Wow Gorillaz self-titled debut? Is it even fair to rate or comment on an album I've been revisiting and enjoying for nearly 25 years? It's in my bones, it's in my blood. But yeah, great. So much of it holds up. Crazy and inventive Damon Albarn side project produced with Dan the Automator?? Every song still as cool and good as the last time I listened to it. How do you come up with an idea as silly as "Let's make a virtual cartoon band" and it all works this well? And it's enough of a hit that they just kept doing it? Slow Country is the track I revisit the most for whatever reason and holding off on jumping to that track and just experiencing the album from front to back again was neat. 19-2000 > Slow Country > Tomorrow Comes Today > Starshine > Double Bass > Re-Hash > Sound Check > 5/4 > Clint Eastwood > Latin Simone > Rock the House > M1 A1 > New Genius > Punk > Man Research Hahah it feels kinda crazy to give this a 5 but I don't know what else to do. It's a 5!

Hahah oh this guy okay. Oh this song okay. I didn't know this song was called "Sunshine Superman" or that it was by Donovan, which is pretty funny. I don't know anything about anything, I suppose! Good song. Classic oldies station song from my childhood. Season of the Witch > Bert's Blues > Sunshine Superman > Ferris Wheel > Celeste > The Trip > Three King Fishers > Guinevere > Legend of a Girl Child Linda > The Fat Angel Some of these songs kind of a slog, and the lyrics are terrible at times, but the songs that are good are real good. A bit too much sitar for my tastes but had a nice enough time. It's a 3.

Hmmm pretty good I like that it opens with the girl from ipanema pretty famous song. I feel like I am floating around around in a pool like a turtle on it's back floating in a pool this is how this album makes me feel. I think the only other song from this album I'm familiar with is Desafindado. TRACK RANKING: So Danco Samba > Girl from Ipanema > Vivo Sonhando > Doralice > Desafinado > O Grande Amor > Para Machuchar Mu Coracao > Corcovado Big downside is maybe every song on this album sounds the same?? I think that may just be how bossa nova works. It's fine. Not gonna rate it very high because I don't think I ever need to listen to it again.

Hmm okay a Clash album I have never listened to before (I don't think). I wonder if the other two Clash albums I have heard before are also on this list. After this album I will be 0.002% on my way to being okay to die. Can't die yet! I have upwards of 999 albums left to hear! The Clash are one of those bands that I don't think I've ever fully grasped. I can see why they're popular, but I don't think it's for me. Super popular pervasive beloved punk music is actually not very "punk" to me. Give me some punk that sounds like shit that everyone hates, that's how to be truly punk! The Clash are really just the Green Day of the late 70's / early 80's. SONG RANKING: Police & Thieves > White Riot > Garageland > Career Opportunities > Janie Jones > Cheat > Protex Blue > 48 Hours > London's Burning > Hate & War > Bored with USA > Remote Control > What's My Name > Deny Police & Thieves (a cover) is really good, but no song on this 1977 album is better than Clash City Rockers which I guess they release as a single in 1978. Too many songs on this album are not Police & Thieves or Clash City Rockers.

Wow Gorillaz self-titled debut? Is it even fair to rate or comment on an album I've been revisiting and enjoying for nearly 25 years? It's in my bones, it's in my blood. But yeah, great. So much of it holds up. Crazy and inventive Damon Albarn side project produced with Dan the Automator?? Every song still as cool and good as the last time I listened to it. How do you come up with an idea as silly as "Let's make a virtual cartoon band" and it all works this well? And it's enough of a hit that they just kept doing it? Slow Country is the track I revisit the most for whatever reason and holding off on jumping to that track and just experiencing the album from front to back again was neat. 19-2000 > Slow Country > Tomorrow Comes Today > Starshine > Double Bass > Re-Hash > Sound Check > 5/4 > Clint Eastwood > Latin Simone > Rock the House > M1 A1 > New Genius > Punk > Man Research Hahah it feels kinda crazy to give this a 5 but I don't know what else to do. It's a 5!

Wow majorly classic album. Lucky for me, I have also heard this one before. So cool of me to have heard this one. Another album closer to death. Queen Bitch and Oh You Pretty Things are pretty perfect unstoppable all-timers. What else can you say? My biggest issue with Bowie is he is so overplayed on every jukebox and corner of the earth, that many of his biggest songs I am sick of hearing, but that's just not a factor in this 1001 albums situation. Even listening to the first song "Changes" (which I don't even like that much) I'm like "YUP, PERFECT SONG" - you can't deny it. Life on Mars? > Oh You Pretty Things > Quicksand > Andy Warhol > Queen Bitch > Fill Your Heart > Changes > The Belway Brothers > Eight Line Poem > Song for Bob Dylan > Kooks A few of the album cuts are kinda dull but the bangers pull it all up to a 5 star album

Neil Young a big blind spot for me. I think I have liked all the Neil Young songs I have heard in my life, but I have never done a deep dive or even listened to a full album, I don't think? Excited for this one. Walk On > See The Sky About To Rain > Ambulance Blues > For the Turnstiles > Revolution Blues > Vampire Blues > On The Beach > Motion Pictures for Carrie Oh yeah okay there are some duds on here but wow the first two tracks had me thinking this was gonna be a 4. Walk On is really good. Also an 8 song album? Come on, where's the value, Neil my man??

Let's gooooooo. Finally. This is what I want from "1001 albums u need to hear before you die" as an exercise. Imagine dying without hearing this album? Catastrophic. Tragic. Maybe all other albums should be a 1 or a 2 so far and this is the first true 5? The scale is fucked now. But will try my best. Gonna be a lot more 4's now that even the best albums need to stack against this one. You Can Make It If You Try > Sing a Simple Song > Everyday People > Don't Call Me ****** Whitey > Stand! > Somebody's Watching You > Sex Machine > I Want to Take You Higher This should be a scale of 1-100 instead of 1-5 lol. I think this is why I don't do star ratings on Letterboxd it's just too exhausting to figure out what each star rating means to me, even with the 1/2 star steps. Anyways, this is the most 5-rated 5-star album yet, that's all I can say. I guess it's technically only 8 songs again but wooooo baby it's enough. It's a 5!

Haha whut wow okay I guess. First time I've considered how many albums 1001 albums is. In a vacuum I cannot name 1001 albums off the top of my head so... I dunno. I suppose this could make the cut. If Sly Stand! was the high end of the spectrum (so far), this is feeling like the other end. I don't know what these star ratings mean anymore. Can I give this a zero? Gudbuy Gudbuy > Gudbuy T'Jane > Mama Weer All Crazee Now > I Don't Mind > The Whole World Goin Crazee > Look at Last Nite > I Won't Let It Appen Again > Let The Good Times Roll Feel So Fine > How D'You Ride > Move Over Mama weer all crazee now? The whole werld goin crazeeeee? You must be CRAZEE if you think this is an album I need to listen to before I am allowed to die! This stinks!

Okay Judas Priest, what do ya got. Wondering if we got another "1-star" rating coming down the pipe from me. What are we singing about? Laser beams and axes and robots? God damn I hate this kinda shit hahaha. Breaking the law? Yeah, breaking the law is pretty cool. Singing a silly little song about breaking the law, though? Dorky beyond measure. Living After Midnight > United > Grinder > Steeler > Breaking the Law > Metal Gods > The Rage > Rapid Fire > You Don't Have to Be Old to be Wise Living After Midnight maybe the most I can stand of these, I like that it's poppy and catchy and lyrics a little less annoying, but it's still doesn't quite push the album to a 2.

Wow, it's Joan! I think I only know L&A from this album. Seems like a chill and nice time. Love and Affection > People > Somebody Who Loves You > Like Fire > Help Yourself > Water with the Wine > Save Me > Down to Zero > Tall In The Saddle > Join The Boys Yeah this is really good. Love and Affection is incredible with some other great tracks in the lineup. Nice and breezy while interesting and dense enough musically that I can imagine I'd get more and more out of it with each subsequent listen. Great sound. Perfectly happy calling this a high 4, nudging towards a low 5.

Wow cool, 2009. I did not know this list of albums goes up to 2009. I wonder what the earliest and latest albums of our 1001 albums will be. Now’s The Only Time I Know > If I Had A Heart > Concrete Walls > Coconut > I'm Not Done > Seven > When I Grow Up > Keep the Streets Empty For Me > Dry and Dusty > Triangle Walks Pretty cool sound, never heard of this act. Oh I guess this is a the Knife side project? I like the Knife. Yeah I think this is working for me. This is nice. Does kinda lose some charm as it goes along, but it’s never annoying. Settling in to a comfortable 3-rating I think? Maybe a high 2. The problem is nothing is catchy enough to stick around in my head, and it all kinda blends together. Yeah there are no true bangers here, this album isn't bad but probably forgettable. That sounds like a 2.

Good music for a trip to mars. Haha I don't even know how to think about this alongside the other albums we've ranked. Jazz is so wild. Music Experience has certainly helped me appreciate Jazz more but I think in some cases it is still not for me. This is all fine but all way too aggressive and cloying to want to listen to in my daily life. I could only ever see it working to create tension in an indie film, otherwise I have no use for it. Seems insane to do a track ranking. Maybe it would grow on me over time, but today it feels like a 2 (and I did listen to the whole thing, yes)

Hahah enjoying the loungey live vibe of this. What is Sarah Vaughn famous for? Does she have a big hit song that is her staple, I cannot remember? Just One Of Those Things > Willow Weep For Me > Be Anything But Darling Be Mine > How High The Moon > Honeysuckle Rose > September In The Rain > Thou Swell > Stairway to the Stars > Just A Gigolo "I've fouled up this song real well" hahaha. Neat little time capsule. I like these small room live albums, feels like I'm there. Cool energy. It's cute. Now that we've been at this a second, I think I've decided my ratings maybe mean.... 1 - No, 2 - Fine, 3 - Good, 4 - Great, 5 - Incredible. And the thing is, maybe the majority of albums on this 1000-album list will be a 2. So even though I like this, is it closer to FINE or is it closer to GOOD in my heart and in my soul?? Is it closer to the other 2's I've given or is it closer to the 3's? It doesn't feel like a 4 or a 5, so...

Hahah oh this guy okay. Oh this song okay. I didn't know this song was called "Sunshine Superman" or that it was by Donovan, which is pretty funny. I don't know anything about anything, I suppose! Good song. Classic oldies station song from my childhood. Season of the Witch > Bert's Blues > Sunshine Superman > Ferris Wheel > Celeste > The Trip > Three King Fishers > Guinevere > Legend of a Girl Child Linda > The Fat Angel Some of these songs kind of a slog, and the lyrics are terrible at times, but the songs that are good are real good. A bit too much sitar for my tastes but had a nice enough time. It's a 3.

Wow it's Bonnie. If her earlier stuff isn't on this list I'm gonna be upset, but I guess I need to open my heart up to this 10th studio album by Bonnie Raitt. The title track isn't knocking my socks off so I don't know what that says for the rest of the album. I know I like a lot of Bonnie songs but we need to focus in on this specific album. Thing Called Love >> (HUGE GAP) >> I Will Not Be Denied > Real Man > Cry On My Shoulder > Love Letter > Have A Heart > The Road's My Middle Name > Nick of Time > Nobody's Girl > Too Soon To Tell > I Ain't Gonna Let You Break My Heart Again Why does Nick Of Time have so many more plays than Thing Called Love? Spotify is so weird sometimes. Thing Called Love is the lead single and the shining star of the album but Nick of Time has like 18 million more streams for some reason??? Silly. Anyways this album is fine but it's all just buffer around "Thing Called Love" everything else is really aggressively mid. Capitol records peeled off their A-team songwriters for one song and C-team or even D-team on everything else. Oh a lot of these are covers I guess, including Thing Called Love, okay. Weird choices. Wow the OG John Hiatt version of Thing Called Love is crazy haha. "I ain't no porcupine, take off the kid gloves" haha what a great lyric. BUT ONE SONG DOES NOT A WHOLE ALBUM MAKE. In honor of Dave Geis I will not even rate this equal to The Clash debut. It's a high 1, because it has one major banger, but it is a 1.

Oooh hello Marvin okay let's go. Marvin another guy that I've listened to THE HITS and I love them, but I don't think I've ever really listened to an album front-to-back. Something I'm really appreciating about this 1001 albums exercise is that I am very much a SINGLES guy. I listen to SONGS, and rarely listen to ALBUMS. I think it's because I crave the vibe shift, the mood shift, eclectic arrangements, etc. It's nice to commit to a mood or vibe of an album for 30+ minutes, and need to do it more often in my casual listening habits. Inner City Blues Make Me Wanna Holler > Right On > What's Going On > Mercy Mercy Me The Ecology > Save the Children > What's Happening Brother > God Is Love > Flying High In The Friendly Sky > Wholy Holy These animations that Spotify has linked to every track on this album are annoying as hell. Who told the music streaming industry that songs need looping animations attached to them, they are so annoying especially when it's retroactively added to an album from 1971. Get over yourself. But that is not Marvin's fault. This album is p good. I didn't like how earnest it was at first then it really grew on me haha. I do agree we need to get together and work together and save the children. I agree with you Marvin! We should love one another! I don't think any song really slapped me in the heart, though. Maybe "Make me wanna holler, throw up my hands" on the last track, that lyric made me go "Oh hellooo" and then all the vocal vamping in the back half. That track the standout gem for me, but overall this album is all perfectly fine, but is it GREAT? It doesn't seem to be the case. It's prob a high 3 I think, not quite cracking a 4? Maybe it's a low 4? It's riding that edge.

Oh shit! Well, I mean, this has gotta be a 5, right? What else can you say?? Maybe this is why I’m so stingy with my ratings, because a 5 needs to be reserved for something this undeniable and incredible. Baba O’Riley > Won’t Get Fooled Again > The Song Is Over > Getting In Tune > Behind Blue Eyes > Love Ain’t For Keeping > My Wife > Going Mobile > Bargain It’s great. Baba O’Riley is such a perfect song. I think a few of the album cuts maybe aren’t as unstoppable as I remember?? Was a delight to revisit, don’t get me wrong. I had a big “The Who” phase like 100 years ago. Maybe my expectations were set too high from that opening track and my nostalgia triggers sparking off. No no no, it’s a FIVE!!! It’s a five-star album! Several perfect songs and no stinkers. The drums. The arrangements. The harmonies. The groovy rockin bluesy riffs that never feel stale. It’s great. It’s a solid 5 rating, as tall as the stone monolith on the cover.

Feels like The Fall are a “Mandela Effect” situation for me because I simply did not know they existed until early last year and it seems like they have been around forever and are wildly influential?? No one told me?? Where have I been?? This is good but I can already tell I need to focus up because so much of it is blending together and just feels like one long song haha. Paintwork > L.A. > My New House > Barmy > Couldn’t Get Ahead > Cruisers Creek > Bombast > Pretty Thief Lout > To Nk Roachment Yarbles > What You Need > Rollin Danny > Small Victorian Child > I Am Damo Suzuki > The Vixen > Gut of the Quantifier > Mansion Yea I dig a lot of this but feel maybe The Fall are best served as one song in a nice eclectic playlist as opposed to a whole album because sixteen tracks in a row of the same kinda drum and bass chugging sound is maybe too much? I dunno it's also hard to come into an album cold like this, I need more time to let it grow on me and seep into my bones but sometimes we just don't have that time. But was good. Good album. Thanks.

Haha I like the weird Picasso-style Elvis Costello guy on the album art. Costello another guy with songs I have listened to and enjoyed, but rarely lived with an entire album. Love his voice. Scrolling through the tracklist I see no big singles that I recognize, but I do see the Human Hands song that Gabs submitted to ML2 which I gave no points (Oop). Excited to have no ties to any of these songs by a guy who I know does good stuff, let's goooo.... And In Every Home > Shabby Doll > Man Out of Time > You Little Fool > The Loved Ones > Kid About It > Town Cryer > Pidgin English > Human Hands > Almost Blue > Boy With A Problem > Tears Before Bedtime > Little Savage > Beyond Belief > The Long Honeymoon Wow I really like Shabby Doll. That's got that Elvis Costello Punch that I like. Ooh and And In Every Home is even better haha. Human Hands even hitting in the context of this album. This was a nice listen! Was ready for another snarky Seger 2 or 3, but enough cool memorable shit happening here that I am excited to revisit some day in the future. I think this got that coveted 4 star rating.

PJ Harvey okay. College rock okay. Oh wow a Thom Yorke feature, okay. You know what PJ Harvey song I heard recently that is really good? Down By The Water. That isn’t on this album, though, so not sure why I brought it up. This album sounds very college rock year 2000 and not sure if that is a compliment or not!! I’m not sure if that’s a criticism or not either! I just started listening to this album, okay?? Good Fortune > A Place Called Home > Big Exit > You Said Something > The Mess We’re In > We Float > One Line > Beautiful Feeling > This Is Love > Horses In My Dreams > The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore > Kamikaze The song Good Fortune is pretty good. “Like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde.” Oh? I feel like I’ve heard that line somewhere else. Oh, it’s the title of a Travis Tritt song that also came out in the year 2000 hahaha that’s really funny. I like the harmonium sounding thing in Place Called Home. I could see a world where, if I had listened to this album in the early 2000’s, I may have affection for it today. But right now, in the year 2025, it just makes me want to listen to other alt rock girlies of the 90’s/2000’s like Tori or Liz or even POE (haha) so I think it is not getting a very high rating… Thom Yorke being on this is fun, but feels a bit underused. Some of the more interesting songs musically have the worst lyrics. Nothing about it is sticking to me, save for a fact that there is a song called “Horses In My Dreams”!! That is something I will be thinking about a lot today. I don’t think I like the song, though. Sorry PJ, I know you were hoping for a higher rating from me!!

Someone submitted from this album in Music Experience II, let's see who it was... Wow it was Mando and it was this opening track, which I guess I gave a whopping 6 score. A lot of fun stuff going on here, but I think I understand why this got 23rd place in the 2008 round. Black Plant > The Age Of The Understatement > Calm Like You > My Mistakes Were Made For You > The Meeting Place > I Don't Like You Anymore > Time Has Come Again > Separate And Ever Deadly > Standing Next To Me > In My Room > The Chamber > Only The Truth Yeah I think that first song is still hitting haha. Do I want to listen to more of this album, though? It's good but unremarkable, maybe the most mid an album can be? Like there's stuff that is catchy but it falls out of my brain the moment it switches to the next song. There's no heart in it. It's a 60's mod pop style experiment. It's parody. Maybe I'm just tired today, but I'm getting less into this album the more I think about it and the more it plays on. Wow, now it's making my blood boil! I may need to revise this rating later when I am less temperamental.

Cool as hell that they have a horse in their band. Get To You > Tribal Gathering > Change Is Now > Artificial Energy > Draft Morning > Old John Robertson > Dolphin's Smile > Goin Back > Wasn't Born to Follow > Space Odyssey > Natural Harmony Gonna keep being a stinker in my ratings haha. If you're telling me I need to hear this fifth Byrds album before I die, before I have lived a full life of experiencing all the beautiful art the world has to offer, I'm gonna shrug a bit! Some nice stuff and some silly stuff, glad I listened to it. Perfectly fine. It's a 2.

Police occupy that same place in my brain as U2 where I think they’re largely understood to be pretty lame but have some bangers. Bono and Sting same brand of weird cringe guys. I dunno, they’re both more talented than I’ll ever be so I shouldn’t really judge. I think I like U2 more, but this first song hitting HARD. Wow. Okay I’m strapped in let’s see what the Police have for me and what kind of star-rating number between 1 and 5 they can pull out of me. King of Pain > Synchronicity I > Synchronicity II > Wrapped Around Your Finger > Walking In Your Footsteps > O My God > Murder by Numbers > Every Breath You Take > Miss Gradenko > Tea in the Sahara > Mother > “Hey mighty brontosaurus! Don’t u have a lesson for us?” Hahahaha what. Yeah this is fine. Very adult contemporary radio. Nothing too offensive. King of Pain and the two “Synchronicity” tracks are pretty great, but not doing enough to pull the overall album experience up to a 3.

I had an ex girlfriend who had a saying, that was maybe sort of mean but she thought it was nice, which was "Cute for someone" meaning hey this person is not attractive to me but I'm sure could be for someone. That's kind of how I feel about Orbital 2. It's a 5 for someone!

Horrible

There is other reggae stuff I have historically liked more than Bob. He's always felt a little cringey to me, but that's probably because of the "college poster" crowd embracing his whole thing so emphatically. Bob Marley has always felt very "hacky-sack" to me, but no no no, he does not sing about hacky-sacks. In a vacuum, it's good. Groovy and funky, not outstanding. Had a perfectly nice time listening to this.

Sonic Youth are something special

I don't really get Elton John's thing, if I'm being honest. I don't know if I have ever really understood his thing. He's in a similar bucket to Billy Joel for me... I can tell he is beloved and people love his stuff but save for a few specific songs (CROCODILE ROCK!!!) I don't really hear what people are hearing. Sure, Tiny Dancer is catchy. The piano playing is very good. But... overall... the lyrics and music sound like the songs are intended for a mediocre musical in which I don't know the story. Maybe someday I will get it, but today was not that day and this album did nothing for me.

It's a 5 for somebody

Cool and good