1001 Albums Journey

Very cool listen! The Stone Roses provides a very pretty sounding wall-of-sound release that I can see where a lot of bands in modernity got their inspiration from this record. I almost feel like its' sound is the prototype for a lot of shoegaze groups that I listen to today. Not sure if it's a record I'll return to frequently but it was a pleasant listen!

I got spoiled with this album! Michael Jackson is one of my favorite artists of all time and this might be my second favorite album by him. Admittedly, I've only dabbled in some of the songs outside of the hits a few times - "Get on the Floor" has an excellent bassline that I totally forgot about and is a massive standout track to me! "Off the Wall" is my absolute favorite Michael Jackson song and I return to it frequently. I also like that this isn't a super long record, it doesn't overstay it's welcome at a brisk 42 minutes. Love this one!

Super excited to get this record! I'm a big fan of progressive rock - my favorite band of all time is Coheed and Cambria but also love bands like Pink Floyd, Rush, Dream Theater, and so many others. A lot of bands I love are heavily influenced by The Who and this record has the only song I know by them on it - "Pinball Wizard". The album has a fair bit of downtime songs that are meant to be used as intermission-type songs and there's several songs that are less than a minute long, so the album looks a lot longer than it actually is. I felt like a sped through this one! Standout tracks are "Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)", "The Acid Queen", "Pinball Wizard", "Smash the Mirror", and "Sally Simpson". Side note: Keith Moon is an amazing drummer and I think him and Entwistle hard carry this record. This was a fun one and I have to thank The Who and this album for being so influential on a lot of my favorite music.

I'm a big fan of Talking Heads. Like some of my previous albums I've been given, I know a hand-full of some of their biggest hits but this is the first time I've taken a deep dive into one of their records. I'm much more familiar with their material on "Remain in Light" and "Speaking in Tongues". Some of the standout tracks for me are "Life During Wartime", "Paper", "Animals", and "Electric Guitar". I started off by listening to the original 1979 edition on Spotify but wasn't super enamored with the sound. I felt like the production of the original version was a little muffled and neutered sounding. With that in mind, this website links to the Deluxe Edition which was remastered in 2005 and I decided to give that version a listen to see if I liked the record any better. I do think the remastered 2005 version lends to a better listening experience. I found all of the same tracks enjoyable with the addition of "Drugs" which has an extremely foreboding sound that I enjoyed - definitely reminded me of having a bad trip. My overall verdict: enjoyable because of how much I enjoy the band but I have a feeling I would like their later releases a lot more.

Like most millennials my age, my first exposure to De La Soul came from their numerous features and collaborations with Gorillaz. Being that Gorillaz is one of my favorite groups, I am very familiar with all of their featured songs but I've also heard a smattering of songs from De La Soul's discography - however - the only song on this record I was familiar with coming into this review was "Me Myself and I". The album provides a pleasant listen with lots of well done "boom-bap" beats to bob your head to and the lyrics on this record are fun and don't take themselves too seriously. Lots of tasteful turn table work as well. I generally enjoyed the chilled out vibe the album brings but also have to admit a lot of the songs blended together for me, so much so that it was difficult to pick out standout tracks, although I have a few. It feels to me very much like a first release. You can feel the group trying out a style to see if it fits and trying to throw darts at the wall and see what sticks. As I felt with the Talking Heads record I reviewed, I have a feeling I would like their later albums a lot more than "3 Feet High and Rising" but this one did not capture me as much as I would have hoped. Standout tracks to me were "Eye Know", "Ghetto Thang", "Plug Tunin' (Last Chance to Comprehend)", and of course "Me Myself and I".

Coming into this review, I didn't know a ton about Bob Dylan. Other than the fact that he is a musician and that one short guy from that YouTube video walked him up on stage apparently in 1969. I'm also generally not a big fan of folk music as it usually just doesn't have a ton of instrumentation to keep me interested...but I'll keep an open mind! I had heard a handful of his hits and the only song I was familiar with coming into this release was "Blowin' in the Wind". Upon first listen, one of the things that stands out to me is the sincerity I can hear in Bob Dylan's voice when he sings these songs. The use of harmonica on the record is also tastefully done - a very under sung instrument! I'm also kind of amazed at how straightforward musically a lot of these songs are - It literally is just a man, guitar, and harmonica...that's it! It kind of blows me my mind how "big" these songs feel despite only having those 2 instruments and vocals. Despite the album also coming out in the midst of the Cold War, I didn't expect there to be multiple songs about nuclear war and the military industrial complex in the early 1960's. Overall, I think I appreciate this album a lot and the message it's sending to me. I don't think it's an album I would listen to front-to-back again but the standout tracks are recently worth revisiting. This was a great crash course in the legendary Bob Dylan! Standout tracks were "Blowin' in the Wind", "Masters of War", "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", "Oxford Town", and "Corrina, Corrina".

Like Bob Dylan, my familiarity with David Bowie and his catalog of music is very scant. The only things I really am familiar with of his are his Ziggy Stardust persona, his song "Space Oddity", and his role as the Goblin King in Labyrinth. This is a legendary artist that I've always wanted to get more into. Overall, I think I liked this record, however I couldn’t really scratch the feeling of a lot of it sounded very Improvised. It kind of sounded like they made really interesting and unique instrumentation and Bowie sort of improvised the lyrics on top of that. Obviously, not actually I’m sure what happened but I couldn’t shake that feeling. Weirdly enough I felt like Bowie’s vocal performance was the worst part about this record. It just seemed like the melody for the vocals did not at all match the instrumentation and it left the songs feeling a little aimless. This album unfortunately didn’t do much for me but I appreciated the talent of everyone involved in the making of this one. Standout tracks on this one are “Station to Station” and “TVC 15”.

Excited to get this one! I listened to this album many years ago and really liked the songs "Time" and "Money" but outside of those two - they're the only songs I remembered. Listening through this masterpiece again, it still absolutely holds up. Pink Floyd seems to weave progressive rock and jazz elements flawlessly. What's even more crazy to me is this album's proximity in time to "Tommy" which I listened to about a week ago for the first time. This album was made 4 years later and seems to pack a lot more sounds and interesting studio techniques than I would've expected for 1973. I absolutely love the use of saxophones in this one! If I have one criticism it's that some of the tracks seem to be a little filler-esque and don't really do much to add to the totality of the album. That being said, this album absolutely holds up to the first time I heard it almost 10+ years ago. Standout tracks for me are "Time" and "Money again. Some other standouts to return to would be "Us and Them" and "Eclipse".

I absolutely love The Beatles! My parents, specifically my dad, is a big fan so I grew up with a lot of their songs on repeat in my childhood homes. That said, I know a ton of the hits from this record and many more. I'm more intimately familiar with the Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour records in their totality - so I'm hoping this dive into the white album will yield a better appreciation for some of the deeper cuts. One thing that strikes me about this record is that it's production is stellar. For some reason good production on an album that came out in 1968 seems unheard of for me. I also appreciate that this album seems a little more paired back than the concept records like Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour. It was almost as if the amount of drugs these guys were doing was still there but it just feels like their sound matured? One of the things that strikes me about this record too is George Harrison's guitar work - the songs "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" and "Helter Skelter" just have some really jammy sounding guitar work that is extremely pleasing to listen to. One of my only criticisms of this record is that I feel like there's probably 6 - 8 songs you could reliably cut out and this would still be an extremely solid release. This was a really fun album to return to and still shows me the reasons why The Beatles are still highly celebrated 57 years later. Standout tracks for me on this one (with the caveat that I didn't already know well them coming in) - "Dear Prudence", "Why Don't We Do it in the Road?", "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey", and "Revolution 1".

This is the first album I've gotten from this generator where I absolutely have no idea what to expect. I've never heard of Public Image Ltd. Without researching, I'm just going to put this on and take it as it comes. To start off, it looks like two songs from the album have been greyed out on Spotify - those songs being "Bad Baby" and "Chant". To make sure I'm taking in the entire album, I'll try and see if I can find those songs independently from the linked Spotify release. From the opening couple songs, it seems like a very interesting brand of early noise rock. A lot of weird and interesting production tricks to make the guitar sound very shrill and off-putting in a positive way? The drums on this album seem to keep a familiar monotonous tempo that scratches my brain nicely. I think the only thing that stands out to me as negative is the vocalist's vibrato-laden vocals and yells. I don't know if it's necessarily for me but it absolutely fits the theme of the album from what I've gathered of the first two songs. "Socialist" is a fun little track that feels like an improvised jam sesh with some futuristic soundscapes thrown in there to make you feel like you're on an alien spaceship. Same thing with the track "Graveyard", however, I feel like it's composition lends better to the theme of the song. "Chant" has to be one of the most insufferable songs I've heard in a very long time, felt like I was getting a headache listening to it. Overall I feel like this album was experimental for experimentalism's sake and I didn't enjoy listening to this one. Will not be coming back to it. Standout tracks are "Careering", "Socialist", and "Graveyard".

I love Snoop Dogg! One of the West Coast's best artists and Compton legend. This is another classic example of an artist where I know most, if not all of his hits, but not some of the deeper cuts. I've been excited to get to this one! First thing that strikes me is that Dr. Dre's production on the record is impeccable. Seriously, one of the best beat makers and even back in the early 90s was crafting songs that just sounded so genuinely west coast. Snoop's flow just works so well over these beats too, the whole package just sounds so 90s - I love it. It has a little bit of the corny old-head raps of the 80s "lyrical miracle spiritual" but with a little bit more of a 90s edge to it. Lady of Rage's feature on "For All My N***** & Bitches" goes incredibly hard and is catchy as hell. Rest in Peace to Nate Dogg as well on "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)", always makes me happy to hear him on a track. The piano beat on "Gz and Hustlas" gave me immediate stank face and just adds so much to the track. I think I've found a new favorite off of this one. Overall, this was an extremely fun listen and will absolutely be coming back to this one at some point! "Smoke weed every day." Standout tracks: I have to include some of the hits on this one because they're just so so good. "Gin and Juice", "Serial Killa", "Who Am I? (What's My Name)", "For All My N***** & Bitches", "Ain't No Fun (If the Homies Can't Have None)", and "Gz and Hustlas".

Coming into this, the only thing I know about Run DMC is the reality show that Rev Run had back in the early 2000's. Outside of that, I come in with a little bit of bias against this era of hip-hop because I just feel like the 90s is where the genre really evolved into it's potential. I find a lot of 80's rap to be incredibly corny and a little too "lyrical miracle spiritual" for me. We'll see how it goes though! Great start to the record with "Hard Times" being an incredibly poignant song even in 2025. Prices going up and times are hard, everybody is barely making enough money to skate by and feeling the pain of that right now in particular, that track spoke to me. "Rock Box" has a cool guitar inspired beat that reminds me a lot of Eddie Van Halen's guitar work in Michael Jackson's "Beat It", the song outside of that though falls a little flat for me. "Wake Up" is an interesting song about a dream that one of the rappers had about the world being in a state of utopia where nobody had to worry about bad health, bills, and political strife. I also found this track to be incredibly sad for some reason and it weirdly kind of hit me emotionally. Overall, this was an interesting listen that I don't know if I would come back to very much but I appreciate Run DMC's legacy they left behind for modern Rap/Hip-Hop. Standout tracks are "Hard Times", "It's Like That", and "Wake Up".

I've never heard Arcade Fire before but I've heard their name thrown around some indie rock circles. Not sure what to expect with this one. I love the name and look of the album in general. First track that I've felt strongly about is "Intervention", it's a really soaring orchestral kind of song that has a really "big" feel behind it production-wise. The lyrics strike me as an anti-religious anthem, which I'm always a sucker for. Very impressive track! This album has a lot of really cool piano-work in it, I've found myself tapping my foot multiple times just listening along with the beat. I've also really enjoyed a lot of the lyrics on this album so far, in the songs "(Antichrist Television Blues)" and "Windowsill" I've found some gems. One song being about monetizing your children for fortune and fame and despite the loss of innocence that happens in the process. The other being a protest song about America. Overall, I think the lyrics of this album were my favorite part but a majority of the album did feel like it was blending into the background a little bit. I think I'm curious enough to return to this one though - I think there are absolutely some gems in there. Standouts on this one are "Intervention", "(Antichrist Television Blues)", and "Windowsill".

So coming into this album, I had heard Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah" as it's a beautiful rendition of the song and I had heard it a handful of times, however I never really listened to the other songs on the album. I feel like the album cover is super misleading as if you would've asked me what genre this album probably fell into...I would've clocked it as 80's rock like Billy Idol or something...I could not have been more wrong. What followed as I listened to the album was one of the most beautifully composed albums I've heard in a very, very long time. The album is like a prog rock or rock opera filled with soaring vocals, dark melodies, and some of the prettiest sounding clean channel guitar work I've ever heard. I think the saddest part of this album is that we were robbed of more Jeff Buckley as I learned he unfortunately passed away 3 years after this album was made - in 1997. I can hear his sound in SO many bands I love to this day - Muse, Radiohead, The Mars Volta...the list goes on. I've enjoyed a great many of the albums this website has shown me but of all of them, so far, this has been my favorite. I think I will be returning to this one many, many times over the coming years. RIP Jeff Buckley, I would've loved to have seen what you could've created if you were not gone long before your time. Standout tracks are: "Grace", "So Real", "Lover You Should've Come Over" and "Eternal Life".

I have no idea who Super Furry Animals is but I was surprised to look up that the singer of the band is Rhys Ifans - Otto Hightower from House of the Dragon. Not sure what to expect so I'll just jump in. The album so far has a really unique blending of styles. It weirdly reminds me of The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour album - a blending of synth music, art-rock, and maybe even some electronic music with some lo-fi accompaniment. It also kind of sounds like Gorillaz without any rap or hip-hop presence. Each song on the album manages to have a similar and cohesive feel like also feeling weirdly distinct and nothing like the last song I just heard? Which I know sounds like a total contradiction but I find the familiar sound of the songs with added small elements here and there really refreshing to listen to. I listened through the entire album but noticed the album has a side 2 with more original songs on it - so I decided to listen through those as well. Overall, I enjoyed my time with this album and it's unique blending on musical styles to create a record that feels eclectic but not unpleasant. Standout tracks are: "(Drawing) Rings Around the World", "It's Not the End of the World?", "Shoot Doris Day" and "Juxtaposed with U".

Coming into this review I was not at all familiar with Elvis Costello. My initial impressions of this album are that the lyrics and vocal stylings feel very "punk" sounding but don't really follow the same up tempo, quick pace that punk music I'm accustomed to usually is. Costello's voice is sardonic sounding but with enough grit to where it maintains that punk sound. It's something that's difficult to put into words but you really just have to hear it for yourself. This is a record I wish I would've followed along with the lyrics a little more closely but the musicianship and instrumentation is fun and has a playful cynicism I appreciate. Will absolutely return to this one in the future! Standout tracks are: "13 Steps Lead Down", "This is Hell", "London's Brilliant Parade", "Just About Glad"

I was only really cursorily familiar with Wilco coming into this album. The most I had heard about them was from my girlfriend and from friends here and there. What followed was a decently pleasant to listen to country/indie/folk album with some standout songs here and there. I think a knock against the album would be that it's entirely too long. At 19 tracks it starts to outstay it's welcome a little bit towards the latter half of the record. Despite that though, I found a few songs I would not mind returning to every now and then. Like with some of the albums I've been recommended from 1001AlbumsGenerator, I have a feeling I would like some of their later, more mature, releases better than this one. Although, this one is a solid listen for the most part. Standout tracks are: "Hotel Arizona" and "Kingpin".

I love Dolly Parton as a person but I must admit...I'm not super familiar with her music, save for "Berry Pie" which I've heard several times. Outside of that, I know Dolly Parton for being one of the few leftist voices in a genre of music saturated with right-wing nonsense. With that in mind I'm excited to check this out! One of the things about listening to this record is that it has had me smiling the entire time. Dolly has a way of weaving comedy into some of her songs in a way that I just find kind of adorable, I think of the song "Traveling Man", which is a song that's not meant to be taken super seriously and I appreciate the tongue-in-cheek nature. This sort of spirit permeates the entire album in a way I appreciate. There's also moments where I feel like the lyrics can be a little deeper than you would expect them to be - I found the lyrics on "The Mystery of the Mystery". Overall, I'd say this is a really solid country album but probably not one I'll return to with much frequency. Standout tracks are: "Coat of Many Colors", "If I lose My Mind", "The Mystery of the Mystery", "A Better Place to Live".

I've been familiar with Frank Ocean ever since his inclusion in the rap group Odd Future. I'm also a big fan of Tyler, The Creator and Earl Sweatshirt - of which Frank Ocean appears as a guest vocalist pretty frequently. Coming into this album I've heard it through a couple of time and am familiar with multiple songs. I already really love it but this will be a fun experience doing a deeper dive. The entire album has an interesting feel as if you're flipping through channels on an old CRT tv. I almost imagine these channels, and by extension the songs on the album, being different events in Frank's life and experiences. My favorite arc in the album is from "Sweet Life", "Not Just the Money", and "Super Rich Kids". The lyrics in both songs talk about growing up with white kids who were spoiled from their upbringing and how ultimately the life styles they lead are hollow and ultimately end up doing them a disservice in the long run. The beats on the album are also extremely unconventional but somehow the album manages to make them feel extremely cohesive and that they fit extremely well. Sometimes Frank's vocals feel like they "go off the beaten path" of the beat of the song but I kind of like how unpredictable the vocal nuances can be on this record. This was a fun one to return to! Definitely one I could see myself returning to with some frequency. Standout tracks are: "Thinkin Bout You", "Sweet Life", "Super Rich Kids", "Lost", and "Bad Religion".

Standout tracks are: "Night Life", "Lonely Street", "A Girl in the Night".

Standout tracks are: "House of Memories", "Life in Prison", and "Skid Row".

I love this album. Alice in Chains is probably my favorite Grunge band to come from this era, probably because they're so influenced by metal music. Not much more to say other than this was a fun one to revisit. Standout tracks are: "Down in a Hole", "Rooster", "Angry Chair", and "Would?"

Jimi Hendrix is regarded as probably one of the best guitarists of the modern era. This era is full of really good protest music and art from the Vietnam war era and Woodstock. I'm a big fan of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Cream from this same era. I'm not too familiar with Hendrix's music though outside of "Purple Haze" and "All Along the Watchtower" - excited to give this one a listen! One thing to note about this album so far is that I love the drummer for TJHE but oh my god does the drum itself sound really bad. I'm sure it's because it was recorded extremely cheaply in 1967 but wow does it not sound great. The drummer is super talented though and I could tell if the recording was better - I would like it a lot more. The entire album feels like blues music has been draped over it with a fuzzy purple towel of sound that I really really appreciate. The song "Third Stone from the Sun" is absolutely a standout, being that it's an instrumental song I love how Hendrix's guitar tone lends so well to a psychedelic and cosmic feel of the song - there's also a lot of interesting production tricks on this song that give you the sensation of flying through space. It's brilliantly done! Great experiencing doing a deeper dive into a hugely influential figure in music - especially for a lot of the stuff I listen to today. Will definitely return to this one! Standout tracks are: "Purple Haze", "I Don't Live Today", "Fire", "Third Stone from the Sun", "Foxy Lady".