The album was undeniably a cultural zeitgeist and I was a massive fan in high school because... I was in high school in the early 2000s. I despise this now. His cleverness and cultural questioning doesn't justify the raw hatred this man is spewing. I've listened to way more hip hop/rap since high school and there's just SO much out there that is so much better than this album. I gotta say, I really thought "1001 albums to listen to before you die" would base its ratings on "excellent music" and a little less on white boy popularity contest.

It was definitely good music, but didn't captivate me. Lyrics are incredible. It just didn't tug me heart is all

Her voice is cool, unique, and groundbreaking. Lyrics are full of teen angst. Absolutely nothing about the composition or arrangement is interesting.

The strings, the crooning, the backup vocals... an absolute soundscape that pulls me gently into its flow. Charles' phrasing is literally perfect and I'm taking notes.

Ah, my fave Beck album! Beck's weirdness and talent come together perfectly on this concept album. His other stuff is excellent but doesn't touch Guero. His tone is unusually consistent across instruments, vocals, and the weird "Beck" touches that he likes to throw in songs. The overall effect is unusual but not at all dissonant. Would be five stars if it broke my overall experience with Beck: catchy, but doesn't move me.

I can clearly see how this influenced basically every hair metal and rock and roll band I've listened to from the 70s onward. Nice highlight of the blues roots of rock

Absolute goated album, been one of my faves since high school. Like others have mentioned, front to back I don't think this is their best album. yet another dad rock album on this list

The album was undeniably a cultural zeitgeist and I was a massive fan in high school because... I was in high school in the early 2000s. I despise this now. His cleverness and cultural questioning doesn't justify the raw hatred this man is spewing. I've listened to way more hip hop/rap since high school and there's just SO much out there that is so much better than this album. I gotta say, I really thought "1001 albums to listen to before you die" would base its ratings on "excellent music" and a little less on white boy popularity contest.

While this isn't music that I would regularly listen to, I found it very enjoyable while working. Definitely some cool sounds in there and nice squelches, I'm a sucker for a good EDM squelch. It was interesting enough to keep me engaged with the music, energetic enough to keep me engaged with my work. That said I find basically all EDM so repetitive and unemotional that it's only good for working on something tedious or for dancing mindlessly at the clurb. One notable exception is Jay Electronica, who I wish was on this list instead of Leftism.

I love the more gospel-y parts, like on We Are Not Helpless. The man is a stellar guitarist and songwriter and I loved a lot of this. But I wonder why gospel songs by a white dude from the 70s made it to this list, and not actual gospel

If my band had made this album, I'd be proud. Controversially I super enjoyed some parts of the comfortably numb cover, but the bad parts far eclipsed the good. (the BeeGees style Ha Ha Ha Ha inserted in different places, puke.) Overall, not a bad dancy album, but like... again my complaint for everything on this list is that there's so much better out there to represent the genres and styles they chose! for dancy synth pop, Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia is literally unstoppable. And Mag Bay's Mercurial World. I know nothing about music but I know this for sure

Me right now in 2025 is thinking that this album is the most classic 80s-90s rap sound, but that's in retrospect, and apparently this album started it? Hats off to the creators of a sound that I love. I just love how funky and high energy the hip hop is from that time. Being Canadian my first exposure to this sound was with Maestro Fresh Wes, and this album taught me that Wes shouts Public Enemy often in his music so that's cool. Wes sound clearly inspired by tracks like Night of the Living BaseHeads, so funky, so clean. Can also see how they influenced RAtM sound and Zack's rap style, especially from She Watch Channel Zero?!. Can't stand the repetitive aggressive stuff like in Mind Terrorist. Love the lyricism and beats on most other tracks. Overall a very interesting and intense album, they clearly went in with a vision and executed it perfectly.

Only listened to this one lightly so not a huge review this time. Clearly an excellent live performance by skilled musicians. To be honest though it's not as distinguishable from the other hair metal of the era as I would have wanted to see on this list.

I am a huge Tom Petty fan and this is by far neither his best nor his most influential work. Full Moon Fever should have been the album on this list. If you arent a Petty fan, stop listening to this debut Heartbreakers album and go listen to Full Moon Fever. I find the front half of this Heartbreakers album to be quite boring compared to other Petty stuff. This album also doesn't make the good use of Petty's unique voice. I saw another reviewer say this was his "Springsteen-influenced" era, I agree. Petty sounds best when he's doing Petty. I also think it's wild that this album is categorized as psychedelic rock, I don't hear that at all. It's pretty classic, meat and potatoes hint-of-blues rock to me.

Because of the cultural zeitgeist around this album I have of course avoided listening to it until now. And now I'm absolutely loving hearing how this album so clearly influenced the sounds that I listen to today, from the Oh Sees and the Melvins, who were mavericks of their time and belong on this list (plot twist: they are not on this list), to LCD Soundsystem (who seem to have basically copied their style from this album??). This album inspired so much of the stoner metal stuff I love. And of course all of the 90s post-punk that I dgaf about, but I see the culture

Beautiful narrative songwriting from CCR. Their songs flow seamlessly even when they're nonsense, like Backdoor. I have covered many of the songs on this album with my band so I'm biased.

Coming into this already familiar with a lot of Biggie's work. First of all, shout out to the Doggystyle sampling. Secondly, this was a hilarious album choice to listen to while I do homework on a dry technical topic. Yes, the gunshots did make it harder to concentrate, so moment of gratitude that I normally have a quiet study zone. Classic beats that will be sampled til the end of time, smooth rhymes, absolutely unbeatable flow and character from Biggie. Special shout out to the creative freaky funkiness of the track in Machine Gun Funk. A bit of filler in songs like Warning, 1h 16min is a long album and it's impressive that so much of it is timeless quality. That said, the frequent skits, misogyny, violence, and gunshots overwhelm the album. Yes this is a classic but when this album gets listened to today, its with heavily censored and shortened versions, and for good reason. I don't normally like radio edits but it's the only way to cut through the production bullshit and see the genius of Biggie. I live for the funk ~

Not familiar with a lot of Brit folk, this caught me by surprise with how much I enjoyed it. I am an overall folk fan and I like that this album stayed true to folksy roots as much as possible while using modern rock instruments and modernized arrangements. The vocals stand out as versatile and dynamic. The string arrangements in general were fantastic and the fiddling in particular was beautiful. Matty Groves and Medley stood out to me as favourites, probably in large part because of the fiddle. Yes Matty Groves was 8 minutes but every minute was worth the listen. Definitely an album that will stay in my library.

I love this album. Absolute keystone metal album. The crazy shreds are one thing, but what's behind them is also solid catchy backing guitar and bass. Hope it's one of the few albums of this particular era of classic metal to show up on this list, because there are entire libraries of better metal made since. This decade of music sounds corny as hell today regardless of the genre. ~ if there's ever a new way / I'll be first in line / but it better work this time ~

I've only ever come across PJ Harvey through her collaborations with other artists like Homme and Lanegan. This album as a whole feels pretty classic 90s grunge with some added cleverness like the string section in Man-Size. Her vocals stand out as versatile and sensual and I particularly love her growls/screams/vocal fry, and when it sounds like she's singing through gritted teeth. Rub til it Bleeds is another stand out fave. To all the reviewers saying the production is shit, y'all, this is art that is intentionally raw. If this was produced like a pop album it would sound sterile.

First impression is the striking album cover, what a masterpiece of a cover, I'd pick this off the shelf instantly even if I didn't know Duran Duran. Honestly they're one of those bands who have been so ubiquitously quoted over my life that I never actually bothered to go in and give them a listen. Damn, this is 80s synth-pop at its absolute peak - literally every song has a killer bassline, and the synth manages to be uniquely interesting in each song. I'm a suck for their backing vocals in Hold Back the Rain and sax riffs in Rio and others. I love Eagles of Death Metal but their cover of Save a Prayer isn't as good as the original. that being said rating it 4 stars because this doesn't feel like "I'm about to die and I'm so glad I heard this"

This is my first Radiohead album from this list but I'm guessing there's a good 3-5 Radiohead albums in total just based on how biased this list has been so far towards angsty white boy rock. (I just checked and there are SIX radiohead albums on this list.) I do not need to hear this much radiohead before I die, there is so much variety out there. This list is crap. I do like the arrangement of strings and almost jazz-like percussion in Pyramid song. Pulk/pull Revolving Doors has some cool synthd sounds on it but I've been spoiled by the variety of other experimental synth bands out there and this is boring by comparison. You and Whose Army as well as Life in a Glasshouse are both shadows of Neutral Milk Hotel (who somehow did not make it to this 1001 list, despite their massive influence on indie sound as a whole, and clearly Radiohead). with all the love in the world Thom Yorke sounds the same on every track (including in his Smile stuff). I actually really like the chord progression in it but Morning Bell/Amnesiac sounds like a dozen other Radiohead songs, so I skipped it halfway through. Love the synth on Spinning Plates. Overall this album did stand out in a small but importnat (for me) way from other Radiohead albums - the percussion had lots of clear jazz influences. Would love to see the band pull more on that thread. Also even though they are playing from the Neutral Milk Hotel fake book, I do love that NMH sound so I enjoyed those bits of dissonant horns and wailing crackly half step melodies on this album. Yes I'm being harder on radiohead than I am for other bands on this list, because if you're going to take up 6/1001 spaces, you'd better deserve it. Queen is arguably both more influential and musically far superior and interesting, and they only have 3 albums on the list. Not impressed, Radiohead.

Mitchell's voice is on display at its most beautiful on this album. Help Me is a perfect example of both her range and her songwriting prowess, she has the power to jerk a listener around with her arrangements in a smooth and almost inevitable way and is probably the best song on the album. Hallelujah to the oddball harmonies and resolutions in Free Man in Paris and Down to You. The storytelling journey is especially strong in songs like Car on the Hill, and the piano breakdowns leave you wanting more. She is also exceptionally dynamic in a way that I don't hear often. I adore the jazz influences and arrangements on songs like Just Like This Train and Twisted (Twisted is just plain jazz, no pop nowhere). Raised by Robbery is the black sheep of the album, it's the biggest thematic departure. To me it's by far her most "standard" rock 'n' roll song, from the more "roll" days of rock. She does a great job but I probably wouldn't like her as much if she stuck to this genre, it's not where her arrangement style thrives. I see other peoples comments about her obviously being a poet first and songwriter almost as an afterthought. I agree with this for parts of the album, like People's Parties and The Same Situation. That said, her lyricism is groundbreaking and more than compensates for the poetic focus. Her phrasing is unusual as a result, but I think that's a plus. I don't see how this is supposed to be a pop album, or a folk album. Its jazz fusion if anything. Overall, I definitely needed to hear this before I die.

The Clash are another one of the bands that are so culturally ubiquitous that I've never given them a serious listen. Turns out there's a great reason they're so culturally ubiquitous. First of all, Joe Strummer is a vocals blessing from the lord. His squawking is unique, perfectly suited to their music, and feels like it's pouring out of him spontaneously. One of the biggest reasons why The Clash's music feels like it's live from the floor emotion that taps straight into the lives of the average citizen and unites us all. I also have the hots for bands who can't pick one "genre". I use the term loosely because in my opinion good music isn't so easily classified. The switch between punk, ska, big band, and rockabilly keep the album so interesting you don't notice you've been listening for over an hour. Each track is also uniquely filled with energy. I especially love the transition between Spanish Bombs and The Right Profile, which are two high energy juicy songs in two completely different ways. there's a lot about The Clash that suggests they don't take themselves too seriously. A lot of lyrics poke fun at themselves, the bourgeoisie, and the layman. I love when Strummer breaks down into sputtering nonsense in The Right Profile. The lyrics and subject of Lost in the Supermarket are simultaneously relatable comedy while also earnestly describing the unique soullessness of suburban living. Even when the band is seemingly being minimalist in their sound, the arrangements have so many unique motifs that the flow of listening is uninterrupted. The Guns of Brixton is ostensibly simple on the surface but the dynamics are layered and nuanced. The dissonance in the chords immediately after the chorus lends anxiety and unpredictability to an otherwise simple song (though I could do without the "boi-oing" sounds). Towards the end, I did start to find the album too long.

One hell of an opener song. Love the tempo and texture changes. Though I hate the "boing oing" sounds that are so ubiquitous in this era of psych rock. Sitar is one thing but the boings are just so corny. I also found the Minotaur Song beautifully arranged, but the lyrics and the main vocals are so corny I can't keep from rolling my eyes. The wiki article also doesn't seem to really situate The Incredible String Band in the cultural context, so I don't have a point of reference that isn't "corny 60s psychedelia". They did mention that Led Zeppelin was directly inspired by TISB, which shows up pretty clearly in Zep music (though imo Zep did the sound way better, less corny). Overall, interesting and unique songwriting structure and arrangements that was clearly avant-garde in its time. I feel meh about hearing this before I die though so for that reason giving it a three star.

10/10 album cover. I love basically everything that Zappa has influenced (especially Ween, Primus, Steven Wilson, etc) but I've never really given his discog a listen. Holy shit, it's amazing, it manages to be "outsider music"-level weird while still having mass appeal composition. His resolutions are unpredictable and offbeat and deeply satisfying. Yes, people should hear some zappa before they die.

Oh god noooo, this is more of the same late-80s early-90s alt grunge again! Someone please tell me what is so unique and amazing about this album. Okay so it was the first of its kind and inspired like, every alt album since. I just think Pavement and Mitski did it better :) Four stars because I see and respect the influence of it all. That said, some great tracks where the style and/or tempo switch up fluidly bar to bar in a really pleasant way: Monkey's Gone to Heaven, Dead, Tame, Mr. Grieves, There Goes My Gun. The end of the album was not for me. I've decided whenever I get some 90s grunge esque repeat albums on this list that I'm going to look up "albums that should have been on the 1001 list" and listen to one of those instead. Today's is The Shaggs Philosophy of the World. Perfect mix of musical insanity and cult adoration plus zany backstory that I want to hear before I die.

I like the synth noises they make. The rest of it is totally uninspiring, slightly edgy pop music. We were so cringe in the 90s (actually, you all were cringe. I was a wee baby). There are some interesting departures into instrumental breaks, but otherwise it's formulaic and all over the exact saaaame 4/4 beat. Like... everything is so boring, the lyrics, the composition, the riffs, the melody, the percussion especially, this album absolutely limps. I skipped most songs halfway through. Why did I need to hear this before I die?

This guy has the sweetest clearest voice, kinda reminds me of Father John Misty. His composition is deceptively simple but is still rich enough to move you. I love the Rhodes tinkling in the background of some tracks like Winterwood, and the tempo switches in that song. I read some other reviews before giving this a listen. One of them suggested to start listening to this album in the fourth track, then come back around and listen to the first three afterwards, so you don't get blown away by the classic of classics (American Pie) and then get disappointed by the relative mediocrity of the rest of the album. I did this and I agree it was the move. I like this type of music in general and I'll absolutely play it in my living room while I'm drinking coffee. That said musically its not super interesting with the exception of his two "american treasure" songs on this album, so my rating reflects only the cultural zeitgeist of it all. Laughing at how Everybody Loves Me, Baby is just a straight up rip-off of American Pie. I do like the song though because it's one of the few points on the album where he goes a bit off the rails melody wise. I'd listen to his stuff more if he got weird with it more.

Now that's an opening line. Cover art brazenly sucks. I don't really like the fake Elvis stuff on songs like Wail. This music would feel more authentic if the lead singer wasn't doing that impression, it just feels like a shitty high school cover band that's trying too hard. I do love grungy and gross slimy distorted jarring guitar and synth tones, so all my stars in this rating come from my enjoyment of those dirty sounds. Shout out to the guitar distortion on 2Kindsalove. Same with the wah wah sounds on Chicken Dog (and the clogged-drain sounding clucks and cock-a-doodle-doos make this prob my fave song on the album, very Zappa, very Melvins). But the second half of the album totally lost me. The song Fuck Shit Up makes me want to go to sleep. Why did they have high energy on every song but this one?? More Gen X grunge-adjacent Ameri-Brit white boy stuff from the 80s-90s that won't move an audience outside of that small demographic. I've decided whenever I get yet another one of those 80s-90s angst repeat albums on this list that I'm going to look up "albums that should have been on the 1001 list" and listen to one of those instead. Because this guy wants to sound so much like Elvis, I decided to go with a recommendation of Elvis' first album. Absolutely beautiful album, emotional, talented, unique, cultural zeitgeist. Shout out to the black musicians around Elvis for creating the beautiful and timeless sound that he stole. 4 stars to Elvis. Final rating of Jon Spencer: Jack White, Injury Reserve, Elvis, King Woman, JPEGMAFIA, Melvins do it better. Why did I need to hear this before I die?

I'm biased because I like a lot of Bowie. The opening track is one of his more experimental tracks, but I hate it, I think it was a dumb choice for an opening track. The repetitive "I'm a blackstar" is a massive and annoying distraction from what is otherwise a stellar instrumental arrangement, and it should not be 10 mins long. Love the horns Bowie is using on this. Especially nice paired with the driving bass on Lazarus. Love especially the cute trills towards the end of the breakdown on that song, makes you feel like you're going deliciously insane in a Bowie way. Sue is another great track, super odd sounding with the jungle/breakbeat as a backbone. Yes to the dissonant synth chords gently throwing you off the ledge of comfort zone underneath the melody. I saw in the wiki that this album was influenced by Death Grips?? lol. you don't really hear it until the end of Sue imo. I wish Bowie messed around with more of that style of sound before he passed. That said, one overall trend of this album is my bone to pick wiith a lot of Bowie stuff in general - where tf is the melody? the man has the world's most recognizable wail but on this album it felt more wandering than clever, evocative, or catchy. This album feels overall more soundscape and ethereal than some of his other stuff. This is a decent album, but as far as representative Bowie to hear before I die, I think I would have picked more Ziggy or Space Oddity. Either way, the man has a beautiful catalogue that this list is prompting me to dig into more deeply.

The other reviews criticizing the lyrics clearly have not actually listened to the lyrics. Lamar has always been a powerhouse of political, astute, and culturally critical lyricism. Some of it is subtle and Lamar has been known to play with listener expectations by loading lyrics with the strong language and violence that is associated with rap. In other words, the exact listeners who don't dive beneath the skits and the n-words to process Lamar's actual message are ironically the listeners he is criticizing and poking fun at. When listeners fall into this trap of their own bigotry I picture Lamar saying "dance, monkey". This album was a central musical point in my life, played on repeat for almost an entire year alongside Good Kid, mAAd City in my friend group during the third year of our undergrad. It was the backdrop to a lot of formative memories and it's hard to listen to it now 8 years later trying to separate those memories from the "listen before you die" experience of this list. The first thing that strikes me after those 8 years is how dated this album already sounds after not even a decade. I'm a big FlyLo and Thundercat fan, and their influences shine clearly on this album, but they're also the biggest contributors to it sounding dated. The keyboard and synth tones and progression choices are so clearly 2015-era FlyLo and Thundercat. To me, Lamar's later stuff has a bit less of this fingerprint. I like Kendrick's voice and flow because he exercises both in a way that not a lot of other rappers do, he has more range and he explores it fully. I don't like his teenage voice crack affect in u, but I admire the musical experiment of it all. I still love this album 8 years later, but its excellence now pales next to Good Kid. Even DAMN and Mr. Morale stand out above this album in my eyes. Once again a surprising choice from this list.

Very stomp, clap, hey of grungy drone music. I do appreciate seeing how TVotR clearly influenced Alt J, who I really love. I also love a drone. And a discordant vocal harmony. So why is this music so boring to me?? I think it's the lack of dynamic and overall lack of energy. Alt J has a lot of pop composition and production and I think that's one good way of balancing the chore that TVotR drone is and frankly drone as a genre can easily be. I love a gnarly drone with discord and repetitiveness but it has to have dynamic and some kind of punch. Doesn't necessarily have to have pop production like Alt J. Go listen to some Russian Circles, Cloudkicker, or Elder and you'll see what I mean. I'm halfway through the album and finally seeing a small bit of dynamic on Wear You Out, but that song still managed to wear me out with its repetitiveness and sleepy energy. I do like the way that song ends though, so discordant in a jarring and discomfiting way, I wish the rest of the song was as interesting. Some other cool weird endings on songs like You Could Be Love. Do the start and middle of the songs next please. When looking up more about TVotR on Spotify, in the recommended artists you can find a dozen other artists on this list who make very similar music in a similarly mediocre way (Silvesun Pickups, LCD Soundsystem (sorry but they are mediocre), Arcade Fire (I swear to god if there's an arcade fire album on this list!!), Spoon, Beck). This list is just what some Gen X white dude heard on the radio when he was young enough to be at the skate park. this list is just a man wanking over James Murphy and Thom Yorke and writing a book documenting his wanks for some reason. It's not the worst thing I've heard on this list but I definitely did not need to hear this before I die. They have the exact same drum beat on every damn song. Possibly even the same bassline. Mercy please

Yes, finally a master! Had the immense privilege of seeing Hancock at a Jazzfest in 2023. The man is an icon of groove. He is himself The Culture. Whenever something goes wrong in the world, you can know that God still exists and cares about humanity just by listening to this album. shout out to the weird opening/closing of one of the greatest songs of all time on watermelon man. shout out to one of the most beautiful relationships to have ever existed as being between a Black man and a rhodes piano. I will have this stuck in my head on my deathbed