1001 Albums Summary

Fantastic album I never would have tracked down. The Girl From Ipamena is well known, but I had never heard the version with Portuguese lyrics and a male voice. The rest of the album was a fantastic showing of classic bossa nova / jazz music, things I never really explored beyond the somewhat related jazz / swing / ska of the 90s.

I missed the 90s era of hip hop, was fully into metal and grunge/post-punk back then. I can hear why this group hit the levels they did, but at the same time I can understand why this album in particular did not perform as well as some of their later releases. There is a great amount of repetition, and some of the hooks and loops are so short that the ear is begging for some resolution that never comes. Can I Kick It? is one track I remember hearing during its heyday, and listening to it again all I can think is how I wish the loop would resolve into something more developed than a re-loop. Good stuff and an absolutely fantastic sample of the Golden Age of Hip Hop. More complicated than much of the rap that came earlier, but not nearly as angry (while still needing a number of listens to appreciate) as the also-emerging gangsta rap. I am a little sad I missed out on this when it was new, it seems perfect for the time in the same way that Nirvana was - This release was integral to the sound of the time, but as a release did not have nearly the impact later releases did, much like Bleach vs Nevermind. Does anyone else here Sheryl Crow's 'All I Wanna Do' in a number of the breaks?

Nice treat.

Not listening to a Nazi

The Doors are tough for me. On the one hand, the stuff I really like I *really* like. On the other hand, I don't like most of their stuff. Morrison's voice gets nasally and whiny, and while the instruments behind him are great he distracts from their quality. It's no wonder he died at 27, and everything that lead up to that shows through in his voice.

To be honest, this one was a struggle. It took me most of the day to make it through, and it wasn't the best experience. Individually, the songs ranged from fine to good. Dissonance can be a useful story telling tool in music, but their reliance on it throughout their tracks is too much. I wonder if maybe live it wouldn't be quite as painful for my ears, if maybe the production value (which seemed fairly high) on the album ended up making the dissonance far worse to sit through.

It was okay, but not my cup of tea. It was interesting to note that The B-52's were just as 'out there' from their 1st album as they were later in their career, but that same 'out there' aspect takes me out of the music and into wondering what they were on when they wrote and recorded it.

I found it quite boring. I think, in context, it was likely a fantastic work at the time of release and had an impact. The radio/MTV song on there appears to have been one of the first crossover tracks, and the album itself appears to have been a record maker - but frankly I found the beats boring, the rap basic (though rhymes were good), and overall that the album doesn't stand up against their later releases. It is an album I wish I could go back and listen to *in context*, but sadly without that context it is mediocre to me.

This - was - amazing. I don't typically listen to rap/hip-hop, but oh my goodness that might need to change. I have been exposed to more through this site than I ever would have on my own, and aside from one mediocre (to me, and likely just because it's out of context to its release date) experience and one album skipped because an insane Nazi was the recording artist (Ye know the one), they have all been spectacular. This release showed the different styles of the guys in OutKast, without excluding the other's influence from shining through. The melding of the lyrical artist with the producing artist combined with the distinct styles of rap and genre bending - chef's kiss. I am currently listening to the rest of their catalog because I was so blown away by this release. I kind of feel bad about how much I discounted them due to Hey Ya! being so overplayed when released - but it felt 'right' where it was in the pack of tracks on display here.

Enjoyable, but not really my type of music. The variety on the release kept anything from being stale, seems to be a nice cross-section of sounds from the time.

I had to quit at the 4th track. Started out kind of promising, similar to the Tron Legacy soundtrack by Daft Punk. 4th track went back towards DP's earlier work, where the good stuff was punched in the face over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (ad nauseum) with noise by people pretending their stuff doesn't sound like shit. And then people lapped that shit up like the good little dogs they are.

Good god I cannot stand country and their bullshit baby whiny fucking voices.

Not the best of McCartney, not sure that being just post-Beatles justifies how short and non-technical the songs are. Considering his impact as a member of The Beatles, I frankly expected quite a bit more adventure on these tracks, something more like Peter Gabriel post-Genesis. Instead it comes out as someone figuring they don't need to bother, it'll be successful no matter what - and it was.

Oh so good - there's a reason it was one of, if not the, highest performing release of their too short career. Everything is effortlessly tight and connected. Led Zeppelin always had a knack for making extreme complexity feel like a group of stoned out friends jamming in their garage, and I can't think of another album from them that proves it as clearly as this one.

As I go through all these albums, many of which I've never heard or just heard a few tracks from, I am learning that my tastes have drastically changed from when I was younger. Tom Waits was always, in my mind, a country singer - not entirely sure why because I checked out some more of his stuff after listening to this and it hardly seems fair to chuck him into any genre bin at all. I enjoyed the album. It's not something I'll go back to on a regular basis, but it definitely got put on my 'listen to something outside of my normal' playlist. Normally the lack of a coherent 'style' across the album would throw me off enjoying it, but his talent for altering his vocals to fit the playing style on display kept me from even noticing the overly broad (not in a bad way) range of music.

It was just okay. I can't really knock it, it was Madonna and definitely one of her stronger showings. Problem, for me, is that Madonna seems to get a great sound stuck in her head and not really know what to do with it, so she just loops it over and over. Being as this is a pretty electronica album, that repetition kind of turns into noise, though not really in a bad way. It's just that the album is the kind of music to play in a store - non offensive to the ears, but also incapable of distracting people from shopping - just background noise (though not quite elevator music).

I vaguely remember this when it came out, but definitely slipped by me. It's kind of odd, some of the music is pretty heavily influenced by country/western, but since her voice doesn't get into the whiny/nasally range of most of that, it worked well. Makes me understand I don't dislike country as a style of music, I just dislike the whiny noises the people that 'sing' it create.

While I can appreciate the concept behind it, this thing was not nearly as enjoyable as it could have been due to the content. Have to give props for basically kick starting a genre, but not the first artist I'll probably never listen to (on purpose) again due to some of the subject matter. It's a good 'struggling getting older and dealing with it all' album, but I can't listen to it with my son around.

The Boss

what is this trash, why doesn't he sing?

Better than ever before since the jackass in chief is in a pissing war so he can bathe his face in yellow pee.

I never got into shoegaze barring one band (Silversun Pickups - one of a handful of 'buy unheard' groups left for me), but this release makes it more compelling than when it had its heyday. While I can appreciate it for what came after, though, I felt it relied on the aethereal voice modulation aspect more than on any actual song lyrics. Sure they're there but lyrically they seemed to focus on one type of vocal over the other, whereas Silversun Pickups has the lead lyrics and the aethereal vocals happening at the same time. That said, I put more of their discography on after I finished this album and there is quite a lot to like in there, and I feel secure in saying that one of my favorite bands wouldn't exist if they hadn't paved the way, so a 5-star from me.

This isn't even the okayest RHCP to choose, but beyond that there is absolutely nothing about anything RHCP ever released that is worthly of being included in a list of anything to do before you die, aside from maybe '1001 artists to ignore before you die because they're not worth the recognition they get'

Really not sure why this is here. Is it to add diversity for the sake of diversity? Now I'm not an anti-DEI person, but this release is about as generic, bland, uninteresting, and out-of-its time as anything I've run across. It sounds like some folk that don't really know what they're doing but do know they don't want to be put into a 'bucket', so they do nothing interesting, toss an overabundance of foul language in, mix it all together, and spit out a release that fails to interest in any respect. There's talent here, but it's absolutely NOT on display - this garbage is anti-adult-alt-rock put out there to trick some white basement dwelling, chickie nugs eating, incel, vote for fascists because he won't stop thinking women owe him sex, jackass into thinking they're not racists since they listen to 'one of the good ones' black rock.

I mean, it's a decent enough album, but to be on a list of things someone should absolutely listen to? No, I don't hear it - it's just a decent enough album.

This was boring as fuck

Odd choice considering Master of Puppets is widely thought of as the best Metallica album and is a much more cohesive entry into their discography. Reminds me of better days before wealthy people decided they hated less stupidly rich people and decided to take a shit all over every attempt they made to make their miserable life a little less miserable. Fuck Metallica.

Not much for disco, but can't argue with disco soul too much.

I don't listen to Nazis, you should have learned that with the Kanye.

To the day I die I will likely never understand how techno became a thing, unless it's the drugs that I'm missing and that makes the repetition a desirable thing since you're not really able to focus on anything anyway. It was fine for techno, but that's like saying a kick in the shin is fine compared to a kick in the balls.

Wha, why does this exist?

I can't say I liked it, I can't say I understand why this style of music exists, but I can't help but think if they were doing something closer to what I like, they're all talented enough that I would like them, so I can't hit them too hard - talented, just not my cup of tea I guess.

Repeating the same noise ad nauseam isn't music

I haven't listened to this album in more than 25 years, but damned if it isn't just that good

Ugh

Good god I cannot stand his whiny nasally voice.

The songs were all good, but there was no real 'sound' to the album as a whole. It's kind of weird how each song can stand on its own and be rated highly against contemporaries, but taken as a group the album just doesn't stand up nearly as well as a lot that came before or around the same time.

It was forgettable, really. Then I read through some of her turn into conspiracy and fascism and I regretted listening to it.

Holy fuck this thing should have been shot in the fucking face and buried in a ditch so deep even the molemen wouldn't be able to find it. This has got to be the worst fucking thing I've ever forced myself to listen to in my fucking life. I cannot believe anyone would think this was something anyone other than the worst terrorist or pedophile you could find should be forced to endure. If it's something to listen to before regular people die it should be kept for the end so that on your deathbed you can force your way through it and use it as a reminder that you're over the bullshit fucking morons you've dealt with in life and really are ready to let go, if just so you never have to endure this level of disgusting fucking bullshit again.

What was this supposed to be?

Damn but this had moments of good that were absolutely derailed by noisy bullshit crap.

I know I'm likely in a minority considering her billionaire status - but I cannot get a handle on why people listen to Swift. Her songwriting is boring, at best, and repetitive at normal. Add to it the wannabe-normal-person whining about COVID lockdowns, while knowing she was still living it up in her mansion without any *real* care in the world, it's just so tone-deaf that she should be ashamed to have released this, and anyone listening to it without the 'oh, woe-is-me Taylor, I'm so sorry you had to suffer while the rest of us were watching the world be destroyed. Glad you got a good jersey out of the alignment with MAGA, bitch' is pathetic and worthless too.

I'm not sure that Bjork deserves to be as well presented on this list as she is, I'm at 280 albums and she is 1.7% of them - there is a lot of far better music than she's involved in. That said - this is even lower on the totem pole than her solo stuff because *it was nothing new* when compared to other 'college rock' acts of the time. There were so many instances where they sounded like a disjointed (translation issue?) R.E.M. or The B-52s. They were just fine - nothing really worthwhile unless you're already a fan of Bjork, though.

Unclear why this is here, it's not much different than their before or after, so hardly groundbreaking in any way. The best thing to say about it, as a Radiohead fan, is that it sounds just like Radiohead.

Decent but boring