1001 Albums Summary

An important album in the evolution of the sound of Talking Heads. Not my favorite of theirs but even so it's quite good. Funky rhythms abound and Tina's bass is spectacular. Glad to have revisited it on my first day of 1000.

An exceptional debut. "Change of the Guard" is a standout but the whole album is quite enjoyable. "Reelin..." and "Do It Again" suffer some from overexposure. Signs of great things to come!

A strong sophomore release from arguably America's best band, did these guys ever put out anything that wasn't excellent? It's short but it's got all the stuff that makes CCR great. I don't know what Chooglin' is but after listening to this, I did have a strong desire to keep on doing it...

I can only imagine how much this album freaked people out when it was released. It's a brilliant mish-mosh with absurd continuity that somehow works so very well. At this point it is so ingrained in to my brain that it feels like an old friend when I listen. It's got "Dear Prudence" for god's sake, how could it be anything but 5 stars?

I have loved this album for a long time. Mambo Sun opens it with an awesome groove and the killer guitar tone which sets the stage for the rest of the album. The thing about T. Rex is that no one else sounds like T. Rex. Great stuff here.

I promised I would listen to the first minute of each song before I skipped to the next so I would at least give this a chance. I didn't make it past that minute on any song. I found it pretty non-musical and the lyrics I heard were juvenile. I know I am not the target audience for this in general but I don't understand or relate to this at all.

This album is the sort of treasure that I know I will enjoy when I listen to it but for some reason it just doesn't seem to go in to regular rotation. Aretha's voice is just so amazing and this collection shows just how good she was. I am glad this was presented, it was a perfect Saturday morning mood lifter.

I liked this, the musicianship is top notch and Richard Thompson shows why he is a favorite even back then. I don't know much about Fairport to provide any contextual reference but it sounds like what I have heard from them in the past. I particularly enjoyed "A Sailor's Life"

Never has an album title fit the content better than this. I found this to be a really interesting listen as it remained in the forefront as an active listening experience but it wasn't distracting and never took me away from what I was doing, which seems to be exactly its goal. Just perfect for tasks where focus is critical but when silence is deafening.

Went in with zero knowledge or expectation and was sort of blown away. The music and musicianship is great and the vocals were almost instrumental since I wasn't able to understand the lyrics. Such an interesting story behind the music and I am glad that they are able to make it and put it out for people to hear. I really like it.

It's noisy and messy and raucous with a sense of controlled chaos, and I am here for every freaking minute of it!

It was fine. I don't think I appreciate it as much as others seem to. I liked "Look At You" as a standout track.

I didn't really much care for this at all. I thought I would, but I didn't.

Great band, funky as hell and James is on fire. It's short at 31 minutes but I can only imagine what it was like to be there to witness this. Makes me want to dig deeper in to his live stuff that came a little bit later.

Is it over yet? As I listened I really just wanted it to be over. Sweet Jesus please tell me it's over! I hated every second of this one.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did. Just a little too much screaming vs singing and the repetition of the lyrics was a bit irritating. I thought some of the music was pretty good and Tom Morello for sure is talented but this just wasn't for me.

I am "I bought this on cassette when it was released" years old, but admittedly my 14 year old self wasn't quite ready for it at the time. Now though, I am here for it and can appreciate how remarkable Nebraska is (the album, not the state...)

This is probably good to those who can appreciate it. I am not that person.

After yesterday’s album I was so thrilled to see this one pop up for today. I adore this album, it is one of my very favorites. It is impeccable and perfect.

I struggle a bit with this album and always have, ever since I first listened in the mid 80s. I can appreciate it in context of the time in his career and location of recording. It's an unconventional record and it's not always accessible though. What I like I really like but it's not an easy listen for me.

I like R.E.M. a lot and have ever since I first heard "Radio Free Europe" on WXRT in 1983. I have mixed feelings about this album though. One one hand I dislike "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" and "Man On The Moon" so much that I rarely listen to the rest of the album. On the other hand it has "Nightswimming" which is gorgeous and probably my favorite song of theirs. Everything else is somewhere in the middle, which is fine. And that's my review of this album - It's fine.

I have really only heard a few songs by Billy Bragg prior to listening to this album, other than the Mermaid Avenue stuff with Wilco. I liked this a lot, It's full of protest songs and country songs and a phenomenal cover of "The Tracks Of My Tears"

What an amazing voice, so strong and forceful but with nuance and soul and a crackle. The band is great and she is great and the album is great. For me, her version of Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" is the star here. I normally shy away from the big hit and the obvious but she puts everything in to this one and it slays. What a triumph.

In between listens I always remember liking this album more than I actually do. It's got some really good stuff but the misses are big, and Immigrant Song is quite possibly the worst thing they ever did, although I imagine The Crunge would maybe like a word about that. It's a strong enough album but when you're Led Zeppelin, that's just not good enough.

I liked a bit of this, there were some nice instrumental sections that were jams - celtic folk jams but jams nonetheless. It's really just not my thing though, I guess.

From the iconic self introduction through the ending visit to Greystone Chapel, we get an intimate tour of life at Folsom Prison through the eyes of Johnny Cash. The album isn't just a perfect representation of prison life though, it also serves as a perfect self portrait of the man himself. The tough guy deals with loss and despair. He faces mortality, and addiction. He brings June out to sing with him and compliments her, exposing a lighter side and the importance of family. His on stage banter is humorous and profane and shows his connection to his audience. You learn everything there is to know about Johnny Cash during these 45 minutes, encased in these classic songs. I don't know what has happened to bring about the suckification of country music since the times when this was recorded, but my guess is Mr. Johnny Cash would gladly give his middle finger to it... This is an essential work and thankfully it is recognized as such.

I can absolutely appreciate that different types of music can connect with different people and honestly that's sort of the coolest thing about music for me - the discovery - finding what affects me and allows me to really connect with it. When I read about people who like and appreciate this though, I try to understand what it is that they hear here that I don't. It just doesn't make sense to me. I hear a cacophony, nothing more. How anyone can listen to this and hear music, and can connect with whatever is happening here is baffling and outside of my comprehension. This is the opposite of everything that I know and love about the music that I enjoy listening to.

This was a fun record to listen to, probably because it's obvious they were having fun making it. It's swinging and joyous and oh boy the trumpet playing is fantastic. I am familiar with a lot of the songs because of remakes by contemporary artists, and swing music in general is something I enjoy. I just loved the voice of Keely Smith who sang on this, I sense a YouTube rabbit hole in my future.

Not being at all familiar with this band or album, I wasn't sure what to expect here from a band named Primal Scream, and the unexpected is exactly what I got. Screamadelica is an audio cornucopia of an album, it's overflowing with an assortment of different offerings and song styles. I hear some Poi Dog Pondering, and Blur, and Elbow, and my wife Gina heard Talking Heads at the beginning of "Come Together" I really liked the opener "Movin on Up" quite a bit. "Inner Flight" would fit right in on an updated house music version of Pet Sounds, and it also has an organ riff that Counting Crows seem to have borrowed for "Catapult" a few years later. Some of it is a bit too electronica and dancey and repetitive for my tastes but I didn't find any of it unlistenable and enjoyed quite a bit of it. It's a really solid album and I am glad that it came up as my assignment today, it's not something I would ever have chosen or come across otherwise.

I listened to this and I am not really sure what it is and I think I mostly hated it but I didn't skip through it and I think I might listen to it again.

After Murmur and Fables, Green is third in my top 3 R.E.M. albums. When it's great it's really great and even when it isn't really great, it's pretty great.

This did absolutely nothing for me, it's a nothing album that I played and I barely recognized that it was playing and I didn't realize when it ended. There was an occasional unpleasant scratchy dog barking like noise that would get my attention but then it would disappear again. I guess this is considered a great album but I don't get the appeal at all. I wish I had the 49 minutes this was on back so I could listen to something else.

What a great album. I know a ton of songs by Sly & The Family Stone but really never dug in to the actual album releases. It's classic and funky and socially conscious and just damn musically interesting. They don't make 'em like this anymore!

This is a really strong album and I am constantly amazed by her singing voice, so powerful and amazing control. I think I prefer Lion and the Cobra overall but that's more a reflection of the strength of that album rather than a failing of this one.

I think this is the 4th or 5th time I have tried to listen to and appreciate this album, and my efforts have failed miserably on every attempt. It isn't at all enjoyable to me and there is nothing I hear that I connect with or find interesting. You know how there is a gene that some people have that makes cilantro taste like soap so no matter what they just don't enjoy it. I think I have a gene that makes OK Computer taste like soap...

I haven't listened to this album all the way through in a long time and it doesn't feel like it has aged very well. I like "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" a lot still but overall I didn't seem to enjoy this as much as I used to. It's not a terrible album but it isn't something I am likely to put on again any time soon.

I like to listen to The Psychedelic Furs but, with only a few exceptions, there is a sameness to their songs that makes me not really care which song is which or remember them once I am done. This album is a good album by The Psychedelic Furs but other than "Pretty in Pink" which I heard a good deal of on the radio, I couldn't identify any of the other songs as ones on this album or one of their other albums.

As far as Van Halen albums go, 1984 is not my favorite nor do I think it is their best, but it's certainly not their worst. Eddie plays his usual amazing guitar pyrotechnics and Dave is, well, Dave. There is some really good stuff here but unfortunately it suffers from extreme overexposure and I rarely ever listen to anything from it. It's actually been years since I put this on, but I don't feel tardy...

I imagine that it wasn't expected that The Band would, or could, top Music From Big Pink but damn if they didn't pull it off. Robbie Robertson steps in to the lead songwriting role but everyone plays an important role and together they create a(nother) masterpiece. I love the songs, I love the musicality, I love the harmonies, I love this album.

A landmark album I honestly had never listened to before. I certainly was aware of them and Iggy Pop but just hadn't taken the time to give it a spin until it came up here. I get the impact and influence but at 34 minutes, I thought it was long... I've listened, I'll probably never do that again.

I think I came pretty close to liking this one. There were moments when things would get interesting but then the vocals would start or it would shift and it would lose me again. There just might be something here though and it could be one of those albums that takes some time to really gel so I may listen again and see if it connects any better.

Well, that was an unpleasant experience. I wasn't a big fan of anything I had heard prior to listening to this whole album, and it did nothing to change my mind.

There is a part in Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant where he has the audience sing the chorus and when they finish he says "that was horrible" and that's my thought about Goo by Sonic Youth, but in Arlo Guthrie's voice.

After two albums that I struggled to get through, I was so relieved to see this come up as my assignment for the day. This album is an absolute treasure that I have listened to an astounding number of times. I really don't listen to a lot of jazz or solo piano but this album seems to hit all the right notes and it just creates a perfect place to escape to. I read something about this album a while ago and it mentioned that some people complain about his spontaneous utterances during the performance but to me they are magnificent. It is those moments when the music he is creating affects him deeply, an unconscious realization that "this is fucking amazing what I am doing here" and we all get lost in it with him. I couldn't love this album more than I do. Can I have a sixth star for this one?

In 1982, fourteen year old me listened to some heavy metal and this album was certainly required if you wanted to be a freshman in highschool. Thankfully I soon decided that my musical tastes were non-negotiable and I moved on to better things. I seem to remember being more impressed with the musicianship at the time but it is mostly unremarkable when listening now. Black Sabbath were always more my thing anyway.

I wasn’t familiar with today’s album by D’Angelo. I can’t wait until I finish this in three years so I can read the book this challenge is based on to see what the criteria for inclusion is. Anyway, I thought he had a decent enough voice for R&B / Soul and it’s not an unpleasant album, but honestly I found it only slightly more engaging or interesting than complete silence. If you want to listen to some music but don’t want the raucousness of smooth jazz, this album is for you. I figure if a song called “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker” is a snoozer, what chance does the rest of the album have.

Having listened to this, I can finally mark as completed the task "decide if I like Norwegian synth-pop" that has been sitting on my to-do list for the last 40 years. Apparently the answer is no.

Meh....

I have listened to Parliament in the past but usually it's been Maggot Brain so I wasn't really familiar with this one. That will change as this is incredible stuff here. Start to finish it's got more funk per minute than anything has a right to have. This is the real deal here.

For some reason I don't often just put on Jimi Hendrix albums even though he will play in my mixes. I have listened, and liked, but the urge just doesn't seem to hit me. Listening to this I think I understand why. While I love parts of this album a whole lot, anything that builds up to "All Along The Watchtower" with a "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" chaser is a knockout in my book. However, it's overall a bit uneven and while I appreciate the experimentation and his own artistic vision, sometimes it just wanders a bit. The musicianship is spot on and obviously there is no complaint with Jimi's guitar playing - it's a master class as always. This is a really good album with some outrageously great songs on it.

It was very interesting to listen to this album because even though I have only heard a few songs from it out in the world, I am really familiar with these songs because I have listened to the Ryan Adams cover version album dozens of times. So even though the instrumentation is different and Ryan made them sound like Ryan Adams songs, the lyrics are the same and the melodies are similar enough to make it feel like I have heard these songs before. I found myself tapping my feet and when I compare them I realize that these are just good, well written songs in either version. I am not a pop music kind of guy really but I have always respected Taylor Swift for being an artist who seems to really be true to her own vision and talent. I'm not likely to play this again but for what it is and the audience it is intended for, it's as good as contemporary pop music can be.

When I started this challenge I decided not to read anything about what albums are included or the criteria for inclusion. With that said, I have no qualms about this remarkable album being included in this list as I believe no life is complete without experiencing it at least once, but hopefully more often. Jeff Buckley has a uniquely beautiful voice and he puts it to good use in this set of songs. While "Hallelujah" seems to get all the attention, and it's outstanding, songs like "Lover, You Should've Come Over" display amazing talent and range. I just adore this album and am glad to see it included, it's certainly deserved. We can only imagine what else Jeff would have contributed to our world had we not lost him so tragically.

Some people say Steely Dan is boring. Fuck that noise. The only thing boring about Steely Dan is trying to be clever when writing yet another 5 star review for a Steely Dan album.

With my promise to myself to listen to at least the first minute of each song, I got through this in 11 minutes with minimal trauma. This just isn't the type of music I like.

This was completely new to me. I have heard of The Beau Brummels but had no idea what to expect. It's pretty interesting musically, sort of a psychedelic folk rock, but the vocals were a big detraction. The singer has a trill in his voice that is used to excess and a little goes a long way. It's sort of a case of this just not being for me. It's not completely awful or anything but I doubt I will listen again.

Finding a gem like this is why I wanted to do this challenge. I knew the radio hits but honestly had never gone deeper than that with War. I regret that now that as this was outstanding. In the instrumentals I heard some Traffic and I heard some Allman Brothers, really good stuff here. This is going in the library and I will queue up some more to listen to as well.

If you have read any of my reviews so far, it might be obvious that hip hop is not something that I enjoy and I don't normally choose to listen to it. Paul's Boutique is really the lone exception. I guess the difference between this and other albums in the genre is that this feels sort of like a rock and roll record, albeit one with samples and rap. Maybe it's an attitude that is conveyed, there is humor in the lyrics, it's clever. I don't listen often but occasionally, when Gina is not around, I put it on and turn up the volume really high. Then I tuck it back away until next time.

This album is shit, surrounded by shit, wrapped in shit, fried in shit and then dipped in shit. With a side of shit.

After yesterday I was looking forward to something different and today’s album really hit that mark. Moving from the noise that was Marilyn Manson to the bossa nova here is, well, I couldn’t have picked something so radically in contrast. With that said, this isn’t really my thing either. I mean, I didn’t skip through it like yesterday and I didn’t find it revoltingly repugnant, but it didn’t really connect. It played in the background and I listened, and I heard, but that’s the extent of it. I wish I had enjoyed it more.

I saw Joe Ely as part of a songwriters tour with Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt and Guy Clark at the beautiful Chicago Theater. It was a great show, four songwriters, four stools and four guitars. Each took turns telling a story and then playing a song, sometimes accompanied with additional guitar from one of the others. I was familiar with Lyle and John at the time but Joe and Guy were new to me. I was particularly impressed with Guy Clark but I thought Joe Ely was just fine. I honestly never did dig any deeper though beyond that show. This album from 1978 starts off a little cajuny zydeco but ultimately it’s a bit too country twangy for my tastes.

I put this album as the true origin of The Kinks as I grew to really love them. They already had released a number of albums and singles that were popular but it was on Something Else that I feel they kicked off the string of great albums that include Village Green, Arthur, Lola, and Muswell Hillbillies. I always felt that one of the things that really differentiated The Kinks from their other British Invasion counterparts is that Ray really embraced his British-ness. Not that other bands hid theirs but The Kinks always came across to a young me as very British which was interesting. I think it may have lessened their appeal to some but for me it was fascinating. From the catchy "David Watts" opener (which The Jam covered quite nicely on All Mod Cons) to the brilliant "Waterloo Sunset" that closes it, Something Else is a joy to listen to. I really must do it more often.

I was only a wee lad in 1978 when Le Freak was a hit. I was developing my own taste in music but still mostly listened to my little brown transistor radio. I didn't know what freak out meant, or anything about Nile Rodgers or funk music so I was intrigued when this came up as my album yesterday as I could hear it in a whole new context. I honestly haven't been as disappointed in anything I have been assigned more than this album. Aside from Le Freak, there really isn't anything interesting here, and even that is ruined because the first song which precedes it is pretty much them singing C'est Chic over and over again so by the time I got to the second song I was already tired of hearing those words. The rest of the album is honestly just more of the repetitive lyrics and melodies almost to the point of it being either laughable or rage inducing. The R&B stuff is uninspired and it just seems to go on forever. The sweeping funk guitar is executed perfectly but even that got tiresome. I expected so much more from this album.

This is the second Eminem album assigned to me and it doesn't at all change my opinion of him or his music. I honestly do not understand how anyone, with all the amazing music that is available at our very fingertips, would voluntarily choose this as something they would want to listen to. To me, there is absolutely nothing here that would be even close to enjoyable.

If you walk in to someone's house and they call you in to the kitchen and ask you to smell something, there are really only two reasons why they would want you to do that. The first is that they are cooking something so wonderful and the aroma is so magnificent that they want to share it. The second is that they have found something so foul in their refrigerator and the stench is so bad that they want to share it. I think this album challenge is like that. Some albums smell so good that you have to listen to them so that your life is enriched by the experience, while others need to be experienced only so that you have a frame of reference of how bad something can be. This album is the leftover oyster dressing from Thanksgiving that you find on New Years because your resolution is to finally clean out the refrigerator.

This is just about as perfect a live album as you can get. The connection between him and the audience is just amazing and everyone is so jacked in to every word he says or sings. What a tremendously real and honest performance. I think I like this just as much as Folsom.

I looked over the track listing before I hit play and I guessed that I know all but a few of these songs via general exposure, but I haven't ever sat down and just listened to them before. I think the thing with me and Alanis is that I needed to just accept that her voice is unconventional and that if I could just go with that and listen to the songs I could get a real sense of this album. It was hard for the first song as it starts off with a bit of a caterwauling but things settled in and since I was already sort of familiar with this, it wasn't all that shocking as it progressed. I think most of the songs are good, the backing guitar is nice and they are catchy and memorable. Some of the lyrics are a bit cringey but whatever. It's different, it's unique and I like and respect that from an artist. I think I kind of liked it.

I was completely unfamiliar with this band or album when it was assigned to me. The wikipedia entry that gets displayed on YouTube Music simply mentioned that the album appeared in the 1001 Albums book with no other information. Having listened earlier today, I can say that I really don't know what to call this style of music. I guess it's like electronic beats or something. I found that some of the instrumental songs had some interesting bits but there was something funky with how they would use the vocals in the other songs. It was kind of like they used the vocal bits as a rhythmic device so it would just repeat throughout the song in an annoying fashion. I think I listened to about a half of this and skipped the rest after my "I will listen to the first minute of every song" rule. This goes in to the I will never think about this album again pile.

Going in to this I knew that Public Enemy is not really my thing, I listened though and heard a Queen "Flash's Theme" sample which reminded me that I have a pretty great Queen Favorites playlist I made. I promptly put that on when the album was over - yes this is much better!

Dion is known for a couple of the most lively and infectious songs of the 50's and 60s with "Runaround Sue" and "The Wanderer" - this album isn't anything like either of those songs. Dion himself reportedly disavowed this album, saying that the production made it sound like "funeral music" This makes sense considering that it was produced by Phil Spector. This wasn't the first time he took the life from something, and it wouldn't be the last...

So I know that I start a lot of my reviews by saying that I wasn't familiar with the band or album. but today that is so not the case. I have listened to this album countless times over the last 40+ years and Pink Floyd has always been one of my favorite bands. I mean, what can I say about this album that hasn't already been said. It's a classic. It's iconic. It's a master class in theatrics and storytelling. Lyrically brilliant, musically beautifully complex, and - well - it's a great fucking album. It's actually been a while since I sat down and listened to the whole thing but I remembered every word and every note. I probably could have just sat and listened in my head without hitting play... I'm glad that I put it on though, I need to listen more often.

I have to admit that before I sat down and listened to Metallica’s Master of Puppets in its entirety today, I really never saw their appeal. Now that I have listened though, it makes even less fucking sense to me. What a load of lifeless, soulless, monotonous, dead inside, musically tedious, lyrically banal, non-melodic claptrap. Even the guitar solos are high pitched mile a minute painfully ear shattering displays of mindless pyrotechnics devoid of any subtlety or emotion. My wife was mowing the lawn while I was listening, so my favorite parts of this album were the parts that were on when she walked past the window with the lawnmower, which drowned out the “music” Other than all that though, I hated this.

I mean, it's not On the Beach but it's pretty damn good. "The Needle and the Damage Done" is devastatingly honestly gorgeously painful to listen to. Easily a classic 5 star record.

When the first song started I didn't like the music, when the vocals started I liked it even less. I had previously heard the song "Last Nite" but even the familiarity of that didn't make it listenable. I didn't much care for this at all.

It's so much easier to write a review of an album I dislike than an album I love. For the former it's just pointing out the things that fail to click with me be it the lyrics or the style of music or whatever it might be. I try to present it creatively but it's really just a matter of listing where it fails. For albums I love it's much harder. Why do I love it? How does it make me feel when I listen? How do the lyrics connect to me? How does it elicit memories of the time when I first heard it? How does it fit in the realm of cultural influence and personal influence? It's all of these things along with something that I think is indescribable, or even unnameable. Sometimes though (and just sometimes) albums just are - they are the thing that we need to hear when we hear them, and we connect at such a deep level that it becomes a part of us, and we get to revisit that every time we listen. Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde is one of those albums that just is that indescribable thing to me. I scanned through the reviews and some criticize his voice and some the harmonica or the length of the songs or the lyrics or whatever - but this album is Bob Dylan, it is authentic and personal and true and it creates a connection between you and him when you listen. In my review of The Wall I mentioned my challenge of writing something about an album that has been the subject of so much discourse already, and I think you can amplify that by 10 for anything Bob Dylan related but especially for this album. I have given a lot of 5 star reviews here, and maybe I shouldn't have been so generous with them, because when I give this 5 stars it doesn't seem like enough in comparison.

I'm a Mick Taylor guy. The run of albums during his tenure marks their most expressive and most creative work and, to me, is just miles above what they had done prior, and have done since. Not that there aren't great moments without him, and subpar moments with him, but generally that era represents a high point for them. I think the departure of Brian Jones and the arrival of Taylor invigorated the band and loosened them up creatively. Sticky Fingers is essentially the first album to fully feature Mick Taylor as his contributions to Let it Bleed were minimal. What they produced here is just a magical collection of songs. They are loose and bluesy, hard rocking or country tinged, and "Moonlight Mile" is, on any given day, the greatest song ever written. "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" isn't possible without Mick Taylor and is a righteous jam. The Andy Warhol cover caused quite a stir at the time and perhaps even overshadowed the songs within, but as far as Rolling Stones albums go, this one is pretty hard to beat. Shit, as far as rock and roll albums go, this is about as good as it gets. Easily a 5 star record.

I would struggle to find music as beautiful as what Brian created here. It is so rich and luxurious and those aren't really words I would use to describe anything else. One of the things I noticed while listening again tonight is that I found myself anticipating certain moments in the songs that I particularly love and there are just so many of them here. Little nuggets of extra brilliance spread throughout that make it even more special. Listening to Pet Sounds is like eating a comfort food, it is the grilled cheese sandwich of albums. Many albums are said to be classic and influential and there should be no dissenting discussion as to the worthiness of Pet Sounds on either count.

I am admittedly a greatest hits sort of Bob Marley listener and fan. I like some reggae music but I don't listen to a lot of it so when things pop in to my mixes it's usually the hits that I have listened to or liked in the past. So that's the long way of saying I am not deeply familiar with The Wailers catalog so this album was a new listen for me. I scanned the track list and knew "Stir It Up" but that was all. I loved this though. It felt familiar even though I didn't know it. The music is great, the rhythm section is tight and there is some great guitar here. Of course the vocals are outstanding. I think next time I get in a Marley reggae mood I'll skip Legend and choose another stand alone release. I have a feeling I'll love it as well.

I mean, this is the real deal here. It is sometimes easy to forget just how great this these songs are when Little Richard became kind of a caricature of himself later in his life and career. My wife and I enjoyed the hell out of this and we both were bopping along with the whole thing. Rock and Roll wouldn't be the same without the crazy influential "whooing" here on this album.

I remember when this came out in 1984, and 40 years later I still don’t care for it. I kind of thought their song “It’s Tricky” was catchy but that’s not on this album. Besides, I can never forgive Run-D.M.C. for reviving Aerosmith’s career with that “Walk This Way” debacle – it’s their fault we got “Janie’s Got a Gun” and I will never get over it.

I believe that Otis Redding was one of those rare talents that arrives only once in a lifetime, which makes his death at age 26 even more tragic. His voice was incomparable and he was a performer of tremendous energy and passion. There was, and never will be, anyone else like him. That makes anything that he recorded worthy of a listen but this album hits all the right notes. When you combine his voice with an outstanding collection of songs, both originals and covers, and have Booker T. & the M.G.'s as the band behind him, you can't go wrong. This album is such a joy to listen to. I couldn't love it more than I do.

I know this is only day 81 of this challenge but this was by far the least enjoyable thing that I have been served up so far. It even made me hate a British accent. I couldn't wait to hit the 1 minute mark of each song so I could skip past it. Just a horrible miserable anxiety inducing 10 minutes.

When I am listening to an album here that I have never heard before I tend to think about what I want to say in my review as it plays, like pre-writing it in my head. While listening to Apocalypse Dudes by Turbonegro this morning I couldn't help but notice during the first few songs that they swear a whole lot, and they seem particularly fond of the word Motherfucker. I don't mind swearing, it doesn't offend me, I just noticed it and I thought I would mention it in my review. I kept listening some more and I hear them sing it again and I thought, I'll share this song on my blog as an example of them singing the word Motherfucker, which they do a lot. So I go to my YouTube Music to get the link and see the name of the song and it turns out it's called "Don't Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker" which is really spot on. I didn't really care for the album too much but I don't think I hated it. I probably won't listen ever again though.

I really do enjoy quite a lot of the music of this era but The Everly Brothers were never really my thing. I actually found this to be pretty lackluster and boring. I didn't know that "Love Hurts" was their song originally so this loses tem points because they are ultimately responsible for Nazareth's assault to my ears with their cover 16 years later.

If they keep putting Bob Dylan albums up here I am going to run out of superlatives to use in my reviews. Bringing It All Back Home is a pivotal album for Dylan with the half electric / half acoustic format. It's a lyrical masterpiece with so many quotable lines - even if you only pull them from "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" which is just a brilliant song in every way. The fact that it can coexist on the same record with "Mr. Tambourine Man" is just crazy. I get it, some people don't care much for Bob Dylan. If you've read any of my other reviews for this project you can see that I have my own preferences and there is a lot of popular, well rated music that escapes me. If you can just give yourself to the music and the experience and just take it all in, it's astounding though. It's hard to pick out a Dylan record and call it one of the best of all time but that's because he has made so many that qualify.

I do try to keep an open mind when I listen to these albums, and I do listen to at least the first minute of every song to give everything a chance. With that said, I know myself and my musical tastes so I feel bad when I get a rap or hip hop album like Me Against The World by 2Pac because I know I am not going to like it. It's certainly popular and many people rate it highly but I just skip my way through it and then put on some Gov't Mule or something...

Gina listened to this with me and we really enjoyed it. As with some other non-english language albums my inability to understand the lyrics makes me really rely on the music to gauge the mood or intention of the song and this was a delightful mix of joyous energy, slow blues and even some spiritual sounding songs. The guitar work from Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder is first rate and often quite hypnotic. It was easy to get lost during some of the longer songs. A good recommendation here of something I hadn't been aware of - if you're open to something a little different, give this a spin!

What a tremendously enjoyable album. I think if you're going to listen to good old Chicago Blues you probably should start right here with Muddy Waters, and "Mannish Boy" with that killer repeating riff kicks things off. These songs set a mood and it's easy to just get wrapped up in them and go along for the ride. It's sort of funny that for a bunch of guys playing blues music, they sure sounded like they were having fun, and it sure brings me joy to listen.

A couple of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs here make this a part of his phenomenal run of albums he put out from 72 - 76. I usually listen to the next couple if I put on one of his albums so I am not as familiar with this one though. I like it and it sets the stage for what is to follow, not only by him but you can hear the influence of this all over artists who drew inspiration from him. There are a couple of things that drag a bit and sometimes it gets a bit repetitive but those are minor quibbles. A great talent is on the verge of creating perfection here, it's just not quite there yet.

I don't even know how to write a review for Band On The Run - it's an essential album full of tremendously interesting and enjoyable songs by the world's greatest songwriter. I think that covers it pretty well actually.

I believe I am being truthful when I say I am not sure if I have ever heard a Beyoncé song prior to listening to this album. Having now listened, I believe I am being truthful when I say I am not likely to ever listen to another Beyoncé song.

When I started to listen to this I was expecting it to sound like "Sex Is On Fire" but it didn't so I searched and found out that apparently I was thinking about Kings of Leon and that I really had no idea who Arcade Fire is. I mean, I've heard of them but... Anyway, this was fine I guess.

I hadn't heard this in ages but I think a bit of maturity has set in that lets me hear this in a whole new light. I guess I always enjoyed the radio hits a bit but this really made perfect Saturday morning, quiet in the house, coffee drinking, cat in my lap, music. I heard the songs as stories being told, well crafted vignettes that capture a moment and then proceed to expertly describe the mood, pulling me in to a specific place and time. I really enjoyed this and am glad that it came up today - I think it was just what I needed!

I have mixed feelings about this album but I think that's because I can't really figure out what it is. I guess it's considered alternative and I guess as a description of the music - alternative it is. It shifts from quiet to loud, mellow to bombastic, normal to ... not normal. I liked some of it fine but there were some things where I just looked to Gina and said "well, this isn't a good song." I guess Rolling Stone called this pretentious but I think I would go with confident - perhaps occasionally misplaced but it is unabashedly exactly what it is. I'll never listen again but I made it through this once.

I am beginning to worry that you all must think I live in a cave but I have never heard an Adele song before. Seeing that "Hello" has 3.4B plays on YouTube Music, I think you are right. Know that at least Adele doesn't live in here with me. I tried to listen and got through the first 5 or 6 six songs without skipping but then I think I reached my limit and I skipped through the rest. I didn't care for this at all, it's just not interesting musically or lyrically and a little bit of her voice goes a really long way. One of the first two or three songs reminded me so much of something else and it took almost the whole thing to catch it but it's something from Taylor Swift's 1989 - or at least the Ryan Adams version I am familiar with. I was going to go through and figure it out but I really didn't want to listen to the Adele song again to try and identify which song it was. Besides, I don't really care that much. I put on Beck's Morning Phase right after this (to clear the Adele out of my ears) and noticed that the song with the highest plays from it has 8.6M plays - it's a strange and cruel world, I just don't listen to music like most other people do I guess.

I hated the first few seconds of this, but then it wasn't terrible for a bit, but then I started to hate it again. There's just a lot of repetition in the songs so they seem to just not go anywhere for a really long time. There were some interesting moments but not enough of them to warrant another listen.

I listen to at least the first minute of every song before I will skip it if I don't like it. This was the longest fucking nine minutes of my life. I hated every second of this.

Another album and artist that is completely new to me. I was intrigued by the listed songwriters, so was cautiously optimistic going in. During the first song I thought that she had a good voice and the song was interesting, sort of like something from a musical. Not really my thing usually but I was ready to give it a go. Unfortunately it got a bit tiresome for me quickly after that. I didn't really care for the male voice (not sure who it was) that was on some of the songs, and by the end I was skipping past them. The Phillip Glass song was ok at first but even that just got annoying and I couldn't finish it either. Disappointed overall in this. She seems really talented but not for my ears I guess.

I listened to this when I woke up this morning and when I went to write the review tonight I really had no recollection of any particular song or feeling about the album. I couldn't remember the name of the band or the album. I just listened to the first song again to refresh my memory and, nope, nothing. I guess this is pretty well regarded as classic brit-pop but I don't hear it, it seems pretty unremarkable to me. I don't hate it, but I am more inclined to just forget it again.

I kind of liked this one. The vocals are a bit unconventional in sound and style so I think it might take a few listens for it to settle in but I enjoyed it.

When this first started playing I immediately fell in love with her voice and that joy remained through the first couple of songs. I enjoyed it a little less when she switched to singing in English, the other languages were so much more dynamic and really displayed the richness of her voice. I really enjoyed reading about Miriam while listening, what a tremendously interesting life she lived and she obviously had the talent to have such a successful career. This is a really great album hampered only by a few less than stellar song choices that detracted from my overall enjoyment.

I've heard good things about this album... This was the first Beatles album I bought for myself, at Hegewisch Records in Calumet City. at around age 11 I think. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that at the time I wasn't yet aware of the difference between the US and UK pressings so silly me bought the US version. Sometimes when I listen to this I say it is my favorite Beatles album, an honor reserved for only like 6 or 7 of their releases so I guess I think it's pretty good. In all seriousness, this is a perfect album - no notes.

This was an odd Monkees album, I was not familiar with any of the songs going in to it, and many I wouldn't have known it was them. Not sure if that is because of their greater influence and participation on this album or not. There are some decent songs here but there are also some really bad ones. I've never really been much of a fan of their music although I used to watch the tv show occasionally, I loved the episode where Frank Zappa played Mike and Mike played Frank. Not one I am likely to ever revisit but I have definitely been served up worse from this list.

When I don't understand the lyrics because they are in a different language I often wonder if the music matches the theme of the song. This album sounds very joyful, hopefully the lyrics convey the same or I will feel very guilty for enjoying this so damn much.

A few years ago I dropped my wife off at the grocery store so she could go shopping. It was a nice day so i decided to just hang out in the car. I found a shady spot, rolled the windows all the way down and turned the radio up. While I was sitting out there, WXRT played "Let's Get It On" and as one can't help but do, I started to groove on it, singing along and such. I forgot, however, that this song is essentially sex on a stick and after a minute or so I got super self conscious, I mean, I was by myself in that car! This album is so fucking smooth that... other smooth things wish they were this smooth. (I'm tired - analogies are tough today)

My first thought when I saw this come up today was "Shit, another Pixies album" because I just hated Surfer Rosa when it came up earlier. But I listen to everything so I hit play and initially I disliked the first song because of the yelling rather than singing, but eventually I disliked it a little less. There are some interesting musical moments but overall it's still not something I particularly enjoyed. I didn't hate it nearly as much as Surfer Rosa so I guess there is that.

Thirteen and Fourteen year old me lived for this band. I listened to Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine on cassette, I read the obligatory No One Here Gets Out Alive book, I drew their logo on every desk as soon as I sat down (in pencil, I was a closeted delinquent) and wondered if in fact Jim Morrison had faked his own death. It isn't so much that I stopped listening or liking them, it's just that my musical world kept expanding so their part in it took up a lower percentage of space in it as years passed. Now forty(mumble) years later I have a normal comfortable relationship with The Doors and this album. I have an extensive playlist I listen to (when Gina leaves the house - she abhors Jim's voice!) but I rarely put on individual albums. So listening to this today I am struck by just how remarkable this debut is. I wasn't alive in 1967 when this was released but I can only imagine discovering it and hearing it for the first time. I mean, no one sounded quite like them prior to, or since, their run. The mix of Robbie Krieger's unique guitar sound, the hypnotic Manzarek keys, John Densmore on drums and of course the larger than life Jim Morrison's vocals and lyrics. The stars aligned and something very unique was created, never to be repeated.

Loungy and sunny feeling - yes listenable - yes memorable - no

This isn't really my thing so I went in to it not expecting to like it. What surprised me is just how much I hated it. Every second of it.

Released Jan 8, 2016 followed only two days later by his unexpected death, I am never sure when I listen to this album whether it is melancholy in sound or if my own melancholy influences how I hear it. This album is ever connected to the shock I felt when reading on Twitter that he had passed and trying to find any corroboration that it was truthful before his son Duncan Jones confirmed it as accurate. In any case, this is a tremendous album and some of the lyrics take on a different meaning in light of his illness that was present during its recording. Like anything he recorded, it's not conventional and it's sometimes challenging, but it's a rewarding listening experience and I consider it one of his finest releases.

I never really took the time to listen to anything by Tim Buckley which surprises me a little considering how much I enjoy his son Jeff's music. Having listened to this I can say they are nothing alike. I found this to be generally uninteresting, lyrically offensive and vocally grating. Often times I got the impression that these were parody songs as they have that sort of over the top feeling to vocals and such. It's not the worst thing I've ever heard but it isn't even remotely enjoyable.

Even the Led Zeppelin samples aren't going to make this something I want to listen to, although I do have a sudden craving for White Castle for some reason...

Another really solid release from Creedence, these guys were on a tear. So many great songs here from arguably America's best band.

I think this is very much a product of the time when it was created and perhaps it doesn't carry forward so well. I like FZ a lot but this was missing the interesting musicality that I expect from him along with the weirdness. It seems more performance art than an actual music album. Definitely needed more guitar.

I can't recall the last time I listened to a Blondie album from start to finish, it's got to be 30 years and I think it was Autoamerican. I enjoyed this tremendously though, the songs are great, the band sounds great and Debbie Harry is a perfect front for this band. I feared it would sound dated or too maybe it was too punk or whatever but it's just classic punkish new wave and I want to hear more.

I really had very low expectations going in to this one, I am familiar with a few of their songs from radio and thought they were tolerable but not really a fan. I thought this was pretty decent though if not terrible memorable. I didn't really catch the story behind the concept but following along with lyrics probably would help. His voice is unique and I thought I would tire of it by the end but it was ok - musically it's pretty straight forward rock but there are some more interesting bits mixed in. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. It might get played again if the mood strikes. Not sure what mood that would be but unlike a lot of stuff on this list, it goes into a maybe category and I didn't completely rule it out.

I once heard London Calling described as the one that The Clash put out after they learned how to play their instruments. I don’t know about that but I will say that this album is absolutely perfect in every way. Every song is great, it encompasses so many styles of music and mixes them together flawlessly. It never suffers from the “sameness syndrome” where you can’t really tell the songs apart. They are all memorable and filled with just great moments that transcend a pigeonholed genre of “Punk” that is usually assigned to The Clash. It is so much more than that musically and lyrically. Even the album cover is a brilliant nod to Elvis Presley’s debut album with the color and placement of the lettering. I always saw the photo of Paul Simonon smashing his bass as symbolic of them breaking the concept of what we think of as rock and roll - they are redefining music as we know it with London Calling. This is easily a top 10 album for me. On my last.fm stats it’s ranked at #5 in terms of overall songs played from it but I think if I spent some more time cleaning up and consolidating the scrobbles (yes autocorrect, I meant scrobbles, not scribbles!) from the various reissues and deluxe versions it would eek out a higher spot. I was asked to create playlists for various birthday parties (mom’s 70th and dad’s 80th) and I absolutely, with no regrets, added “Lost in the Supermarket” to each of them. I mean, “I wasn’t born so much as I fell out” seems like a perfect lyric for the occasion. As I was listening last night and thinking of what song to share with my blog post review I would think I had one but then I’d look at the upcoming tracks and find something else equally as worthy. This album is just that good. It is essential for every collection and deserves every bit of acclaim it has ever received.

At the youthful age of 14 I hadn't quite figured out who I was or what I liked. I do know that I was a blue jeans, black concert tee and flannel shirt wearing freshman in high school who hung out with other kids I probably shouldn't have. We did typical stuff like smoke dope, sneak off campus for lunch, and on weekends we would go to the battle of the bands at the local roller rink. Our music was druggy stuff like The Doors and, of course, heavy metal. Even then I didn't really care much for heavy metal, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and others who I wasn't even interested enough in to learn or remember their names. But then there was Black Sabbath. They were different than the others. Rather than playing a mile a minute, their songs were almost in slow motion, like moving through quicksand. They were dark and gloomy with the obligatory satanic imagery and drug references but they were also just so fucking cool. Ozzy had a voice like no other, Tony's SG played bluesy riffs and tasty runs and the solid rhythm section could power through anything. This I liked, and I listened. Paranoid, Master of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, all in heavy rotation - all on cassette of course.. But it was the first album that really got a hold of me, titled simply Black Sabbath. I mean, the opening track just crawls right out at you, the thunder and rain, the ringing bell and then that main riff kicks in, slow and steady, Ozzy sets an eerie and ominous scene and it's moving like sludge - until it isn't. Tony kicks in and things start to get a little crazy and then holy shit that ending just floors me. I think that this is the probably the finest overall collection of songs they released. I can certainly do without "Iron Man" and even "Paranoid" but "The Wizard" is just a killer tune that I don't know if they ever matched again. I guess they recorded this in a single day, virtually live in studio, and I think that immediacy and intimacy comes through and makes this a landmark recording, and the start of a whole new genre of music. An essential album for sure. On a sad note, everyone doing this challenge got a Black Sabbath album today if they still had one unrated. Of course this was to honor the passing of Ozzy Osbourne who passed on July 22 at the age of 76. I know his health wasn't good so it brings me joy to know that he got to do the big final concert just a few weeks back. They never made anyone else like Ozzy, am not sure the world could hold more than one.

I really thought about skipping this one but I haven't missed a day yet so I just went ahead with it. I really enjoyed the 10 or so seconds of "21st Century Schizoid Man" that was sampled at one point. The rest, well, not so much - or not at all really.

I have always liked this album a lot, Carlos Santana is a wonderful guitar player and he shows that off here. The Fleetwood Mac cover is good, anything that Gregg Rolie is involved with gets bonus points from me, and "Samba Pa Ti" is just insanely gorgeous, right up there with some of my favorite instrumentals.

This is crazy good - I had never heard her versions of some of these songs before, and the classics are indeed classic for a reason. Like the previous Aretha, it's a reminder of just what an incomparable talent she was and how strikingly amazing her voice was.

I think it is pretty clear to me by now (and to anyone that has read any of my reviews) that I am not really a fan of Hip-Hop music. Listening to this album made me like it even less.

Often when I listen to albums here I think that I might just not be the audience for this, or that it might be good but I just don't care for this genre or something. In this instance I can say that this is just objectively a bad album of meandering quasi R&B / Rap with nonsensical lyrics sung by someone who can't sing.

I like Big Band music but I am not knowledgeable or discerning enough to really tell most things apart or to know who I am listening to. I find it enjoyable when I do listen but I rarely seek it out or choose it to play it. I certainly have heard of Count Basie and this was at the level of enjoyability that I would expect from him.

It isn't often that a debut album unleashes upon the world a remarkably unique talent like Mark Knopfler, but aren't we lucky that this one did. His distinctive guitar playing style anchors some great songs here and while "Sultans of Swing" is the popular choice, "Wild West End" and others are equally (or more) worthy. This is a really solid release and while I may prefer Making Movies, that only reflects the artistic growth and shouldn't detract from just how good this album is.

My first exposure to Devo was on Saturday Night Live in 1978, with the yellow hazmat suits and the red flower pot hats and a version of "Satisfaction" that was unlike anything I had ever heard before. Now, 47 years later, things don't seem as de-evolutionary aa they did to 10 year old me. I don't know if music has caught up to them, or I am just older. I still kind of dig it though.

For a proper review of this album, I must channel the prophets Daryl Hall and John Oates who once said "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)"

AC/DC are like that factory employee that comes to work regularly, does a good job, is consistently producing quality materials, but I really wouldn't want to have to watch him work all the time. If I owned the factory, I would walk the floor and occasionally stop to see that he is still doing the same quality work, and then move on to other more important things. With that said, this was sort of the first day on the job for AC/DC with the new singer and man did they start off with a bang, or really more of a bong... or series of bongs. "Hell's Bells" with that slow churning but escalating guitar riff just might be the best hard rock opening tune to any album ever. I remember dropping the needle on this bad boy (yes, I am old) and holy shit...

Around release time for this album we had a few people from Italy come stay with us for a summer (we had sort of an exchange thing going) and we went to see Dire Straits up at Poplar Creek while they were here. On the drive there, Vic, who was probably in his early twenties, asked us about the lyrics to "Money For Nothing" as he was curious as to why he got his 'cheese for free.' - Forty years later I still hear 'cheese for free.' - I will always hear 'cheese for free' With that said, I always considered this to be a good but not great Dire Straits album. It's now been 40 years since it came out, and it was so overplayed at the time that I am still not ready to listen to most of these songs again. My quota was reached back then and is still remarkably near the maximum. I do like "Your Latest Trick" and "Brothers In Arms" occasionally though. Making Movies is way better!