’d rather have a colonoscopy than listen to this. If I could give it zero stars I would.
Here is how I know the people reviewing this with 5 star ratings and giving it praise are full of shit…. If they went to an elementary school talent show and hear a bunch of 8 year olds playing this, they would cringe and have a hard time sitting through their performance. Afterwards they would give the kids words of encouragement stating that with some more practice, they can get really good.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Joni is a very talented singer. However these songs don’t really speak to me and I find them all very similar and boring.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
I understand the cultural significance of this band and album, but in my opinion the majority of the music doesn’t resonate with me. There are some great songs and great funky grooves. A solid album.
Elliott Smith
5/5
A true, deep, powerful classic album.
Nina Simone
4/5
What an amazing and powerful voice. A true artistic talent. While I enjoyed the style of songs bouncing around, I feel it would have been best to stay with one style of music over multiple styles.
Kraftwerk
2/5
This is the music C-3PO makes love to. At least there’s melodies.
The Sonics
2/5
There are so many better bands from that era.
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
Great hard hitting funk rock hooks and powerful lyrics. The album would have been better if they dropped a song to make the runtime shorter and written a 3 minute song also. Not every rage has to be 5 minutes long.
Ministry
2/5
A well crafted album of metal from its era. Younger me enjoyed this a lot more than older me.
OutKast
2/5
I appreciate the rhythms but this music doesn’t speak to me.
Aerosmith
4/5
I enjoy this album but I am biased. I was 10 years old when this came out and played this album on repeat that summer. Aerosmith was always a unique band back then and now and there has never been another band that has sounded like them before or since. For that alone they deserve some praise. Like them or not, you know Aerosmith when you hear Aerosmith. Their band was their brand and they did it well.
All the members are talented musicians who know their craft well. The lyrics are all overly sexualized which dates the songs very much but that was the 80’s.
All the songs are unique and are produced, played, and recorded with talent. It’s up to the listener on whether they enjoy them or not. I do. They’re fun and memorable.
Can
3/5
An ambient, relaxing, chill, rhythmic soundscape. It’s easy to listen to and enjoy.
There is a review on here praising the drummer and stating that he is better than other luminary drummers of the era that are world famous. As a drummer myself it took me many years to understand what it was about all the drummers people love and how to play more like them. Once I discovered the secret to all of them, the illusion of mind blowing drummers (and drumming itself) was kinda ruined for me. Here’s the trick that they all do…..They all play syncopated 16th notes nonstop between their whole kit. Take your hands and play along and you will find they are just playing 16th notes the whole song without stopping, sometimes throwing in a quick fill of 32nd notes here and there. 16th notes nonstop doesn’t impress me anymore. I enjoy drummers who let the music breathe and play for the song. This drummer just plays 16th notes constantly and it’s the reason why I can’t give the album 5 stars.
ZZ Top
5/5
A classic album by ZZ Top. The hits are timeless.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
It’s just an average folk rock album. Nothing more or less. All talented musicians but there is no inspiration here.
Suzanne Vega
3/5
In an age where autotune and computers make music sound like perfection, it’s refreshing to hear a recording where the vocals are so bare and exposed. I wish I enjoyed the songs more but I find them all very boring.
Q-Tip
4/5
A very low key hip hop album. Engaging and easy listening. The songs are well made and produced. I recognized Q-Tip from his work with the Beastie Boys.
The Offspring
2/5
I have never enjoyed The Offspring. This album didn’t change my opinion.
Faust
3/5
A chill album. It was ok.
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
It’s the same mellow energy on the whole album. It’s pretty flat just like the state of Illinois.
Method Man
2/5
I grew up a teenager in the 90’s addicted to grunge and alternative music. I enjoy old school 80’s rap but not really anything past that. I like the beat samples on this album but I think his vocal mix is poor and all the songs have a same tempo or energy. The album is ok, not terrible and not great.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Karen O is an immense talent and this album is a fun, well crafted record. The songs have a fun, energetic depth that I enjoy. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the better modern bands.
Sex Pistols
3/5
The Sex Pistols are a pillar in the early punk rock scene. I find this album fun and well made but the songs all are very similar in sound and tempo. It’s like one song rewritten 12 times. As time and music have moved on from these beginnings, these songs now feel more rock than punk.
Queen
4/5
This is an interesting early Queen album. You can see glimpses of the heights they will reach, but they aren’t quite there yet. It’s a fun rock album.
Nick Drake
3/5
A very well made album but once again, an album where every song sounds the same. No twists or turns. It could literally be one long, run on song.
Van Morrison
5/5
A great live double album. I really enjoyed this as Van Morrison has such a unique style of singing. Timeless songs.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
Not as great as the Beatles but still a good, fun, talented band.
Nas
2/5
I liked the rhythms but I disliked all the derogatory language.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
2/5
Frankie says yawn. The energy is great. The singing is not. I admire them covering Born To Run but the execution was lacking.
Fleet Foxes
2/5
I really wanted to like this album but alas it is boring as hell. What a waste of a talented singer in a band that is the equivalent of a warm salad.
Jurassic 5
4/5
Poetic and rhythm and melody fueled. This was a really enjoyable album by a group I never heard of before from a style I often don’t care for.
Johnny Cash
4/5
A fun listen to an artist that captured a snapshot of a time and place. They don’t make musicians like this anymore and they certainly don’t have concerts like this anymore.
Eminem
1/5
I’ve never been an Eminem fan. After listening to this album, I’m still not an Eminem fan. It’s just not for me. I recognize the talent that he has but him music just doesn’t speak to me.
The Cure
4/5
Having heard a few Cure songs in my life, I’ve never understood their cult following. After listening to this album, I get it now. I really enjoyed the journey this album took me on.
Bill Callahan
3/5
I’m not so sure he’s singing vs just talking in the right pitch. It’s a nice, ambient album but it’s too much like adult lullabies
XTC
3/5
I enjoyed this album for the 80’s nostalgia. You can hear some Beatles influence on a few songs but it’s not heavy handed as some reviews would suggest. It’s a well written and crafted and a pleasure to listen to.
Arrested Development
3/5
This is a different style of rap from back in the day. It’s more positive and fun and was a nice listen. The album could have used some editing down on the number of songs in the back half and overall, it was a little too preachy.
Radiohead
5/5
A true masterpiece. An amazing album from front to back and such a gem. I wish Radiohead would have kept making music like this but they continued to evolve and I don’t really care for much of their stuff besides this album. Some of their fans will argue Kid A is their best work but for me it doesn’t even come close. These songs are timeless and have more melody, structure, heart, feeling, passion, than anything else they’ve done as a band. The songs are experimental, but not so far off the rails, and are written in a way where they come back to a more traditionalist song format. For that reason the album and songs appeal to a wider audience.
I consider this album in my top 10 albums of all time and I’m not a Radiohead fan in general. I typically don’t care for most of their work.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
The Flaming Lips aren’t for everyone. There is so much music that I want to love but they just make it weird enough to ruin my enjoyment of the songs.
This isn’t a bad album, far from it. It’s just not for me. If they got out of their own way, it would be a fantastic album. As made, I don’t find it all that great. It’s disappointing because all the talent and elements are there. They just need to edit their strangeness down to be truly timeless.
Michael Jackson
1/5
Once the cat is out of the bag, it’s impossible to go back. Knowing now that Michael Jackson was a pedophile, sexual groomer makes me not want to listen to his music. Some people say you should judge the art and not the artist but I disagree wholeheartedly. People want to ignore his vile behavior and enjoy his great pop songs. To those people I will say this. Imagine for a moment that the order of his life was reversed. What I mean is imagine if it was known that he was a pedophile sexual groomer and then went and later wrote great pop songs. Would you support him then? Would you listen to his catchy tune then? Nothing about his life would be different in this hypothetical except the pedophilia knowledge came first. I doubt anyone would be his fan or listen to his music, no matter how great the songs were.
Leonard Cohen
1/5
There is no range in his songs or music. If you listen to one song, you’ve heard the whole album. Boring, uninspired, and bland. It’s the musical equivalent of eating an unsalted saltine cracker.
Robert Wyatt
2/5
Mundane and strange enough on some songs to not be enjoyable. The 1990’s had some phenomenal music come out of that decade. This certainly is not that.
Boards of Canada
1/5
This music wasn’t made for me and does nothing for me besides wanting to turn it off. It’s chill, it’s relaxed, it’s ambient, it’s low key. It’s also pretty boring. Maybe if I was spelunking would I find this a good soundtrack.
The Byrds
1/5
If I was a hippy in the 1960’s I would have liked this album. Since I wasn’t. I don’t.
David Bowie
5/5
A fantastic and classic album. This is how you make great music. Each song is unique and tells its own story, while at the same time having all the DNA of the collective songs on the album run through each song. Although this isn’t a perfect album, it is damn close.
Germs
2/5
One good song on a well recorded and produced album. Meh.
Ride
2/5
It was a nice album but it doesn’t stand out as anything special. Maybe I’m missing something.
Television
4/5
An influential band that aspects were dissected up and repurposed in other artists future works. It’s cool to be able to hear the origins of the inspiration of so many hugely successful musicians to come after.
Dion
3/5
It’s a nice album and it’s really nice background music. If the best compliment is that though, why must it be 1001 albums I must listen to? There are better albums that grab your attention and keep it. This is a filler album on this list, filled with filler music.
The Jam
3/5
It’s a nice album. Their music is like a softer, rounded off, punk sound. The bad thing is that there are no stand out songs in my opinion. If you listen to two of the songs, you’ve heard the range of the music on this album which is a shame.
Japan
4/5
A new band to me. It’s cool hearing the influence of so many 80’d bands had. They were pioneers in a newly forming sound.
Sade
4/5
A great debut album. They sound like they’ve been playing for years. It’s not my style of music, but they do a great job.
Butthole Surfers
1/5
This album is a bizarre trip. Ultimately, a bad trip. I really enjoyed the part of the album where it ended. I hear their influence on other, better bands, but that doesn’t mean that this album is great. It’s the rock album equivalent of Trout Mask Replica.
Bon Jovi
3/5
I get it now. This is the album that finally made me realize my mistakes on rating music from the past. TIME AND PLACE. I grew up as a kid in the 80’s. I never loved this band, even back then, but it was a very popular band and I did have this on cassette and cd. I liked it back then. I haven’t been a fan of them since that time. Now listening to them almost 40 years later, I get that you have to have lived during the time to accurately judge them. It’s more than just the music on the album. It’s about the culture and what was happening it at the time. Today this album is a funny laugh and is barely worth 2 stars. If you judge it back in the 80’s it’s a 5 star masterpiece. It is a fun album regardless.
Van Morrison
5/5
A true classic. A timeless masterpiece.
Django Django
4/5
A 60’s vibe, electronic album. It’s inoffensive and well crafted. The songs are fun and pretty low key. I’m not familiar with this band but I really enjoyed this album.
Mylo
1/5
Bland and boring. Rinse and repeat.
R.E.M.
4/5
This is a quintessential 90’s alternative album. It ebbs and flows like the tide. It’s an easy listen and subdued in its presentation but the messages are loud and clear. Really well done.
Van Morrison
3/5
Van the man makes damn good music. I’m a fan that he can jam.
Slipknot
1/5
I’d be this angry if I grew up in Iowa surrounded by nothing but corn and tornados. There not diversity of things to see or do in that state, just like there’s no diversity of songs in this album. The track listing ebbs and flows from one song that is uptempo overplayed busy drumming, heavy metal guitar riffs, singing and screaming, and sound effects peppered in, to another songs that’s the same, followed by another song of the same.
I have always said that it’s easy to hate. It’s a primal emotion that doesn’t require people to think critically. This is hate music. While the talent it requires to play these songs is impressive for sure, the actual songs and the emotion they are meant invoke in the listener are basic, boring, and simple. Hate music is simple to write. Instead, writing a beautiful melody or a love song is much more vulnerable and infinitely harder to do. People should strive to emotionally evolve. There is no evolution emotionally here.
Lastly, I do laugh at the jokes along the lines of how this album is the perfect embodiment of a 14 year old boy who was asked by his step mom to take out the trash for the 5th time and he had to quit his online Call of Duty match. He’s so pissed, especially after taking the trash out and he goes to the kitchen and realizes he drank the last of the Mountain Dew Baja Blast and ate the last of the Flaming Hot Cheetos.
Pearl Jam
5/5
A pivotal album in music history that helped define the alternative music’s grunge scene. This band and sound was the one that imitators often tried to emulate. A true classic.
Hawkwind
2/5
What a waste of potential. This band never reached world fame not because of their singing, drumming, guitar playing, or even their songs. All of that is enjoyable and ahead of its time. The thing that makes this band unlistenable is the terrible decision to have someone play an instrument that is best described like the sound of a goose with someone shoving their fingers up its ass the whole time. If they kicked their friend out of the band that played that instrument, they could have been rock stars.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
2/5
I appreciate its influence on later bands but I don’t like her voice or singing style. It ruins the whole album in my opinion.
The Lemonheads
2/5
This album is the musical equivalent of a 10 year old kid who is a picky eater so every meal consists of boxed mac and cheese. No exploration, safe, bland. One meal or song is just as inoffensive and forgettable as the last. Then one time their mom makes them try a recipe from when she was a kid and it’s good, but then the kid goes right back to mac and cheese.
Songhoy Blues
5/5
What a great album. As someone who is slightly familiar with this style of music, it was a pleasant surprise to listen to a great example of the genre. It’s so refreshing to my ears.
Jacques Brel
3/5
It’s not my cup of tea but it wasn’t made for me.it has personality and melody which is more than I can say about a lot of albums I’ve heard on this list.
The Doors
2/5
I’ve never seen the appeal of The Doors. I still don’t even now. Their organ sound ages this music terribly.
Billy Joel
5/5
I’ve always have heard Billy Joel’s hits but I would never consider myself a fan. I like a lot of his songs and this was the first time sitting down and listening to one of his albums for the first time. I’ll say this, he’s immensely talented and a great songwriter and performer. His music just doesn’t resonate with me. This is still a fantastic album regardless.
Tim Buckley
2/5
I’m not a fan of his singing style. I was grateful this album wasn’t any longer. Everything about this was just very forgettable.
Leonard Cohen
1/5
It certainly was a bold stylistic choice to use the terrible and goofy ass sounding jaw harp all over this album. Like why? Just why? The songs are alright but the songs with the jaw harp are almost unlistenable.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t been said already. I wonder what music he would have made if he hadn’t died so young. What a phenomenal musician.
Metallica
4/5
As a huge Metallica fan in my youth, it’s fun to see them on this list. They are one of the most influential bands for young musicians because their music sounds cool, and it’s easy to learn to play, no matter the instrument. That’s not to say their music is simple, it’s just easier for those learning an instrument to try and learn.
Listening to this album now, I realize that Metallica is the Weezer of metal. Easily approachable and fun to listen to.
The Temptations
4/5
It’s a nice album that is great music for having on in the house while doing chores or hosting friends. It’s not something I would pig on to listen to just by myself typically. The Temptations are a icon of the Motown scene and they don’t disappoint here.
Heaven 17
1/5
There was no need to have this album on the list. It’s long, boring, and repetitive. I’ll be glad to never remember this album.
Joy Division
2/5
The album cover is iconic, but the music is forgettable. The album sounds like it was played through a bad stereo inside a cavern, and they put one microphone in the cavern to record the crummy stereo. The production was bad, the songs were boring, and I’m glad to be done listening to this.
The Icarus Line
2/5
I’m always glad to hear rock music on this list. However this is shit music. It’s boring, repetitive, derivative, and forgettable. I’m losing faith that the author of 1001 albums actually knows and understands not only good music, but truly influential albums. I’m 100 albums in so far and I am not impressed with the bulk of what crap I’ve had to listen to so far. I thought this would be a fun way to find good, new music. It’s turning out to feel more like a punishment more often than not.
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
I never heard of this artist nor listened to any of this music. Simply refreshing and fully of rhythm, melody, and talent. It’s fun to hear the influence it’s had on other, more famous artists. Don’t know why he ended the album like a cartoon though.
Brian Eno
3/5
It’s an interestingly creative album. I don’t understand the endless 5 star reviews over an album that is essentially a soundscape. It’s really good at what it does, but it’s not a masterpiece in my opinion.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
The spoken word intro on the last song should have been cut. Almost half of a nearly 19 minute track is him just speaking and not music. That is ridiculous. It’s a good soul album but there are better ones out there.
Christina Aguilera
3/5
Having never listened to her music, and lived through the Brittany Spears and Christina Aguilera era, I wasn’t pleased to see this album pop up for me to listen to. Especially since I’ve already had to listen to a Brittany Spears album on this list and it was brutally awful. I was shocked at how different these artists are and how much more talented Christina Aguilera is compared to Brittany. There really isn’t any comparison to be honest. Christina has a more pleasing singing voice, better range, more powerful delivery, and over all a much more talented singer. Her songs are also so much more musical and listenable. Whether you like this style is up to you. I found it was well written, recorded, and produced. All of the songs seemed busy with too many layers going on. It’s a production for sure. For an album that harkens back to music that she admires, it falls into the same trap as sounded dated and from a certain time period (the early 2000’s).
In the end, it wasn’t something I would listen to even now. I’m glad I did though. I now know who the better talented artist is between the two big pop stars of that time was.
Joan Armatrading
5/5
What a lovely album.
Guns N' Roses
2/5
3 phenomenal hit songs and 9 mediocre to bad songs does not make a great album. This sound is so dated. If only they were more consistent in writing better music as a whole. I’m glad hair metal is dead.
The Beta Band
2/5
This album should have been called Lullabies For Fish. It’s so boring and one style and energy it could even put fish to sleep. There is no reason to listen to this, unless you have insomnia.
4/5
This album starts off as strong as any album ever made with the first three songs. Then it just swims along with a bunch of songs to not offend anyone. It’s a pretty great album if you can stomach U2.
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
ELO has a sound so unique you can tell it’s an ELO song within the first 3 seconds. The issue becomes all the songs have a similar sound, so if you’ve heard two or three ELO songs, you’ve heard their breath of music they can write. Instead of a double album, this could have been four songs and I wouldn’t feel like I missed anything.
Oasis
3/5
Definitely….Maybe this is a good album.
Dr. Octagon
1/5
The beats are dope.However, let me quote one of the songs to describe the rapping. “Armed with seven rounds of space doo-doo pistols.”
Doo-doo indeed. Is this the right list? I feel like this is 1001 albums to hear to make you want to die.
Megadeth
2/5
How can an album going this hard be boring? I don’t know how they managed to do that, but they did. Maybe because every killer, iconic guitar riff in popular culture has pauses in it and a rhythmic pattern. These guys sure do know how to play nonstop eighth and sixteen notes without pausing anywhere in their riffs to make anything musical or with melody. Yawn. So fucking boring.
Louis Prima
5/5
Music from a time long past. This is a fun album with songs played with emotion, heart, soul, and love. This is a great album.
System Of A Down
1/5
So fucking boring. If you heard one song off this album you’ve heard them all. They have the range of emotion of an upset toddler.
Elton John
3/5
The bulk of these songs are meh, besides the obvious two bangers on the beginning of the album.
UB40
2/5
The sound of the keyboard haunts my dreams
I’m not so sure this isn’t just one song that they took breaks in to rest before starting up again. They have the depth of a kiddie pool and the range of a car that’s running on fumes.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Damn near a perfect album. So much emotion oozing out of every song.
Ray Price
3/5
After listening to this album I’m fixing’ to buy a Stetson hat, a big belt buckle for my leather belt, and some cowboy boots and drive on down to Fort Worth Texas to the stockyards.
Pavement
2/5
Make it stop. Just make it stop. It’s just not good and I enjoy indie music. It’s the musical equivalent of kids making dinner. It doesn’t taste good and they make a fucking mess.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
This album expounds a feeling of excitement. It has some great songs that just evoke a youthful look on the world. Really well done.
Steve Winwood
2/5
It’s the soundtrack for a yawn before a nap.
Belle & Sebastian
2/5
I made the mistake of listening to this album while sleep deprived. It sounds like an album of music they play in a dentist’s office waiting room. Every instrument and all the singing was performed with care so as to not offend the listener. God damn is it boring. I’d imagine it’s a good album to slit your wrists too.
The La's
4/5
I wasn’t familiar with this band besides the hit song that was overused in the 90’s. What a fun album of songs that all had character and melody. It’s not a perfect album, but it is above average with its range of unique songs played in a fun manner. This is what good music should have, style, soul, and conviction.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Dare I say his singing is overrated? His vibrato at times almost seems clown like. I appreciate the cultural significance of Elvis but I’ve never been a fan. There was better music made back then by other artists. I regard him as a 1950’s Justin Bieber.
U2
3/5
Reinvention of an iconic and controversial band doesn’t mean they got any better. In fact they got worse on this album.
The Divine Comedy
2/5
Pure comedy gold. It’s supposed to be taken seriously unfortunately. It’s a really well performed pile of crap.
Charles Mingus
1/5
I’ve often felt like jazz in general is a collection of talented musicians who want to flex their talents at how quickly they can play notes, over play a riff, or put together a collection of notes and time signatures that don’t make a good melody, but are good for the fact that they don’t make a good melody. This album hasn’t swayed me from that position one bit. It’s all a collection of musicians flexing what they can do in an ensemble setting. A cornucopia of noise. Hot garbage.
Calexico
4/5
It’s an enjoyable indie album for sure. It’s somewhat unique and well written and made. I’m not so sure I’ll remember any one song off of this album a few days from now.
T. Rex
4/5
Besides their one massive hit from the early 70’s, this band was relatively unknown to me. This album was fun but didn’t achieve the highs of their contemporaries of that era. Not bad but not great.
Fatboy Slim
1/5
Dated, boring, repetitive, all played in a loop to funky, poppy rhythmic beats. It has the musical depth of a puddle. The 90’s will be remembered for some awesome, timeless music. This is not that.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
It’s a great first album by an iconic band. I have always listened to other albums by them more, so going back and listening to this one I was surprised at how more bluesy it was than rock and roll. Still a classic album though.
Björk
1/5
What a unique artist back then and now. At first I’m captured by her voice and great singing, but then I start to question her voice and style. It’s as if she recorded her vocal performance for half the album or more with no music written and afterwards they wrote music to underlay what she already sang. There’s a disturbing disconnect between the rhythm being played and what she is singing over it. It kinda makes me sick to my stomach honestly. She lags behind the beat so much and I find it really grating.
She is a talented singer for sure, but her style grew stale for me after 3-4 songs. Shes a one trick pony and all of her music sounds the same.
The Verve
4/5
A favorite from back in the day. I haven’t listened to it in decades. It held up well.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
I’m not very familiar with Elvis Costello. This was a fun, well performed album with catchy songs. I liked this better than any Elvis Presley works as I find The King over rated.
The United States Of America
1/5
If watery diarrhea was music, it would be this shit. It’s experimental yet somehow derivative at the same time. I’d much rather stub my toe than listen to this again.
a-ha
2/5
There is more to a-ha than Take On Me; not much more, but there is some. Ultimately they are a one hit wonder band.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Elevator music for the soul.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
Having never listened to this album before I was surprised to find that I had never listened to just half the album before. Wow, half the album are huge classics. Now that’s a debut album.
Miles Davis
4/5
As someone who dislikes 95% of jazz, this is in that small percentage that I do enjoy. I really appreciated that it doesn’t have any instrument where it sounds like the player is having a stroke, which is my biggest complaint of jazz. This is mellow and moody with enough song structure and melody to keep my interest.
Eurythmics
2/5
One hit song and the rest were forgettable.
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
What a great and unexpected album. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t stop listening. Fantastic!
It’s an inoffensive early 70’s rock album. It’s good background music. That’s the best I can say about it.
LL Cool J
2/5
I had this album growing up. Naive me at 10 years old never understood why 6 Minutes Of Pleasure was only 4 1/2 minutes long.
I haven’t listened to Ladies Love in 35 years. It’s been a good run.
Björk
1/5
The displeasure is all mine.
This list has made me learn a few things about what music I enjoy and what music I don’t care for. Now I know that Björk is an artist I can’t stand. I do appreciate that she tries something new but I don’t appreciate how much I hate it. If singing slowly and powerfully about stupid shit in an avant-garde manner is your thing, then this is the album for you. If you like melody, rhythm and pleasurable harmonies, then you won’t care for this album because it doesn’t have any.
Meat Loaf
4/5
I see the appeal of Mr. Loaf. Meat’s performance is laid out for the world to see. Like the dish that he takes his name from, I could enjoy Meat Loaf every so often, but it’s not something I could consume every day.
2/5
Nope. Not my thing.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
A true classic. Nothing more to say.
The Prodigy
1/5
I’m not sure if The Prodigy aren’t time travelers and somehow had AI make this album. I enjoyed this as much as I did back in the day, which is none.
Spiritualized
4/5
I’ve never heard of this band before today and I lived through the 90’s with all of its musical glory. Somehow, this masterpiece flew past. Granted I had a lot going on the year it came out like graduating high school and my life changing, but damn, this record would have been awesome to listen to back then. It’s surprising how modern it feels almost thirty years later. I love the sonic layers of sound that all compliment each other. Controlled chaos in the best way. Damn this is so good.
Jefferson Airplane
2/5
Two hits and one nice blues song. It’s very forgettable otherwise.
The Beach Boys
2/5
This is depressed beach men. Give me The Beach Boys.
Janis Joplin
4/5
Janis was such a powerful singer and immensely talented. The world lost a great musician when she died. This album is bitter sweet and tremendously great.
Donald Fagen
1/5
This album makes me feel physically ill and angry at the same time. It’s the musical equivalent of taking a fish to a cheese grater. There’s something inherently wrong here. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but this extra soft poop that passes for music is one of the least favorite things I’ve heard so far on this list. Music is about life, soul, passion, heartache, defeat, victory, bliss, blues, depression. This isn’t any of that. It’s music for cat videos and old folks homes. It’s like the most blandest vanilla ice cream you’ve ever tasted, and it’s so bland that it’s offensive on how inoffensive it was trying to be.
Nitin Sawhney
2/5
They encapsulated on their album cover the exact way I felt listening to their album.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
2/5
Janis is such an immense and powerful talent. Here though the songs don’t shine and I found this album pretty boring. It feels like they were taking too many drugs making this.
Judas Priest
3/5
It’s not my jam, but it also isn’t as heavy as I thought it would be: it’s quite quaint compared to metal nowadays.
Scott Walker
3/5
The musical equivalent of velvet maroon men’s underwear, and a cigarette smoke filled banquet room in Tahoe.
Frank Black
1/5
Mediocre music with a sub par singer. So glad I had to listen to this before I died👎
Iggy Pop
3/5
It’s a fun album. Nothing earth shattering. Average I’d say.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
A fantastic story teller and singer. This album is a classic and a treasure.
The Undertones
4/5
This is a fun album by a band I’m not familiar with. It could have been a song or two shorter because it does get slightly long near the end.
Dusty Springfield
4/5
It’s a well done album full of songs that are short and sweet. That in itself is an art form that has disappeared in the modern world. She has a great voice and I appreciated the orchestral backing. It’s a great, easy listen.
Antony and the Johnsons
4/5
Say what you will about the singing, the music and singing here is in fact music. That’s more than can be said for many albums on this list.
Queen Latifah
3/5
It’s a product of its era, which is fine. My issue is that it’s very boring and repetitive.
Dire Straits
5/5
I’m blown away. This album has the best three opening songs of any album ever made (or tied with other artists) and then it turns into a lighter fare but it still hits so hard emotionally. Truly fantastic!
Beatles
3/5
The album is fine. I’ve never loved their early work. I always appreciated their later album when they were on drugs. Those are much more interesting and creative. This album is well made and of its era. I liked the cover songs more than their originals.
Spiritualized
3/5
Sonic layered space rock. There’s a lot to hear in the mix. I just wish it had a point or point of view. This feels more like soundscapes at times than songs.
Willie Nelson
2/5
Ok, I hate to be the nay sayer here but this album isn’t a masterpiece. I like the concept and I like Willie for who he is and his amazing career. That being said, all of these songs are very similar, with the lone exception of Down Yonder. For an album that’s 34 minutes long, it felt like an eternity to get through.
Carole King
5/5
A masterpiece in every sense of the word. So much soul, heart, and passion.
Hugh Masekela
2/5
Is it music? Yes.
Is it music I enjoy? No.
If you like jazz, you’ll like this album. Of you don’t like jazz, well you get the idea.
Tim Buckley
1/5
Goodbye and hell no.
Travis
2/5
It’s a fine alternative rock album. Nothing earth shattering here.
Talking Heads
2/5
I liked three songs off this album. Gotta be honest, not great.
G. Love & Special Sauce
1/5
It’s like when you buy a package of chicken at the grocery store, but when you get home and open it, it has a funny smell, so you end up throwing it away.
Prince
2/5
I really want to love Prince but his music just doesn’t do it for me. I like some of his hits but not his everyday stuff.
Beatles
4/5
It’s got great harmonies and melodies. A classic for sure. I prefer my Beatles with a little more drugs in their system though.
Megadeth
3/5
There are a lot of fun riffs and they are all talented musicians. Metal music isn’t my jam though.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
An intimate look into Joni’s feelings. A true storyteller. Yet I’m not convinced that this is the masterpiece that everyone says it is.
Steely Dan
2/5
Soft rock that you would hear in the background of erectile disfunction commercials. Both things seem to go together.
Green Day
3/5
It’s well made and the production is top notch. That being said, it’s an ambitious album with the whole rock opera take. I just like my punk not pop punk, and not so polished and perfect.
4/5
A fun punk album for sure. I enjoyed the duet singing at times.
The Police
2/5
If I had 3-4 minutes to live, I’d put on one of the songs from this album, because they make 3-4 minutes feel like an eternity. The Police hit songs are great. Their other songs on the other hand are quirky, strange, and half baked. This album is not great. I found it grating, annoying, and it made me keep looking at the clock to see how much longer I had to endure listening to it.
LCD Soundsystem
1/5
Repetitive to a fault. Mindless garbage with no soul or emotion.
Def Leppard
3/5
An 80’s classic doesn’t mean it holds the test of time. It’s ok. Hair metal is such a strange thing.
The Mars Volta
3/5
It’s like the school assignment was play your instruments as frantically as you can while the vocalist tries their best to Freddie Mercury impression. Their voice is so bizarre. I wasn’t sure if it was a man or woman or heavily auto tuned. Their sound gets old fast. They all have talent but they do not have nuance.
Neil Young
4/5
He’s always sang like an old man but somehow it works
Common
3/5
Ok this is a hard one to review. My first impression is that I really really liked it and thought it should be 4 stars easy, if not 5 stars. Its production is fantastic and songs are great. However I don’t like or condone the use of the N word, epically with the hard R. That makes this an album I would never listen to again personally. I’d also remove a star rating because of it. Then I find that Kanye produced this. I also have a hard time separating someone’s personal life from their art. That loses another star for me. I guess that leaves me with a three star album which is just a me thing. Without those two digs at it, it could be a phenomenal album for me. Instead I’ll never listen to it again.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Simply amazing. A classic, fantastic album.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
I don’t see why it gets all the hate that it does. It’s not a great album but it was an ok enough listen to.
David Bowie
3/5
Let’s be honest, David Bowie is a fantastic musician who makes great music. But not all of his music is great. This album had the two hit songs and then maybe one more that I somewhat enjoyed. As an album, this falls flat. Still good mind you, but not worthy of a 5 star review in my book.
The Boo Radleys
3/5
It went on too long.
Black Sabbath
5/5
A true classic. So well done.
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
It’s hard to review music that isn’t your style, especially if you don’t have much exposure to that musics style. That being said, I didn’t hate this album. I thought it was well made and told an empowering story. It’s not my thing but I don’t feel like it deserves all the hate. It’s pretty good.
Van Halen
5/5
An amazing debut album for a band that would go on to write so many hot songs. They had a sound that was all their own.
Ray Charles
4/5
Can Ray Charles make bad music? I don’t think so.
The Fall
2/5
This is what you get when your great idea while under the influence comes to fruition. I wonder what they sound like when they’re sober?
Muddy Waters
5/5
Hands down the coolest music ever made. The opening track is a knockout punch.
Muddy Waters
5/5
Music that speaks to my soul. Simply amazing.
Mudhoney
2/5
This is a band that helped shape the look and sound of grunge music. I appreciate that for what it is, I just wish I enjoyed their music more.
Madonna
3/5
Ray of Light and Frozen are the only half decent songs on this album. The rest is filled with songs that are too long for how mediocre they are.
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
I’m not well versed in Cuban music but this was an enjoyable listen. It seems to get repetitive as the album goes on but it’s a nice relaxing listen.
Beyoncé
3/5
Meh. Boring but sounds nice.
Randy Newman
4/5
A great and unique lyricist and singer.
Talking Heads
3/5
Fun but repetitive
Brian Eno
1/5
Brian, just stop. I know drugs can be fun, but ideas you have while doing them aren’t always as great as they seem sober. An example of this is Here Come The Warm Jets. There are some good ideas of songs here but you ruined them. Pity.
The Allman Brothers Band
4/5
A great live album but it seems ridiculous that they don’t call themselves a jam band but rather a band that jams 🙄
Pet Shop Boys
1/5
Kiddie pool levels of depth. I too had a keyboard back then that had the impact sound effect and I liked to overplay it just like these guys. The difference was I was 10.
The Go-Go's
4/5
An iconic band that helped create the sons of the 80’s. It’s a fun album and that’s all it was ever meant to be.
Bebel Gilberto
4/5
Sometimes it’s good to listen to things that you normally wouldn’t. This was a nice relaxing album. Well done.
David Ackles
2/5
It certainly music. Not good music mind you but at least there is melody and singing. It’s too theatrical in a bizarre way to ever be popular. I just wished for it to stop playing the whole time I endured this album. Within the first 15 seconds of the first track, I knew it was going to be a tough listen.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
A perfect album. Nothing more to say.
The Stooges
2/5
Repetitive to a fault. There’s one sound they were going for on this album and they got it. There’s zero diversity here.
The Cardigans
3/5
Mid level 90’s music. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, Pink Floyd would be played constantly on the radio. It was always good music but I never saw the appeal. Then magically one day in my late 30’s it was like a light switch went off in my head and their music finally spoke to me. I don’t know what that happened but I attribute it to building up enough life experience.
This album is brilliant and a masterpiece on so many levels. It is one of the greatest albums of all time.
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Honestly, it’s not the best. I liked just two of the twenty songs on this album. It’s really average at best.
Nirvana
5/5
If The Beatles had written filthy, angsty, depressing, three minute pop songs; then they would have been Nirvana. This is grunge’s perfect album. Absolute fantastic in every way!
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
He tried. That’s worth something.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
A fantastic album! Not perfect, but some damn fine songs. My favorite is Since I’ve Been Loving You, and my favorite thing about that song is hearing the squeaky bass drum pedal. It’s so cool that you can hear something that now a days would be removed by a computer.
CHIC
2/5
Disco doo doo.
Marvin Gaye
2/5
Not great by any measure. Long, boring, and broken.
The Modern Lovers
2/5
Avant-garbage.
Beck
2/5
Beck is in love with musical sounding gimmicks more than he’s in love with making great music. There are some songs on this album where if he would have edited the junk noise, then the songs would have really sung. I’d like to see him step out of his comfort zone and see what he’s capable of.
The Kinks
3/5
It sounds like The Kinks. While not as great as some of their other works, it’s still a fine album.
Foo Fighters
4/5
Impressive that it’s just Dave writing and performing everything. He made some hit songs on here. It’s a good rock album, not great. It’s a spark of things to come.
ZZ Top
3/5
A nice album by a band that would become much bigger in the future. It’s bluesy rock done well.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
I knew 6 seconds into this album that I would hate it. It’s not my thing. I don’t care for theatrical songs. This could be musical theater music. It’s well done if you like that sort of thing.
The Cure
1/5
The Cure is one of those bands where if you have heard 4-5 of their songs, you’ve basically have heard the depth of all the music they’ve ever made. They are U2 for mopey people. This album is as deep as a kiddie pool.
Ray Charles
5/5
What an amazing piece of work. Quality and timeless. A true gem!
Otis Redding
4/5
So much soul. So much passion. It’s cool to hear the original recording of Respect. Aretha Franklin really made her cover of it, her own.
3/5
Inoffensive Brit rock. It takes no risks. It gets no rewards.
Dire Straits
5/5
A completely unique band that has gotten a lot of praise, but somehow has also gone unappreciated by the general public at large. Really fantastic stuff.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Never been a big fan. I still feel this way.
Peter Gabriel
2/5
Wow. I think I lost some respect for Peter Gabriel after listing to this album.
Joe Ely
2/5
Someone needs to make forgettable background music. This album pairs best with a lukewarm beer and bar peanuts.
Devendra Banhart
3/5
There are 2-3 good songs on here and the rest is mind numbingly boring.
Johnny Cash
2/5
It’s funny how much I loved his album recorded at Folsom Prison and how much I disliked this album. I found it derivative and not as well done.
Ananda Shankar
2/5
Appreciate it, but not my jam.
Happy Mondays
3/5
It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s not a style that speaks to me. I find the songs too long for my tastes.
5/5
Not only is this a brilliant masterpiece, it is also the best Beatles album in my opinion. For me, this is one of the top three albums ever made of all time. A perfect album!!!
Elliott Smith
4/5
A massive talent and a step up in his production of bigger songs. My only gripe is that this could have been a shorter, more condensed album. It feels watered down by the length. There were two or three songs that should have been left on the cutting room floor.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
It sounds so common and forgettable. I wish it had passion, but instead it is a pillow.
Orbital
1/5
I’d rather listen to AI slop, garbage music, than this.
Simon & Garfunkel
2/5
At the time of its release, I can see how this album was popular. I don’t feel it’s aged well as this style of folk music isn’t in the popular zeitgeist anymore.
Serge Gainsbourg
1/5
This must have been Jeffery Epstein’s favorite album. Fuck pedophilia and anything that glorifies it. The album is terrible too. This needs to be removed from the list.
Fiona Apple
5/5
This is one of the most unique, unconventional, and refreshing albums ever made. It’s intimate, personal, beautiful, ugly, perfect imperfection. There is so much talent on display here, it’s awe-inspiring.
Public Enemy
4/5
Classic old school rap. Public Enemy #1.
John Grant
2/5
Mundane music with the lyrics written with the help of a Mad Libs book. It’s comically bad in parts and in others it’s just ok.
Sheryl Crow
3/5
3 great songs and the rest are forgettable. Not bad for a debut album.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
I’ve never been a fan of double albums. I always feel that if the band or artist would have edited out the mediocre songs, then they would be left with one killer album.
I still feel the same way now. There are some awesome songs on here and some that are duds.
3/5
Like beans on toast, it’s very British. For all of its praises, it’s just mundane and not my taste. It’s not as great as everyone says it is.
fIREHOSE
4/5
I’m from Ohio. I can vouch that this album captures what our state is like; quirky, fun, weird, doesn’t take long to get through. Also, Mike Watt is a phenomenal talent.
Beatles
4/5
It’s a classic Beatles album. It’s not their best album in my opinion, but it’s still a great album.
The Kinks
2/5
Were The Kinks a good band? Absolutely. Am I sick and tired of their music? Absolutely.
My Bloody Valentine
1/5
This album adds nothing to the greater music scene. I’d barely call it music. I honestly feel that this is terrible.
The Vines
2/5
It clicks all the boxes for a well made alt rock album. However, it doesn’t do anything emotionally for me. It’s the equivalent of a white rice and unbreaded chicken dinner. It will feed you but it’s very bland.
Eminem
1/5
This is immature, high school level, spoken word poetry. Eminem cannot sing or play an instrument. To call this music is an insult to musicians. This album could not finish fast enough for me. I feel dumber for having to listen to it.
Nirvana
5/5
A masterclass on how to do an unplugged performance. Simply a brilliant album.
Iron Butterfly
2/5
That damn keyboard/electric organ sound is one of my biggest pet peeves with music from this era. Also, the sound mixer and producer did a real terrible job.
Stereo MC's
2/5
I question the taste of the 5 star reviewers of this album.
This album oozes the essence of Windows 95 and the America Online homepage.
The Temptations
3/5
It’s a nice album with most of the songs on the slower side. Nothing great, nothing horrible.
Violent Femmes
4/5
What a fun album.
Traffic
3/5
I prefer this album over their first. However this album is full of somewhat good but forgettable songs.
The Young Rascals
3/5
If I grew up in the 60’s, then I’d like The Young Rascals more. It’s not a bad album, it just doesn’t seem to fit so much in these current times.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Of all the Beastie Boys albums, why this one? It’s ok. They did make much better albums later in their career.
Roxy Music
3/5
This list should have been called 900 and some average albums that you could definitely miss with some great albums and some terrible albums thrown in. This is so average it’s painful.
Ice Cube
2/5
Not my thing.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
2/5
Relaxing to the point of putting me to sleep if it weren’t so annoying boring too.
Merle Haggard
3/5
It’s like a warm bath at the end of a long cattle drive.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
I glimpse at the greatness to come. Tom Petty was an immense talent and song writer.
Thin Lizzy
4/5
As someone who’s only familiar with their hits, I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this album thoroughly. It has a nice energy and pacing. I know it was edited and crafted to be this way, but that was the norm back then.
Jack White
5/5
Jack White is an under appreciated musician and song writer. He’s on the same label as the best there has ever been. His passion for the recording arts should be more well known and celebrated. This dude has his own unique sound and style just like other great guitarists. That is no small feat. You know within a few notes of a song of it’s a Jimi Hendrix, Slash, EVH, SRV, Jimmy Paige, BB Kimg, Eric Clapton, etc. The same goes for Jack White. He is unique and an amazing talent.
This album is good old rock and roll with a heavy blues base. So stylish and unique. A great album indeed!
Keith Jarrett
3/5
An amazing talented musician and performance. I just wish the mic didn’t pickup his moaning. It really bothered me.
Culture Club
2/5
I started this 1001 albums expecting to be introduced to so many fantastic albums I’ve never listened to before. Sadly that hasn’t been the case. For every great album I have to listen to 30 duds. I’m only 25% the way through and every day I question if I should continue this musical journey. So far the bad has outweighed the good severely.
This album? Boring. I certainly didn’t need to listen to this in my life. I regret that I did.
Iron Maiden
3/5
Not my cup of tea. It is a well made album though. I just don’t like the style.
Paul Simon
3/5
This album has the feel and energy of a cat taking a nap, atop a pile of old magazines, in a cluttered, eclectic apartment.
Bob Dylan
3/5
This album has the same energy as a half eaten donut on a table next to a half drank cup of coffee that’s left a round coffee stain on the table. It’s like the small meal started good but quickly went boring and then abandoned where everything became stale.
Amy Winehouse
2/5
Amy was a talented singer but there is something about her voice that I can’t stand. It’s almost nasally. I want her to not sing as much.
I don’t like these songs as they are shallower than a kiddie pool. Also, if the producers have to insert old record scratch sounds, I immediately want to turn it off.
Ramones
4/5
The Ramones help make the punk sound mainstream. This a great, fun, and short album.
Tim Buckley
2/5
We get it Tim. You have a vibraphone and want to get your monies worth out of it. You can also sing vibrato. Now please stop.
Bob Dylan
3/5
It’s a nice Bob Dylan album. My biggest issue is that it’s a Bob Dylan album. If you’ve heard 3 songs by him you’ve heard his whole range as a musician. His sounds gets stale fast.
Caetano Veloso
2/5
I’m always excited when an albums run time is short. But then it’s always the albums that are short that drag on and on and seem to take an eternity to get through. I aged 7 years in listening to this 35 minute album. This album blows.
Stephen Stills
3/5
They’re kinda like the Eagles but blander and forgettable.
The Dictators
2/5
If I was drunk this would be good. Since I was sober, this was shit.
Cyndi Lauper
4/5
The 1980’s wouldn’t have been the same without Cyndi Lauper. A really solid album.
Napalm Death
1/5
This is my internal spirit animal whenever I get behind terrible drivers.
Also, this album is straight trash.
4/5
You can bet your sweet ass and half a titty these tunes really set the mood with their soul and groove. It’s outta sight. Can you dig it?
5/5
It’s damn near a perfect, no skip album. It’s really too bad two assholes made such wonderful music.
Nick Drake
3/5
If vanilla was a sound.
FKA twigs
2/5
It sounds like songs sung for hamsters. Is this hamster music?
LTJ Bukem
1/5
Boy, if you love ambient music with a dated, frantic drum beat sample underneath, then this is the album for you! Not only is that all you’ll hear, as every song is exactly just that, but you’ll get hours worth of it! I mean, if you listen to 3 minutes of it then you’ve heard all this album has to offer, but why not stick around for the length of a long movie to make sure you haven’t been driven insane?
This is monotonous and irritating. I think they took the ambient music off of The Weather Channel from the 90’s. I regret I wasn’t deaf when listening to this garbage.
Air
3/5
A mellow and chill album. It could be mistaken for background music in a film or television show.
Motörhead
4/5
As someone who historically hasn’t really cared for Motörhead, this album has changed that. They were one of those bands that were best live and loud. They are pure rock and roll distilled to high proof. 🤘
Beatles
4/5
Not my favorite Beatles album, but I enjoy it more than their earlier works.
Norah Jones
4/5
It’s a relaxing, we made album. It can get a little dull after awhile, but this isn’t going for a rock and roll vibe.
R.E.M.
4/5
A great album by a great band. College radio wouldn’t be what it is without these trailblazers.
Dennis Wilson
4/5
A great album an under appreciated member of The Beach Boys. It’s a shame we didn’t get more solo music before his death.
Madonna
3/5
If you like Madonna, then this is a classic album for you. If you don’t like Madonna then you won’t understand what all the fuss is about.
It’s ok. The hit songs are good. The rest is forgettable.
David Bowie
3/5
Bowie is a great artist, but this wasn’t his best work.
Blue Cheer
2/5
Bitch please. Black Sabbath invented heavy metal. This is just heavy stoner rock, and it’s not even that good.
Coldplay
4/5
As a Coldplay hater, I’m disappointed in myself for enjoying this album. It’s solid. Now I need to go take a shower to wash off the shame.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Depressing songs by The Boss. I see the appeal to some people, however it doesn’t appeal to me. I prefer rockin’ Bruce Springsteen.
The Avalanches
1/5
Electronic music is just awful garbage. This is repetitive trash and is basically one run on song chopped up into tracks. I’d rather have a colonoscopy done than listen to this.
Tori Amos
5/5
A powerful and lovely album. It’s not my musical preference for sure but I did enjoy a few of the songs quite a bit. I’ll always have a deep respect for super talented artists who forge their own path. This is really well done on every level.
De La Soul
2/5
Timeless this is not. It’s forever stuck in 1989. Back then it works great. Now, not so much.
Adele
4/5
A superb talent. Although this is don’t my style of music, I enjoyed it very much.
Queen
4/5
A Queen album with 1 hit song. At least it’s still a Queen album.
Marty Robbins
3/5
This album was made in the late 1950’s. Just like cats made at that time, it is stylish and quality but is dated for sure. To make an album like this today, it would be auto tuned and done with computers. The songs are repetitive but are crafted with care. I wish they would have removed a few tracks to tighten this up. Overall it’s above average.
Neil Young
3/5
It’s iconic but I don’t know why. It’s very boring.
Ghostface Killah
1/5
This style of rap is just slam poetry with music samples as the background. It holds my interest for no more than 2 seconds.
The best part of this album is the musical samples. You know, the part that actual musicians sang and played instruments with melodies and song structure.
Metallica
4/5
The best metal album of 1986.
Soft Machine
1/5
Add this to the list of some of the most horrendous atrocities mankind has created. War, genocide, famine, slavery, torture, rape, murder, abuse, pedophilia, Captain Beefheart, and now Third by Soft Machine.
The Strokes
4/5
A fun little pop album. Every song is uptempo and earnest. It is all a bit one note, but sometimes that’s ok when the album is so short.
Machito
4/5
A fun, vibrant album.
The Birthday Party
1/5
I like it when within the first 2 seconds of the first song I can tell I’m going to hate an album. This isn’t edgy, experimental, or post punk. It’s noiseless garbage, dog shit. It tries too hard to be shocking. What they didn’t try hard at was writing better music.
Steely Dan
4/5
I just don’t like yacht rock. This is great album of good songwriting and musicianship. The style is just not for me.
Wu-Tang Clan
4/5
I can see why they were popular. As a teen that listened to grunge in the 90’s, this album was never listened to till 2025. There were too many great albums coming out of the 1990s.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
I haven’t seen anyone mention what a fantastic album cover this is. It’s so great.
The album is pretty fantastic too. There’s so much going on. Here Comes The Flood is my favorite track.
The Pretty Things
3/5
An average, boring slog.
4/5
A pretty phenomenal album. Such talent.
Dead Kennedys
3/5
It’s punk. It’s brash. It’s quick. It’s not that deep. It’s not Mozart.
Yes
2/5
No
T. Rex
3/5
All of it is just kinda boring. Bang A Gong is the only upbeat and uptempo song on the album. The rest is just mopey and slow. What a waste of a great album cover when you really want to hear a sonic wall of rock.
James Brown
5/5
James Brown is the goat.
Portishead
2/5
Portishead had one or two cool songs in the 90’s and they were super unique but I’m afraid they’ve aged like milk. This is pretty terrible.
Ms. Dynamite
2/5
It’s not bad. It’s just vanilla R&B.
The bulk of the music I’ve listened to on this list (currently 1/3 the way through) is so average and boring. I’m disillusioned with the authors and their choices.
Supertramp
4/5
Now here is a band I’m not familiar with. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Really nice musicianship and melodies.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
3/5
I think what makes album great is their timeless appeal. Although this album when it came out was groundbreaking and influential, it doesn’t work in the 21st century.
David Bowie
3/5
Musically the songs are really nice. The weakest part is David Bowie’s singing. Deathbed or not, his choices and performance here just isn’t great. If he was still alive, people would judge this album way more harshly.
B.B. King
5/5
I can listen to this all day. What a phenomenal album that makes you feel like you were there. So much talent on display from all the musicians.
Billie Holiday
2/5
I’ve never listened to Billie Holiday before. I was surprised to learn that she is considered one of the best singers of all time. From reading the description on this album and seeing it was her last recordings before she died, I wanted to find out what she sounded like when she was younger. I went back and listened to he big hits. She sounds 95% the same.
Wow, her style is bad in my opinion. It’s like someone who’s drunk and wants to talk/sing in roughly the same key, range, and tempo for every song she does. She can sing for sure, but I don’t like the style in which she does, and I don’t care for her voice in general.
Literally if you listen to 1 song on this album, you’ve heard the entire range and style of Billie and the band on the entire album. It’s 11 tracks of the same song with different lyrics. This is pretty terrible if you like variety.
The Who
4/5
Why is there hate for live albums? You can do anything and everything in a recording studio to sound great. When you’re live, that’s who you are fundamentally. There’s no hiding if you lack talent. There’s no take two, take three. There’s no layering of guitar tracks to build a wall of sound. It shows who the musicians are, warts and all. This is a great live album by a fantastic rock band. A Quick One While He’s Away is their best song in my opinion. Fantastic!
The Monkees
2/5
What a strange “artist” to add to this list. No thanks.
Van Halen
5/5
Such a rocking album. A true classic for the ages.
Maxwell
2/5
This isn’t the 90’s music I’m looking for. Why is this on the list? Da fuck?!
Deep Purple
2/5
When I love a band so much that I buy a ticket to go see them in concert, I’m there to hear their songs as they recorded and released them to the public. Now I’m not a fool. I know that some songs will be embellished and stretched out. When every god damn song is that way it really pisses me off and makes the concert worse (I’m staring at you angrily Foo Fighters). Just play your fucking songs. Don’t become a jam band all of a sudden live if you’re a rock band. I guess Deep Purple fell into this trap too. Give me a break.
AC/DC
5/5
When 9 out of 10 songs on the album are fantastic, it makes it a perfect album.
Donovan
2/5
If I was an elderly Englishman, living in the West Midlands in the 1960’s, tending to my sheep, I’d imagine I’d like this album. Since I’m not those things, I don’t.
The Everly Brothers
2/5
From doing this list, I’ve learned that when an album has a short runtime and has a dozen songs, it feels like it takes 3 hours to listen to because it’s agonizing to get through.
Also, I’d like to hear The Everly Brothers cover Master Of Puppets.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
This isn’t a great Rolling Stones album. However it was placed on the list for the significance that the authors had their head up their asses. Once that is realized, you learn that there’s only a very tiny fraction of the albums that you should listen to before you die that they picked.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Wow! I have never listened to the entire album and I have been missing out! This is a perfect album if there ever was one. For those who compare the Stones to other rock bands of their era like Led Zepplin, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Both bands are completely unique and different styles of rock. I’ll always consider myself a Zepplin fan first and do enjoy them more, but there’s something to be said about being one of the longest lasting rock bands that has had so many #1 hits.
As a Zepplin and huge Jimmy Page fan, I will die on the hill that the opening guitar lick on Can You Hear Me Knocking is the best rock guitar intro of all time. It’s damn perfect, from the tone, the grittiness, and to the mixing to just the right speaker in a stereo mix. It’s filthy, raw, and sinks its hook into you immediately and deeply. Supurb.
If you’re looking for a whole album of rock music, this ain’t it. This is a whole album of fantastic music which some of the songs are rock. Bravo! I’m going to listen to the entire thing again even though I just finished it. Cheers.
MGMT
4/5
A pretty phenomenal debut album. It’s not really my style of music in the long run, but this is good.