Big fan of Radiohead so this is a great start on my 1001 journey. I have somehow never listened to this album. Great opening track. The vibe starts out great. Very machine-y and robotic with great beats and electronic parts over the traditional rock vibe. Tracks tend to swell with intensity: highs then dips in tempo and mood. That falls of quickly though with the back half of the album seeming more "human." "You and whose army?" had notable piano piece and cowboy-esq vibe going into "I Might be Wrong"s guitar riff - pretty cool. "Dollars and Cents" has such an interesting style, lyrically very relevant to the world 24 years after this album came out. "We're gonna crack your little souls" might be one of my new favorite lines from a song ever. Overall fantastic album. I think it drops a bit during the end, which may keep it from top ratings in my book, but that's a minor nitpick. The end of the album is such a different mood/vibe from the beginning (the style of which I absolutely love), which I'm sure is intentional. Going from a tech heavy imperfect world to "Life in the Glasshouse," poor and destitute and old-timey sounding musically after politics, money, and war get their way. That's my initial read on the album, which is pretty cool conceptually. The album is cool, that is, not my take on it. As a last note: I dont know how much I'll pay attention to analyzing lyrics while doing these 1001 albums, but this album has some interesting, classically radiohead, lyrics that will probably warrant a re-listen to dive deeper into at some point. What a great start!

Never heard of Michael Kiwanuka, he's got a great voice and is a skilled rock guitarist. Album seems a good mix of topics: love, politics, instrumentals, etc. "I've been Dazed" and "Final Days" were standouts for me. The tracks were warm and seemed very grand and floaty, for lack of better words, and I did enjoy that sound. The guitar parts were catchy. Not my typical type of jam, a little slow, but I wouldn't change it if it came on. Everything was executed well but nothing really floored me to move this one away from the average "great" album. Glad to have listened!

This is the first Talking Heads album I've listened to front to back. Dont know how it took me this long. Byrnes vocal style is iconic. Even from the beginning the Talking Heads signature style is obvious and upfront. I really liked"Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town" with some cool drums, "Tentative Decisions" and "No Compasson." While the album was fun to listen to, I'd characterize it as very good but I probably wouldn't listen to the whole thing through again. Talking Heads certainly have an energy that holds your attention and makes you want to listen though.

This album somehow sounds shockingly modern while also retaining its 1970s groove. You could have told me this album came out in 1971, or lied and said 2010 by some band like Wolfmother or Greta Van Fleet and I'd have believed either one. Standouts for me were "Jeepster" (lyrics were dumb-ish but the guitar and song itself are just fun), "Lean Woman Blues," and I never knew "Get it On" was T.Rex, but it's a hit for a reason. This was a great album, well produced, sounded sharp, had some slick guitar parts and mostly just plain catchy tunes! Nothing really really special but I had fun listening to it. Tough to choose between 3 or 4 stars for this one, would rate this probably a 3.5 if we had more granularity.

This is my first foray into Iggy Pop. I've heard "Lust For Life" before but not much else. I honestly didn't get much from this album. It kind of failed to hold my attention. Maybe it's just the mood I'm in at the time of listening, but I found the majority of the album forgettable and I wouldn't really revisit any of it besides "Lust For Life" and maybe "Neighborhood Threat" because it had some decent guitar riffs. The album was not unpleasant to listen to, but didn't really offer anything to keep it even an average level of interesting I would hope for from one of the 1001 albums to listen to before my untimely death.

I'm not a big rap or hip hop guy so this will be a trip out of the norm for me, but with Kendrick being literally everywhere these days I'm excited to give this a listen. Standouts were "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe," "Backseat Freestyle" - absolutely loved this track for the beat and vocal style - "m.A.A.d. City" was powerful, "Swimming Pools." Also really enjoyed the Janet Jackson sample playing under "Poetic Justice," it complimented the song nicely. This is an album to be experienced as a whole and to really absorb the lyrics while you listen. Considering Kendricks upbringing, the whole package packs a punch. My only negatives are that the recordings interspersed into the songs were interesting snips of Kendrick's life, and I get that they help tell a story, but they kind of threw off the flow for me. Some of the songs switch styles/tempo partway through or after being divided with a recording like 2 songs mashed together, which I can't say I loved. Also I thought the album was on the longer side, 10-15 minutes shorter would have been perfect. This was a hard one to rate. I think you have to incorporate all the background and life experiences that were put into it because it's so personal. But, that can be said about a lot of albums. Musically, a lot of it is interesting, but probably not my favorite. It's a great origin story and piece of art, even if a little rough around the edges, and I'm glad to have listened and gotten a glimpse into Kendrick's life but I think this juuuust misses being a 4/5 for me.

In theory I should have really liked this album. I read up a little on War, having never really heard of them and love the concept of the band, but something didn't click for me with this one. I liked the use of so many unique instruments and sounds, but found the whole album kind of aimless. I think wrapping so many genres and styles into one album kind of hurt them in the end. A huge chunk of it was just very slow and almost purely ambient noise, which isn't always bad but in this case didn't help. Standouts were the first half of "City, County, City" - I found parts of its 13+ minute track length a little grating - "Four Cornered Room" - had a really cool western vibe but again dragged in the back half. I think this has to be my first 1 star album; it's just not my style and I wouldn't listen to any of it again. It's an album out of time for me and I didn't really enjoy my time with it.

Man, this project is blasting me with 70s albums! I'm not familiar with Peter Tosh so let's dive in! Right off, I'm not a pothead or into drug culture, but this is a fun album in spite of the topic. Reggae has such a distinct style that always sounds a little upbeat and laid back to me despite the lyrical content. Standouts were "Legalize It," "Burial" - brutal to listen to considering Tosh's murder - "Whatcha Gonna Do." All in all, the album was ok, had a couple nice jams but seems like pretty standard fare for the genre although I don't have a lot of experience in it. Like a lot of albums, I think the second half suffers a little and falls into the sounding somewhat "samey" bucket. This would probably be a 2.5/3 for me, but as I'm rating things pretty harshly it'll have to round down to a very solid 2. Maybe 3 in another life.

More 70s! Bowie this time, let's go! I've not listened to this album all the way through before and I have high hopes going in because, well, it's Bowie. Standouts are "Changes," "Eight Line Poem" - I really liked the slide guitar and the interesting lyrics - "Life on Mars," "Quicksand," and "Queen Bitch" - has some killer guitar. I could almost list each track here, they are all very good, but these were my tops if I had to pick. The piano in this album is incredible and Bowie's lyrics are unmatched. Each track is a great little story. The themes are varied and interesting. Each song is light and airy feeling yet has so much substance jammed into it, instrumentally and lyrically. Hunky Dory flies by, the album was over before I knew it and it definitely doesn't overstay its welcome. I really vibed with this one. It's hard to find any flaws and I could see myself playing this record over again. This is easily my first 5 star album here.

It's the title track and the only Marvin Gaye I know, but Let's Get It On! Gaye's voice is obviously fantastic and this album wraps you up like a warm blanket. It's a little slow for my taste but it's definitely a nice listen. Instrumentally this is a nice album as well. It's got tight drums, funky wah-wah guitar riffs, sax, and piano parts a-plenty. And clocking in at about 32 minutes, it's a perfect taste of everything. Standouts for me were: "Let's Get It On," "Keep Gettin' It On," "Distant Lover," and "You Sure Love To Ball." Honestly, any of the tracks could be standouts on this one with the exception of the final song, which was kind of a slow bummer at the end of a very good album. I went into this listen thinking it would be a straightforward 3 star experience: very likeable with some good fun tracks that I enjoyed but probably wouldn't revisit too much, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had with it. Enough that I think it's a clear 4 star album. I would definitely put this whole album on again, but I'd have to be in the right sorta mood...

If these are the pioneers of industrial rock, let's just say I'm glad the genre has evolved away from whatever this is. I'm going in with an open mind though and will give it a thorough listen. I'm a huge fan of later industrial acts like Nine Inch Nails, so I was interested to experience some Throbbing Gristle but I found this album devoid of anything really interesting. Right off the bat, I thought the intro "I.B.M." had some interesting sounds to reel me in, but then as it transitioned to "Hit by a Rock" my interest faded, as did any semblance of order and beauty. The album devolved into seemingly random noises, samples, and voice recordings. The songs are really slow paced and full of ambient noises and, honestly, pretty creepy. I wish there had been more variance in the tracks. The second half of the album showed promise as it rolled into "AB/7A" and I had hope that something cool would happen, but sadly it returned to harsh, eerie muck. But yet, it's weirdly haunting even though it lacks any sort of musical IQ. Standouts for me, if you can call them that, were "Dead on Arrival," "Weeping" - had a weird but catchy little guitar part over some creepy man and eerie thuds and creaks - "AB/7A" - this one actually sounded good! I'm all for experimentation and doing something unique and this album is certainly off the deep end. In the end, it's performance art, not really an "enjoyable" music album. As I kept listening, something stirred in me. Just a little. I am actually torn whether to rate this 1 or 2 stars, because of how unique the album is. There are glimmers of **something** in a few tracks, but does that really redeem how almost unlistenable most of the album is? It certainly made me feel **something** at a few points throughout my listen. And the fact that I'm thinking about it so much after I'm done listening to it makes me think I have to break my normally pretty harsh rating system and give it 2 stars just for being what it is because its wild and bleak and yet somehow still captivating in that moment you're almost held captive listening to it. I can't explain it, but it exists and it's been built upon. I'm glad I listened exactly this one time and will probably never again cross paths with TG unless there are more albums lurking in this project. I will say there is most likely nothing else nor will there be anything else quite like Throbbing Gristle. I think these would be great songs to commit a murder to if I were into that sort of thing.

This is an intriguing group I've never heard of. Electronic-hip-hop? Interesting combo. Lets see if it pans out. My first thought as I start listening is that the title track kinda goes on too long. After the first few tracks, I noticed the trend seems to be some slow-to-medium rapping over a kinda slow beat with some female backing vocals. There are some occasional flutes. Some record scratches. Oh, a couple notes on a guitar? Predominantly drum and bass. It screamed early to mid 90s to me, and its an electronic dance type thing so that tracks at least. The whole album continued in this fashion. This album didn't really pump me up, or bring me down, or really do anything to move me one way or the other. Was it phoned in? I' m not really sure how this album landed on this list. Even going through the band's wikipedia, there's just not much about them. Was this some super influential UK hip hop deal? I'm in the dark here. Standouts for me were: "Connected," "Step It Up," and "Creation." Honestly I added them as highlights as I was going through, but every song sounded so similar to every other song it was hard to pull these apart. Overall, I could do without this album. It wasn't like some horrible experience, it just didn't feel like it had any soul. Just some mediocre raps that all went on for way too long. I got to the end, fittingly titled "The End" and I was happy to stop listening and go about my day. There wasn't enough variety in any of the songs to make any part of it compelling. I don't really want to listen to any of it again. This is probably like a 1.5 out of 5, rounded down to a 1. At the end of the day it was just boring ¯\_(ツ)_/¯