Just… wow. This is the most contrived bullshit I’ve heard in years, including that crappy MGMT album that popped up earlier this week. I had a sinking feeling from the e.e. cummings song titling and the zero-effort cover art. This hot garbage is void of any semblance of creativity, originality, or effort. It sounds like if the Black Keys actually admitted to themselves that they’re fucking hipsters, and channeled their newfound wannabe synthwave edginess into a failed attempt at playing David Bowie B-sides in the style of Radiohead circa 2002, fronted by a tone-deaf hack with an inferiority complex. This dumpster fire *might* pass as a live improv act at a stoner jam session, but the fact that this band actually spent time and money to prepare and record this shit undermines any credibility they can possibly claim as musicians and songwriters. Turning out this “album” has lots in common with failing a take-home exam. You had an abundance of time, resources, reference material, and collaborators, and you just… fucked around and doodled on the test papers instead? I can’t tell if LCD Soundsystem misunderstood the assignment here, or just didn’t give a shit. Either way, I’m equally pissed off that there’s evidently a demographic of brain-dead kool-aid drinkers who slurp this shit up like Catholics with their sacrament. I’m frothing at the mouth to know how this steaming pile made the 1001 list. It’s a categorical guarantee that literally any other album demonstrates more worthiness than this.

Meh. I get it as a work of self-expression, but I wouldn’t care to hear most of the album again. If that’s the point, then well done, I’m glad I listened to it 25 years later by subscription and didn’t go out of pocket for the CD. One and done.

Entirely boring and derivative shit. The 2005-2015 decade of modern pop is dead to me. Zero stars.

I see how this was groundbreaking and genre-defining in 1990. Sick beats, innovative fusion of jazz and hip-hop, classy execution.

Mesmerizing. I’m not a 20th century Nigerian history buff so the government critique element went over my head, but I could see this being an extremely effective medium to channel a message to the listener. Especially if they were smoking some of that sweet 70s grass. To this white Canadian in 2025, this album presents a timeless, infectious, motivating listening experience and will go into my regular rotation.

Based on the first track I thought I knew exactly what I was in for: 60s bubblegum pop. Boy was I wrong. The range of styles in this release and Dusty’s performance surprised me. She brought the fun. She brought the emotion. She brought the sass. She brought the rock. Excellent arrangements and recording quality elevated this listening experience even further. There’s something for everyone here. Something about Dusty’s voice struck me, and I realized after a few tracks that Adele sounds quite a lot like her. I wonder how much of an influence Dusty may have been? Adele would do well to break her career’s glass ceiling and rise with ambition to the stylistic and emotional diversity shown on this album.

I don't have the benefit of age and perspective to help me understand its impact on Afrobeat, but this album had me groovin real good. Great production values, sick performance, awesome songs. As a drummer who looks down on two-drummer performances and detests drum solos, I actually really enjoyed Ginger Baker's contributions to this album. Knowing the last track was a 15-minute drums-only performance, I wasn't really looking forward to it, but leading up to it with 45 minutes of killer Afrobeat created the right atmosphere and context.

Just… wow. This is the most contrived bullshit I’ve heard in years, including that crappy MGMT album that popped up earlier this week. I had a sinking feeling from the e.e. cummings song titling and the zero-effort cover art. This hot garbage is void of any semblance of creativity, originality, or effort. It sounds like if the Black Keys actually admitted to themselves that they’re fucking hipsters, and channeled their newfound wannabe synthwave edginess into a failed attempt at playing David Bowie B-sides in the style of Radiohead circa 2002, fronted by a tone-deaf hack with an inferiority complex. This dumpster fire *might* pass as a live improv act at a stoner jam session, but the fact that this band actually spent time and money to prepare and record this shit undermines any credibility they can possibly claim as musicians and songwriters. Turning out this “album” has lots in common with failing a take-home exam. You had an abundance of time, resources, reference material, and collaborators, and you just… fucked around and doodled on the test papers instead? I can’t tell if LCD Soundsystem misunderstood the assignment here, or just didn’t give a shit. Either way, I’m equally pissed off that there’s evidently a demographic of brain-dead kool-aid drinkers who slurp this shit up like Catholics with their sacrament. I’m frothing at the mouth to know how this steaming pile made the 1001 list. It’s a categorical guarantee that literally any other album demonstrates more worthiness than this.

Alright I guess. I'm a white dude from the PNW so I really can't relate to this material very well. I wouldn't know what qualifies this for the list of 1001 and I didn't really gain anything by listening through this.

Enjoyed this. Got that 70s metal sensibility and acoustic, but innovated by breaking the traditional songwriting formula. Awesome performance from the entire band.

I sense this album made the list as a reasonably-accessible example of the intersection of classical and metal. I'm glad the list editors chose to highlight this symbiosis. The production is excellent overall, great sounding mix. That said, Metallica is just too digested for my taste. I'd put Dimmu Borgir – Forces Of The Northern Night or Devin Townsend Project – Ocean Machine (Plovdiv) on the list instead. Much bigger fan of Michael Kamen as a composer/orchestrator/conductor than Metallica. The symphony carries this performance. 5/10, rounded up -> 3/5. Didn't love it, didn't hate it.

Nothing special imo. I was hoping for more commitment to the synthwave vibe but found the vocals too forward to really get into it, and some of the arrangements were wack. Feel like this was kinda caught in no mans land between synthwave and 80s pop, and it didn't do either one well. Would give it 2.5/10 but rounding up to 2/5 only because LCD Soundsystem American Dream has defined rock bottom on my score sheet and this isn't a total dumpster fire.

Sounds unfinished and lacks polish. There's a handful of catchy riffs along the way, but they don't really develop into anything. Often an annoying overdub clutters the listening space, not to mention the irritating vocals. I noticed that The Neptunes produced this. They missed an opportunity for some mentorship to get this material out of demo territory and refine the arrangements into something release-worthy. The mixing needs more work. Now that I know Pharrell was part of this project, I can hear the seeds of his later career. Maybe there was some reason in 2004 to put this on the list, but in 2025, it's yet another "strike this from the next edition."

I came into the 1001 challenge with a mentality: Listen to an album, and evaluate why it qualifies as a must-hear piece of art. 13 days in, I'm struggling not to lower my standards and remark on what redeeming qualities the authors of the book may possess by including the album on the list. After listening to this one, my demons won the day. I got a copy of the book to help figure out why this album made the list. Answer - nostalgia, and because it's allegedly a better final release than The Beatles' "Let It Be". My response: I'm not nostalgic for Simon & Garfunkel, nor Sixties ballads, and no, it's not better than Let It Be. Put the title track on "1001 Songs you must hear before you die" if you believe in it that much, and either put a more convincing Simon & Garfunkel album on this list, or just drop this one. 2/5, it wasn't offensive but it didn't win me over.

Unique and innovative. This is the kind of material I expected to find on this list at the outset. Great fusion of punk and new wave, full of personality and promise, inspiring. Well produced. 4/5, for listening value and for fulfilling the mission of the 1001 list.

For background: I have a complex relationship with the Seattle music scene of the 90s. Grunge remains one of my favourite genres overall, and as the motherland, Seattle and its music scene provided me with a wealth of listening material, inspiration for my own music career, and a relatable atmosphere. Having said that, and as a drummer myself, Dave Grohl doesn't occupy any sort of pedestal on my so-called music shrine. A vagabond, he found himself in Seattle after doing hard time touring the globe with East-coast punk band Scream, and to my ear, this background features prominently in his approach to music. With respect to my own propensities at the kit, I don't rank him amongst the most influential drummers of 90s Seattle. Heck, I don't really like Nirvana, and I don't enjoy Foo Fighters all that much. Onto the album review: On its face, this album broadcasts Dave's slant towards punk. My enjoyment of punk faces a natural limitation because that's the purpose of the genre itself, but deeper inside this material, I can sense the impact that Dave's time with Nirvana manifested in his own creativity. It pops out in different ways track-to-track, whether it's the songs with a more overall acoustic approach, or the punk-flavoured tracks with uncharacteristically-extended riffs. For me, there's enough lurking beneath the surface to make an active listen worthwhile. Based on the background I wrote above, I didn't expect to find any value in listening to this, and I can admit now that this album surprised me. In a vacuum: This is an interesting and somewhat diverse garage-rock album, and it's worth a listen to anyone with an interest in that style. For Grohl fans: This is an interesting and somewhat diverse slice-of-life at a pivotal point in Dave's life and career, and it's worth a listen to anyone with an interest in his transition from Nirvana to what comes next. 3.5/5 -> 4/5, I think it's a must-hear *if* you have historical context for what makes this album important.

Ahhhh, here we are again, another inclusion predicated on historical context I'm sure. Easy-listening jazz fusion album, perfect as a substrate for whatever might occupy you in the present moment. This greased the wheels nicely for me to get some coding done for my day job. Beyond that, I'll have to refer to the critics to understand why this stands out within the mid-century jazz milieu. I don't know what makes this exceptional. 5/10 -> 3/5. =========== I'm dropping my rating after reading the critic's take. It amounts to "you had to be a jazz stan 60 years ago, you had to listen to 'Kind of Blue' in a specific manner, and you had to understand Davis' bravery in experimentation". My response: this album's exceptionalism has since been lost to the sands of time, and the evolution of jazz itself. Do I disagree that Davis broke new ground? Absolutely not. Do I expect the albums on this list to speak for themselves? You bet your ass. Over half a century later, it sounds original, sure, but that's like, jazz, man! In retrospect, it just doesn't sound innovative. This album is fine. To a blind listener, it doesn't belong here. 2/5.

Timeless rock 'n roll, and a symbol of a great career to come for Tom Petty. That said, yet again I'm not sure it's a life-changing listen. Maybe my expectations for this exercise stand too tall for the reality of critiquing purportedly-great albums. I'm still waiting to be blown away by something on this list. Show me a self-contained album that tells a story start-to-finish, that has cohesion, innovation, intrigue; I'll show you a five-star rating. 7/10 -> 3/5. not mind-blowing but definitely interesting from a rock-history angle.

The simulacrum of 1970s folk rock. Impeccably tight harmonies that lend embarrassment to the Auto-tune movement, interesting variety of songs and songwriting throughout, overall fairly memorable and worthy of citation on the list of 1001. 7/10 -> 3/5. Important album, but a "safe" one at that. Not the most daring or contiguous album I've heard.

This is exactly the kind of stuff I came here for. Music made for the sake of making music. Zero expectation of success. Full of authentic, genuine soul, and raw talent. A revelation.

Fuck Kid Rock.

Is disco still dead? I'm something of a Nile Rodgers stan, so rosy glasses might impact my review here. I can groove to this. It's a solid example of what made disco such a phenomenon back in the day. That said, I was hoping for more upbeat material after the opening track. Nothing else quite lived up to the guitar hook a lot of us first heard in Gettin Jiggy Wit It. This gets a pass for me, I don't hate disco.

Man I was so into this until the shitty vocals ruined the vibe.

not my bag

not my bag

Freddie Mercury's voice and styling defines Queen, and puts the band in a league of its own amongst 70s pop and rock. That style and league just isn't for me. Bohemian Rhapsody is a f***ing masterpiece tho. Surprised by the variety on this one - there's prog amongst the glam rock, eg. Prophet's Song. This appeal to my Genesis-loving soul boosts my initial rating. 5/10 -> 3/5.

Sounds like a natural continuation of the Beatles. A little more expansive, not quite progressive. Ultimately unremarkable to me fifty years on. 2/5 it's fine enough.

Some good fkn yacht rock, my inner billionaire loves this.

This goes haaaarrrrrd solid 4/5 up in here