8.5/10 A really fantastic album I was sure I'd listened to before but seemingly never have in full. Definitely one to add to the rotation and even buy on vinyl because it's a zero skip album and I could easily imagine it growing on me on subsequent listens. At high volume it's even kind of dancy - had a little boogie in the kitchen with Moon. Highlights include The Passenger (of course), Tonight and Fall In Love WIth Me Listens: 2

6.5/10 A classic Stevie album, solid start to finish but no particular stand-outs for me. The music is fun and production funky and crisp but some of the lyrics were a little questionable/too preachy for my taste. Listens: 1

6/10 Quintessential Black Sabbath album, but not necessarily to my taste. Planet Caravan is the clear standout but there are a couple of other pleasantly surprising moments, such as the funky rhythm section in Hands of Doom. Listens: 1

7.5/10 I have mixed feelings about this album but enjoyed the full listen way more than I expected to from previous songs I'd heard - even outside of 'Good Feeling' which remains a fantastic song, even better in the setting of the album. Will give this a few more listens to pick out some other high points, although the overall effect still leaves me ambivalent due to the emo/alternative/green-day inspiring vocals in places grating on me. Listens: 1

5.5/10 Some good songs and fun energy but Thin Lizzy's output feels inconsistent and when listened to as a full album a little too 'countrified' for my taste. Not sure the live version particularly adds anything to the experience here. Listens: 1

8.5/10 A really fantastic album I was sure I'd listened to before but seemingly never have in full. Definitely one to add to the rotation and even buy on vinyl because it's a zero skip album and I could easily imagine it growing on me on subsequent listens. At high volume it's even kind of dancy - had a little boogie in the kitchen with Moon. Highlights include The Passenger (of course), Tonight and Fall In Love WIth Me Listens: 2

8/10 I've been meaning to listen to this album in full for ever. The singles I already knew remain the high points; Between the Bars is as heartachingly beautiful as ever, the driving rhythm of Angeles makes for a compelling listen, and Say Yes is a fantastic closer. Of the songs I hadn't heard before, Alameda and the Ballad of Big Nothing stood out. A tricky album to score because the high points are so high, but I felt the quality lulled a little in the middle. Listens: 3

6.5/10 The first pleasant surprise of my 1001 albums project. Some pre-adolescent memories of this band that may have been based on little more than an aversion to the pink album cover made me think I hated Garbage. It's still not music I can imagine revisiting particularly often but as my taste has veered a little more towards harder rock of late I quite enjoyed this. Stupid Girl isprobably the best song on the album, but Milk was a real surprise given its trip hop vibe which I did not expect to find on a Garbage album. Listens: 2

6/10 Hadn't heard of this John Martyn album despite being very familiar with some of his work on Over the Hill. Fairly underwhelming easy listening although there are probably some songs on here that would grow on me over repeat listens. Listens: 1

3/10 First time actually listening to Kiss and now I understand the need for the flamboyant aesthetic - their music is incredibly uninspired and uninteresting. Maybe my opinion of this would improve on subsequent listens but not going to invest any more time in it. Listens: 1

7/10 First time listening to the whole album, although so many of these songs have permeated popular culture that it doesn't exactly feel new to me. It's a pretty consistent album, although maybe it does fall into a bit of a repetitive formula. Nonetheless, it's a good listen - I like Moby more than I'd previously thought. Listens: 3

7/10 This is a really difficult album for me to rate, in part because I suppose I haven't decided whether I'm going to be rating these 1001 albums based purely on my personal enjoyment, or what I perceive to be their musical merits regardless of my taste. There are lots of individual elements of this album that I love - Muddy's vocals, and everything from guitar to harmonica to piano is played brilliantly. Crosseyed Cat or the famous Mannish Boy are probably the songs that I'd choose to showcase this album at its best. The dichotomy for me is that I find it musically inspiring to learn how to play this stuff, and of course Muddy Waters has been incredibly influential on so many artists that I love, but in terms of just sitting and listening to it I don't derive much pleasure from the album. I guess I have a limited appreciation for twelve bar blues and a whole album of it is a bit much, although it does get my head bobbing. Muddy's legendary status shouldn't affect my rating, but listening to this album does really feel like listening to a legend do his stuff, which is pretty cool. All of that leaves me somewhere in the middle of the road with my final rating: ultimately I just didn't enjoy this as much as the albums I've given 4/5. Listens: 1

5/10 First band of my 1001 albums project that I'd never even heard of. Turns out I also didn't really know what shoegaze was. The first song had me hooked, thinking I was in for the treat of discovering something completely new that I really liked, but from there the album didn't really feel like it went anywhere, just dragging along. At their best, Ride are reminiscent of the Stone Roses, but the overall effect fell a long way short. Maybe in a different mood this album would resonate with me more but I can't imagine going back to it. Listens: 2

7/10 I didn't immediately realise this was Tricky of Massive Attack fame, nor did I know that he'd ever done a solo album. Judging the album by the cover, I thought I was going into some 90s alt rock album that I wasn't particularly looking forward to, so to hear the familiar sounds of trip hop once I pressed play was actually a delight. The beats are fantastic, Martina's vocals evoke the usual trip-hop feel a la Portishead, and Tricky's vocal contributions distinguish this from the other albums in the genre, adding a slightly sinister but really cool, funky vibe. The second half of the album has a couple of weaker tracks - Brand New You're Retro and You Don't - but this is nonetheless a consistently enjoyable listen that I'll be revisiting. Listens: 1

6/10 This was good background music while I was focussing on a job application but unfortunately that might not be a good thing - although the whistling on Lovely Head is as captivating as ever (I've been a fan of that song for a while). Listens: 2

7/10 As so many others have said on here this is a tough album to rate that feels like it does not belong on this list - certainly sitting through this for three hours does not seem like the best way to appreciate the majesty of Ella Fitzgerald. Anyway many of the songs are beautiful, it just drags on for far too long to listen in one go. Oh and it called me single one too many times... Listens: 0.6

8/10 Who would've thought Billy Joel would be ranking so highly on this list - but this is undeniably a great album. Obviously it's a bit cheesy and I get why people hate him, but it just sounds so clean and somehow fresh to me when listened to as a whole album. Listens: 1

4/10 Maybe haven't given this a fair chance but I think I just don't like the Pixies. Here Comes Your Man is a great song though. Listens: 1

2/10 Their cover of I Heard It Through The Grapevine is fantastic but the rest of the album is a long way from it. And apparently Grapevine was meant to be a B-side anyway. Won't be revisiting this one. Listens: 1

3/10 Costello's voice annoys me from the opening line of the album. There are moments in here that allow me an insight into why this album is beloved by music critics but they always end up being spoiled - for example I quite like the instrumental on 'The Beat' but the chorus ruins the song. 'Pump It Up' should be a highlights as the most played single and seems like it should be catchy, but instead it feels like such an obvious and repetitive riff which doesn't capture my musical imagination in the slightest. 'Little Triggers' was okay, kind of an interesting song and therefore my favourite from listening through this album, but again I can't really get past my dislike for Costello's voice. Supposedly the best Costello album which makes me hope there aren't any others on this list… Listens: 1

1/10 Feel harsh giving out my first 1/10 especially when I haven't listened to the full album but this just does absolutely nothing for me. Sounds a lot like what an album named after fuzz pedals might be expected to I suppose. When the first two songs are the two most played and I hate both of them it feels like a waste of time to try and listen to the whole thing. So far this project seems to be teaching me that the only genre I really dislike is grunge which is a bit of a surprise. Listens: 0.3

Elvis Presley 5/10 'Blue Suede Shoes' is a great opener and an example of Elvis at his best, beyond that this just feels too repetitive to be listened to as an album. Quite interesting to read the assessments on here of Elvis's popularity as a product of him being the 'acceptable' white face of blues and rock and roll - kind of explains why this doesn't really hold up compared to other artists of the same era such as Muddy Waters (who I've already reviewed on this list). Similarly, while listening to 'Tutti Frutti' I was thinking I could see how this would have been a revelation on the dancehalls of the 1950s, but it turns out to be a cover of a Little Richard song anyway. All in all tough to rate this album in a way that doesn't feel disrespectful to Elvis so I'm just rating based on my enjoyment of the music sitting in my bedroom in 2025. Listens: 2

5/10 At times I thought this was going to be a really fun listen but in the end it was probably just a bit too punk-y for my taste: a bit too discordant and droning and I’m really not a fan of the guitar tones. Best songs: Hot Topic, What’s Yr Take on Cassavetes?, Slideshow At Free University Listens: 2

6/10 I haven't listened to this allbum for years (if I ever had in full), but went into this thinking I was going to enjoy the nostalgia of it a lot. Coldplay were what got me into music - I have a very specific memory of my mum showing me X&Y on her ipod when I was about 8 and listening to the whole thing while playing the parachute game. I got my own ipod for my birthday a couple of months later and from there I was away, finally developing my own music taste. So Coldplay were a starting point for me and for all the shit they've put out over the years I can't help but have a soft spot for some of their earlier stuff. Not remembering what was on this album, I assumed it would be Coldplay at their stripped back best. In a way, it is, but so many of these songs just don't stand on their own. Yellow is undeniably a fantastic song, but so much of the rest of the album is forgettable - I'd forgotten it before and now I'm sure to forget it again. Listens: 1

3/10 I get why people like Green Day, I'm just never going to be one of those people. Green Day's sound, in particular Billie Joe Armstrong's singing style, has been one of my biggest pet peeves in music for as long as I can remember. Heard in the context of this full album, (I was trying to give it a fair chance,) I was surprised that it was kind of okay - certainly far better than when Green Day songs come on during some shitty Propaganda style club night. Having said that, I'm never going to try and make an effort to get into this band because if I don't emotionally connect to their music to begin with I can't imagine that there's any reward or depth worth the effort of becoming a Green Day fan. Billie, my answer is no, I do not have the time to listen to you whine. Listens: 1

4/10 Faces are undoubtedly the best version of Rod Stewart but somehow this album still leaves me as cold as the rest of his ouvre. I actually thought it would be better based on the strength of 'Stay With Me', but while the rest of the album is perfectly serviceable bluesy 70s rock it's just not an album I would ever feel the need to revisit. Debris was quite a nice tune though. Listens: 1

6/10 The songs are all nice songs but I just don’t know when I’m in the mood to listen to The Beach Boys. Based on this and Pet Sounds I don’t really feel like they ever moved past being a complete product of the 60s in the same way the Beatles were able to. Listens: 1