1/1001 Great way to start off this journey. Amazing album. Ray’s vocals are strong, powerful, warm, and so uniquely Ray. His piano playing is also fantastic. The hybrid of blues, country, western, gospel, and early rock n roll all meld together perfectly. The album has so many great songs, but the arrangement is a bit off, going from a songs that makes you want to dance to a slower and lighter moods from track to track. The overall length becomes a bit tiresome towards the end. Better arrangement and cutting 2-3 song could make this album a 5.

2/1001 Not my cup of tea, but can appreciate the talent.

3/1001 This album is quintessential 90s alternative/grunge/rock. Kurt is in a zone where is vocals are near mesmerizing. The band in acoustic elevates the band and showcases the talent of Nirvana. The covers on this album are so good and timeless and the acoustic versions of classic Nirvana tracks are fantastic. MTV unplugged was an amazing series with so many great artists doing classic shows, but Nirvana’s is the best of them all.

4/1001 I consider myself a fan of Bowie, and have heard most of these songs but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to this album as a whole before. It has strong Dylan and Beatles influence with a young Bowie stop finding his uniqueness. As I listened the Dylan influenced seemed to get stronger with each passing song and then a song dedicated to Bob Dylan shows up. All-in-all, this album is a standout from a year (‘71) that may have been the best year in music history (in the western world).

5/1001 I never understood the appeal of “The Boss.” Nothing about any of his music is special to me. His voice is remarkably awkward. The band is solid but nothing stands out as great. The lyrics are simple and basic. 45 minute album seemed like one long draw out song - each song sounds borderline indistinguishable from the last. There’s nothing terrible about this album, but there’s also nothing good.

6/1001 It was albums like this that I was looking forward to hearing/finding when I started this list oh so shortly ago, something that I had little or no knowledge of, something band new, that just opened a new door of music for me. This album was exactly that. I have never knowingly heard Jimmy Smith, and this album was a delight. It was just smooth, velvety bounce of jazz that I was not anticipating. I like jazz but never ventured too far from Coltrane and Davis and a few other big names. I immediately dove into another 2 hours of Jimmy and I am loving it all. The 45 minute album felt like a blink.