My 1001 Albums Journey

Album	You	Global	Diff
Tank Battles Dagmar Krause	5	2.13	+2.87
Locust Abortion Technician Butthole Surfers	5	2.39	+2.61
Playing With Fire Spacemen 3	5	2.55	+2.45
Chelsea Girl Nico	5	2.63	+2.37
Shalimar Rahul Dev Burman	5	2.65	+2.35
Atomizer Big Black	5	2.73	+2.27
Lam Toro Baaba Maal	5	2.73	+2.27
One World John Martyn	5	2.81	+2.19
Mask Bauhaus	5	2.85	+2.15
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret Soft Cell	5	2.87	+2.13

Album	You	Global	Diff
Bad Michael Jackson	1	3.81	-2.81
Dookie Green Day	1	3.79	-2.79
(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd) Lynyrd Skynyrd	1	3.74	-2.74
The Cars The Cars	1	3.66	-2.66
After The Gold Rush Neil Young	1	3.62	-2.62
Maggot Brain Funkadelic	1	3.6	-2.6
Definitely Maybe Oasis	1	3.53	-2.53
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music Ray Charles	1	3.5	-2.5
The Suburbs Arcade Fire	1	3.49	-2.49
Diamond Life Sade	1	3.46	-2.46

Artist	Albums	Average
Kraftwerk	2	5
Aretha Franklin	2	5
Kate Bush	2	5
Beatles	3	4.33

Artist	Albums	Average
Kings of Leon	2	1
Oasis	2	1.5
Megadeth	2	1.5
Arcade Fire	2	1.5
Neil Young	2	1.5
The Rolling Stones	3	2

Artist	Ratings
The Who	4, 5, 1
Metallica	5, 2, 1
Willie Nelson	2, 5
The Doors	3, 2, 5

Electric Light Orchestra

4/5

Prologue: This was selected as my first album out of 1001, although I have the book and have done some random picking / listening / discovering before. I totally understand people who love this album. I totally understand people who hate this album. I'm not sure to which group I belong to though. Elo is not so familiar to me (not even blue sky, I am sure I've heard it...vaguely), overproduced aor (i wouldn't call this progressive rock) isn't my beef. But damn the production is magnificent. Too magnificent perhaps? I can hear the influences, but also can here ELO in so many things that have come later, from Daft Punk to Divine Comedy to Quincy Jones productions and hoards of indie and electronic musicians of today. I don't care so much about the more or less traditional, basic rock songs which have been over-ornamented, but there are beautiful melodies and interesting song structures, some of which almost get hidden under the production, some of which would probably sound lame without the production. As someone mentioned here, the Concerto as a sort of minialbum in the middle is a masterpiece, have to agree on that. Epilogue: In the end, would I buy it? Probably in a good enough condition from a discount bin. How often would I listen to it? Maybe once in 10 years. From the year 1977 I'd choose 10-20 punk records over this one. But it remains still quite an amazing gesamstkunstwerk. So I'll settle in a 4.

Surrealistic Pillow

Jefferson Airplane

4/5

2/1001 I actually used to own this back in the early 90s, I don't remember if I sold it, gave it away or did it just vanish, as seems to happen to some LPs. Of course some of these tunes (white rabbit & someone to love especially) play more or less regularly ubiquitously. So anyhow this listen was a nice reminder as a whole. Actually there are many things here I've come to love over the years - acoustic folk guitaring especially. But for that I rather turn to British folk, mcCarthy, Jansch et al, Graham, etc. And If I need a soundtrack od the Pyschedelic era, the summer of love, California hippie scene, there are excellent compilations which gather all the hits (and yes, they probably include the two mentioned ones from this album). So nothing really wrong here, of course - like so many other bands and records from the same area / era - it hasn't aged so well, but still it is varied and interesting and full of great tunes, but it is not for me, not anymore. My favourite LP dig from Haight-Ashbury area is a record for training your parakeet to say sentences. The image - no matter how inaccurate it may be - of hippies stoned and listening to 20 minutes of monotonous voice speking "hello budgie" over and over again makes me smile more than any late 1960's pop record ever can. Happy to say that record is now in Finland at the Arctic circle, I'll set up a listen any time you might pop around. But for the White Rabbit alone a 4.

Urban Hymns

The Verve

4/5

8/1001. Ok amd rhe review I wrote got lost great. To cut the story short: heard? Check? Own? Maybe. Listened to in 20 years? No. Enjoyable album which has been obscured by the Bittersweet megahit, which must be in top 10 (5?) songs from the 90s. It's story of Rolling stones stealing "This May Be the Last Time,” from the Staple Singers and then getting pissed that the Verve used too much the sample from "Last time" and claiming 100% writer rights still makes me laugh and feel sorry for the Stones. Glad to hear that since 2019(!) Ashcroft has been returned the rights. Come on, one sample - although it makes most of the song, but it is really like claiming that our album cover had yellow init and now you are using it. After listening ro this now it feels a tad too long (cd era, let's put everything in it, and I never got too fond of Brit pop, and it is not so dreamy, spacey and druggy as the Spiritualized (it must be included in 1001 albums, right?), but more than Oasis so 4 stars.

Tidal

Fiona Apple

2/5

3/1001. I listened to this twice with about a week delay, the 2nd listen since I thought perhaps I didn't pay enough attention to the music or something. But no, this music doesn't speak to me. Somehow it sounds like a 17-year old who wants to tell her life story, cry her heart out, but there is not much to tell yet. Nothing too wrong about the music, but the songs roll out one after other without too much variation. I suppose she was one to start or at least to establish a genre, but the ones who came after really mastered it (perhaps her later albums as well). Nevertheless imho a surprisong pick for 1001 albums.

A Girl Called Dusty

Dusty Springfield

4/5

Who else sang like this in the U.K / Europe in 1964? Ok, Lulu's Shout appeared a month later from the release of this, and then there was Cilla a bit later... But anyway Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien has to be seen as the pioneer, inspiration and role model to so much to what happened in the mid 60s in the whole Europe, be it yé-yé, schlager in Germany, Finland or France and even the Eurovision song contest. The Merseybeat did one thing, this one another. Then again the question is why this album in this list? A few years later Look of Love, Dusty in Memphis... songs written for her or songs made immortal by her... Here we are looking at a beginning, an interesting beginning, but shouldn't this type of collection concentrate on the madterpieces? Or then name the book 1001 records which changed the world. If they could find that many. For me it was a nice chance to get to know some Dusty songs which are not in the classic albums or in the collections.

Synchronicity

The Police

3/5

10/1001. confession #1: i'm an 80s fan boy. Confession #2: I've nevee listened to a full Police album. The hits have turned me away, and what a lost it seems, at least I felt that during the first few songs. But more the album went on the more I was ok with initial confession #2. There was a sense of a story - a dramtatic curve in the beginning (almost like a pop proge album) which faded away. Ok, so that's not what an album must need, right? But somehow while many of the non-hits were interesting they are overshadowed by the hits. And at least I have become so comfortably numb (yes i know a pink floyd not a police quote) to the hit(s) that they feel like every breath or daily bread.

In Utero

Nirvana

4/5

12/1001. What do you get when an angry and depressed band gets world famous, pushed and pulled around? Add a bit of drugs to the mixture and they get angrier and more depressed, and it shows here. So for me this album is a diary of what was happening at that time to Nirvana / Cobain. Somehow I can't imagine what would have happened after this if what happened didn't happen with the band? Cobain sobered out, grunge craze gone by, next big thing in everyone's cd-walkmans — would they have mellowed out, wrote more savvy, still a bit grungy songs a la the Foo Fighters? Would the world have wanted that? And does this make this album better because of that improbable future never happened? The album is honest, with great songs and amazing energy and rawness, but I don't really feel too comfortable reading or listening to someone's private life splattered over 12 songs. I liked Bleach when it came out and Nevermind was out of this world, and this album reminds us that Grunge Lives Matter.

(What's The Story) Morning Glory

Oasis

2/5

13/1001. Guess I have to listen to a complete Oasis album. Wankers wanking with their guitars, and then putting up immortal classics is a tough mixture for me. I'm slowly realising this book seems to like electric guitars, and western pop way more than what my personal preferences are. But there is no similar website for the 1000 recordings you must hear before you die… So what to say. Most of the songs for me are boring and bland and the attitude is obnoxious. But Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger are undisputed classics to be ruined time and again in campfires around the world. A 2 for that.

Playing With Fire

Spacemen 3

5/5

14/1001. After some grunge and brit pop it is so refreshing to hear guitars used for something creative :) It takes quite a lot of courage to strip down to so much, to remove chord progressions, riffs and what not. Many seem to claim they could do it, but I really do doubt it, at least on this level. The songs undulate, grow, fade away and (some) contain beautiful melodies. I'm a fan of the Spiritualized, in knew about Spacemen 3, but never listened to them too much. The meditative / religious themes seem to stem already from here. Have to dig in deeper after this :) If you open your mind a bit and think that music can also be about texture and tone rather than about Pop tunes crafted in an A B A or some other format this is for you. After all this I feel even more sad Spiritualized cancelled their show in 2023 for Epäjohdonmukaisten tanssiaiset.

Blue

Joni Mitchell

5/5

Simple yet complex. Delicate yet powerful. Quirky, sad, joyful, blue. I don’t know how this much of everything is possible to put in one album, but here it is.

Stripped

Christina Aguilera

1/5

5/1001 This is the first time I listened to a full album of Aguilera. But hey, we all have to test our limits someday. It is worrying and troubling that a singer / star of such proprtion has to convince herself that she is good and shouldn't be looked down upon. What does that mean to an average 13-year old trying to survive in the pressure of today's surface-is-what-counts-world? The music is so pathetic as well, how much pain does she really hold inside? Or is it just a big performance of something totally empty inside? Do I smell Mickey Mouse club here? While I am sure this speaks to millions out there it left me more wondering than admiring. And yes, I do own quite a many R&B albums. Beautiful stuff here and there, awesome production, but when this doesn't speak to me then it doesn't. I am sort of sorry to say I am glad I don't have to listen to another album of her again.

Imagine

John Lennon

3/5

15/1001. A familiar album from my childhood, but still some songs seemed quite unfamiliar. Besides the title there are some other classics here as well, Jealous Guy being my favourite. I was quite surprised how boring and similar some of the songs were, to be considered such a classic. Also the honesty Lennon wanted to bring in to his lyrics doesn't make the listener at home. First he sings the most universally know anthem about people living together in peace and then goes about trashing McCartney. That just doesn't feel right. Or Yoko again. I mean I like Yoko's stuff, perhaps more than Lennon's solo efforts, her music in all its naivete is much more interesting than Lennon in the 70s, sorry to say. But of course an anthem is an anthem, and there are not many people in the world who have been able to produce so many of them.

Doolittle

Pixies

4/5

16/1001. I was never a big Pixies fan, although their music and style was exactly what I listened to at a certain time, before and around grunge broke off. They were in my radar and I remember watching their live concert on Finnish TV (now that's revolutionary considering late 80's early 90s Finland and pop/rock music in national channels). After all these years listening to this reveals it has aged quite well, it is varied, interesting, full of energy and sprinkled humour. Melodic and harsh one after other, sometimes even simultaneously, quite an accomplishment. 15 songs totally felt much more than 38 minutes, perhaps a song or two made my mind wondering about, but focus was re-grabbed soon. A second or third listen will surely liven up those songs as well. If I would have to recommend someone an alt/rock album this might be it, although I am more of a sonic youth fan (perhaps that's post rock then?). 4/5, I'm stripping one star, since this really is not my type of music anymore, and replaying or digging deeper is not very likely.

Take Me Apart

Kelela

3/5

17/1001. An R& B Björk? Interesting? The album start is promising, the electronic production is great, her voice of course as well. But the atmosphere, mood, the energy level stay the same throughout the record. It feels there is no real songwriting? Her voice goes up and down, repeating the same-ish melodies over and over. Thanks for 1001 project for introducing this artist, something to keep an eye open for sure.

Nilsson Schmilsson

Harry Nilsson

4/5

18/1001. One more album I had in the shelf. But this one was in my "b-pile" for some reason. So a quote "Well now that I heard the whole thing it is actually quite good. Should we listen to it again?" fits. There are songs I recognized but would never have attributed to Nilsson. Coconut - I'm sure was in the Muppet show (they always had the best songs, right ;)? Without you, really written by him? Great. And to balance that you the have boring "I want to be like the Beatles after they broke up stuff" like Let the good times roll. Come on, who needs yet another song like that? Some of the echoes of the fab four or even similarities with the Mael brothers sprinkled here and there along with the epic Coconut and some quirky production lifts this back to my main LP shelf :)

Savane

Ali Farka Touré

5/5

19/1001. The first "world" music album to my list, which goes to show the bias of the book. Would be lovely to do a 1001 African albums you must hear before you die…or Asian, Caribbean or Brazilian. Oh, I'm sure we get some here, but this album alone is worth reminding that there is great music everywhere, and listening outside your typical Pitchfork/Rolling Stones/1001 selection can be an elevating experience. So I'm realising sadly, that the majority of this book and the project won't be about discovery but flogging on more or less dead (race) horses. I'm sure nice and new (to me) music to be discovered over there as well, but… I've listened to Ali Farka Touré before, and the newer "Sahara blues" acts. (And of course Mulatu and basically the whole Ethiopiques collection, to South African Kwaito and more contemporary urban rhythms not to mention Tony Allen, Fela Kuti and many other Afro beat / Funk acts, compilations, online bootlegs. Analog Africa anyone?) This one not, but definitely will again. Such skill to craft hypnotic tunes from a few notes, with authenticity, feeling, passion, evident sense of death coming upon the maker. I hope I keep getting albums like this (anywhere in the world) to be listened to during the next 1070 or so albums (I just came to understand there is more than 1001 on this list!, cheaters :D)

Paul Simon

4/5

5 (or 6?)/1001. I used to own two LP copies of this one, the other one I probably got either from my mom or sister, and the other I bought because I remembered how good this was, not remembering I already owned it. For me this is an album one can put on any time there is a moment not to know what to play. It sounds really good on the background, but perhaps now giving a dedicated listen reveals a bit of inconsistency or I don't know what, something missing?. The songs are strong and musicians great, and I still love it. There are some albums between this and Graceland which I've never heard (not to mention stuff after that one), so perhaps I will dig into those at some point.

Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

Lucinda Williams

2/5

7/1001. Many of my friends have said that recently they listen to mostly country music. Well screw them! ;) Ok, jokes aside. As a matter of fact I do own one Lucinda Williams cd, her voice is great and songs are simple enough. But thats maybe the problem - too simple songs – for me nothing really stands out here, and to call this album a masterpiece, or that it should be included in the list of albums one should hear before they die is just too much for my musical taste. Mellow and smooth and sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but hey, so are millions of other albums as well. Blame me for not understanding country & western and I'll go drink one for you. When I get to Inari I don't think I miss this record that much. Or even remember any of its songs.

It's A Shame About Ray

The Lemonheads

2/5

11/1001. Should this list be more like 1001 similar albums? Maybe not too fair, but for me this album is here because a) the book is getting old, and b) someone was a fan of brit pop back then. Back in the 90s this was ok, I guess, and in 2025 this album doesn't really qualify even for that. It's perhaps a nice document of an era which came and went, nothing everlasting for me in this album. I agree the best tune is the cover of Simon & Garfunkel, and who gets the credit for that? It's a shame about Lemonheads.

Come Away With Me

Norah Jones

2/5

20/1001, and catched up missed albums (although this is bound to happen hundrerds of times). I haven't really paid too much attention to Norah Jones, I think my sister liked her quite a bit, but that's about it. The initial reaction was: I love this. Then: is this a Christmas album? Then: are all the songs the same? Then: how to rate it? Then: when does it end? So from 5 to…2 I think. I don't know why I would listen to it again, the mood stays the same throughout the record, there are no standouts, it feels to made for the foreground, headphones didn't really reveal anything new. A few sassy but jazzy tunes here and there please, lift the tempo up, change instrumentation… Come away where? Sorry, but no thanks.

Under Construction

Missy Elliott

4/5

Wow, I really must listen to rap/hiphop more, if it is this good. Soulful, uncompromising (but sort of apologizing with all the spoken stuff?), fun and funny, groovy, nasty, varied, and it is always great when the n- or b-word count is in reasonable limits. This became one of my favourite albums of the genre, but have to admit, that my knowledge of the genre is quite limited — it basically consists of the hits, old school, some of the stuff of some of the well known acts and some local (Finnish) stuff. Maybe more than many, but nothing to brag about. Sure there are more gems out there, let's keep diggin. 4 for now, perhaps after a few listens a fiver?

Morrison Hotel

The Doors

3/5

22/1001 ( I think). I am not a huge Doors fan, but heard the albums a few times, some of them more, and of course the hits keep playing over and over and over. This album is not in my top Doors list, mostly bluesy, basic rock with an attitude and a few good songs. Favourites: Peace Frog and Waiting for the Sun. Actually the more the songs step outside the blues norm the more they are interesting. A solid 3 for me.

Sister

Sonic Youth

4/5

23/1001. Third album from my shelf, and I think the first band I've sen live (missed Nirvana in LA in 1991 and in Finland a few years later...) For some reason I tend to always pick Goo, Dirty or Daydeam Nation if I want to listen to SY. I don't really know why, this is a solid sonic youth album which sounds like the sonic youth. Perhaps that is also a bit of an issue: no songs really stand out. But still I love the bands sound with alternative tuned guitars screeching out and in the middle of the noise beautiful melodies suddenly pop out. Gotta love them.

Gorillaz

4/5

24/1001. Hmmm, I might own a library sale cd copy of this? Anyway I hadn't really LISTENED to thw album before...many songs seem groovy, the sound is nice and funky, featuring artists bring a lot in, and the songs have interesting details in the background, but still overall feel is too lazy, like an album which is made stoned. I hope they had continued the virtual only band, they were really pioneering the thing and now you would have so many possibilities with virtual productions, motion detection, Fortnite concerts and what not. But hey, a Jim Henson award for creativity and a guinness world record!

Fred Neil

3/5

25/1001. I don't think I've heard about Fred Neil before. I thought this was his debut, but seems like rhe 2nd album. A bit blueay and more folky, psychedelic influences are there, hip and beat vibes all around. I file this to the same category with Tim Buckley, also by rating: I don't mind listening to this, but it didn't really become an instant hit with me either. So a 3.

Antichrist Superstar

Marilyn Manson

2/5

26/1001. So I have to bury my prejudice and listen to the whole album, ignoring the misogynism, rapes, sadism? As a dj I stopped playing Michael Jackson after seeing Leaving Neverland, should I do the same here? Well I haven't played MM any time nor do I think I ever will. To blame him / band on school shootings is just stupid and childish, but to blame on violence, rape, torture is quite another issue. Somehow I feel rhe Finnish guitarist Andy McCoy's quote fitting here: "you have to watch out what you wish for, you might get it". To move to the music: yes, it is an angry album, which is partly due to the genre, but somehow close and personal and journal type of angry. To couple this with the brand of the band it is no surprise to see why this touches so many people (and might be misunderstood as a cause for violence in the weaker minds? Well I wouldn't blame it on one band, figure or a fictious character, try e.g. the news + commercials mindfuck done by TV). But it is at parts beautiful, the production remains interesting for most parts of the album with all nitty bitty details scattered to rhe left, right, up and down. I hear Reznor heavily here. Thumbs up always when mac text-to speech sounds are used. But everything is a bit too much, the energy levels, the voice, the length, the hate and anger. Not my genre by far but it was an interesting listen, but still a 2.

Black Sabbath

4/5

27/1001. I think I had this - or my sister had it, about 35 years ago… Anyway, most songs are familiar, since I also had tabs for the best of Sabbath and probably still would know most of them by heart on a guitar. The album must be considered a classic, basically it is one cornerstone in the history of metal. No blues scale really here but riffs and power chords. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece though, a few easy to forget songs here and there and some jamming. But the sound is tight as ever, 55 years and it sounds as fresh as an ancient graveyard after rain.

E.V.O.L.

Sonic Youth

4/5

28/1001. The first artist in my list to appear twice, just 5 days between this and the following album Sister, now in wrong order. But I don't mind, been a SY fan for 35 years or so. Interesting to see which albums will be featured in the 1001 list since I think they just kept getting better after these two quite early ones… even the newer albums are unique and continue their sonic experimentation, pop and rock songs, which mash up noise to beautiful melodies and create haunting spirit with an attitude. Evol contains a few excellent tunes, but for me how it comes out nowadays is how it documents all the base ingredients which later will be polished — and challenged — by the band: an introduction to their sonic palette, song writing style, and how they manage to turn a waterfall of mood/sound in to a quiet pond (or vice versa) in one single bear. As with Sister I had forgotten how good this was. I haven't played this that much, even though I have it on my shelf, but then again I don't think I will be playing it any more in the future. There is so much good Sonic Youth albums out there, the selection rarely lands on these two albums. And perhaps even with all the experimentation in sound, melodies, song structure, tunings, noise, you name it‚ the problem is that they still sound quite the same, same experimentations from album to album — at least they make me feel quite the same. (Which is an ok feeling if you didn't read it between the lines already). So no more or less than 4.

Rust In Peace

Megadeth

1/5

29/1001. Ok, I just listened to Black Sabbath's title album a few titles ago, I'm all set for metal. "Brother will kill brother" are the first lyrics I hear. omg. I'm sure there will be long solos and heavy riffs, slow and fast sections and lot of "my dick is bigger than yours and the world is dying, death will release us all, join me in hell fuck the news". And I'm halfway to the first song. So let's give it a spin and fill in later. My sister in law who is (also) a metal fan always says, that you have to ignore some of the cliches in any one music genre, and especially heavy metal, not let it disturb the music. BUT "They killed my wife and my baby, with hopes to enslave me", seriously, ROFLMAO!" Ignore that you muthas! Sorry to say, but from the first few riffs you know what the album is about. I didn't sign up for this to get back to the music I left behind already when I was a teenager…ok, maybe 16 or 17, but still.

Pet Sounds

The Beach Boys

3/5

30/1001. Was it random coincidence or does someone plan these? 2 days after Brian Wilson's death I get this on the plate. What to say? Well let's start with that I've seen the Beach Boys live! That was way back in 1991, at the Dodgers stadium in LA, and I can't say I enjoyed it, it was 4th of July celebration with Patriot missile style fireworks, you know after the Gulf war, which I hated. Didn't stand up for the national anthem (it wasn't my nation anyway). Ever since that year I spent there as an exchange student I've looked America with a crooked eye, what a waste to so much beauty and potential greatness it has become. Can't figure out why my sister wants to live there and stay there… But to the music, yes. I do own this cd, but for some reason the Beach boys always sound too beach for me. The unofficial bootlegs of Smile and the final release of Brian Wilson's Smile are great, (I don't think I have actually heard Smiley Smile?) but this one for me is more surf than turf. I'm sure more BB albums are coming up, perhaps some interesting ones. perhaps.

Cheap Thrills

Big Brother & The Holding Company

2/5

31/1001. Bluesy, hippy, raw and the one and only Janis. I already had Surrealistic Pillow on my turntable for this project, and I guess this — by geographic area and time at least — could be grouped together. But as Airplane was more varied in their songs, this one is about the ding-a-ling, and for me it just doesn't speak too much. Joplin's solo efforts were more interesting, and started exanding out of the hippie rock scene, but it seems every bit of cough she has ever produced has been put an a 14th extended-great-best-of-mega-box-special-edition collection, which kind of makes me go meh, (similar thing of course has happened to many others with similar fates, take Hendrix or Drake for example). But waiting for Pearl. 2

Like Water For Chocolate

Common

4/5

33/1001. Another new artist for me, and another positive surprise coming from hip-hop. Funky, soulful, witty... but seems to repeat what's good. In the end the songs blend one to another and not too many stand out. Definitely have to check out some more Common. In the end an album with lines like "From bashful to asshole to international" deserves nothing less than 4.

The Stone Roses

4/5

34/1001. Shoegaze meets britpop in this classic. Yes, I have it and yes it was important for me at a time ...and still manages to play nicely in most situations it seems (this time mostly in the car and with headphones). So much has been written about this album and the band and the long-waited sequel which I guess was a disappointment for everyone that it is hard to add anything relevant. Somehow this seems to fit right between a musical gap in the history of western pop & rock music, and that is probably the reason it is on this list (and on my shelf). Does this mean I love it? Well not immensely. But I like it.

Let's Stay Together

Al Green

3/5

35/1001. I love Al Green, but at the same time if this record didn't exist I'm sure I would not think there is something missing from the world. It comes and goes, mostly harmless.

Honky Tonk Masquerade

Joe Ely

2/5

36/1001. Unknown artist for me, and I can't really claim to be a country music afficionado. By the third song I think I have to get to know the artist and the genre better, but then Jericho drops the mood down, and it just keeps going down. A promising 4 turns to 2 as I walk by the railroad tracks towards the next album.

Jagged Little Pill

Alanis Morissette

3/5

32/1001. This probably is the soundtrack of mid 90's for many: the drum patterns, the guitars, the typography and graphic design, the videos, the voice. For me not so much, back then I more or less dissed anything that went top 10. I don't think I ever listened to the whole album before, the hits were pouring in and that was plenty. So, what is revealed after 30 years? Nothing that gets me excited about now either. Yes, some young energy and freshness is there, no fancy overproduced shite, pardon me stuff, like so much of today's music. Songwriting is at times great, I guess the hits are hits for a reason, although the chord progressions are nothing new. But somehow I can't get this out of 1995-96, ghosts of trip-hop drums and grunge guitars apart from the Spice Girls, who were much more fun and still raise a heck on the dance floor when played today. Somehow the album holds through, although I don't see a reason to listen to it again. Perhaps it is just the the amount of distorted guitars of 1995.

Django Django

5/5

37/1001. I started this project to encounter interesting artists like these, which I have missed for once reason or another. Back in 2012 I was probably to busy looking for cool cumbia, scouting through brazil bossa and beats, had a trip or two across african music plateaus, while re-re-visiting electronic 80s obscurities. So, I guess I missed quite a lot what was happening in the indie-/alternative-/ art music scene. Super duper nice that these kinds of things pop up here on this list as well: sonic exploration, adventures in digital production, retroesque harmony arrangements á la beach boys / Brian Wilson, stereolabish synth grooves, FourTet / Animal Collective sound collages, Tame Impala indie attitude... fun and interesting, I don't mind that song writing is rather simple or that perhaps too many hours have been spent on a computer to create these pieces. I want more!

Surfer Rosa

Pixies

3/5

38/1001. 2nd Pixies in this list so far, and I guess a few more to come. This one is more raw, and showcase a younger band perhaps still looking for it's place / songwriting style. That said it does sound very Pixies. But something in this doesn't speak to me that much, the songs aren't that good you know?

Revolver

Beatles

5/5

39/1001. First, and I'm sure not the last, Beatles album hear. And also this happens to be one of my favourites, familiar from my childhood, as mum lived through the Beatle-craze and owned two or three Beatle records (music was expensive back then!). And since they got rid of their record player I got to keep the vinyls :) btw, my grandparents hated "this trash" at that time, but I think they later changed their minds after hearing me listen to heavy metal ;) Anyway, another album full of classic songs only, and the sonic and production experimentation and eastern influences never feel additive. Somehow I think if the hippy movement had ever happened without this album. Taxman and I want to tell you also showcase Harrison's rising talent as a songwriter, which for whatever reason even Lennon & McCartney sometimes criticized (another Harrisong?). So all in all amazing album. Ok, I could live without Yellow Submarine, but for me this is Beatles at their bestles.

Nothing's Shocking

Jane's Addiction

5/5

40/1001. Another "yes I've had it for the last 35 years" albums. So what did this listening reveal? That at least the spotify version had extra song(s?) which just made the whole worse? Let's just ignore that. I got introduced to Jabe's Addiction in LA during my exchange year, but didn't manage to see any of their shows. Either they were sold out or at 18+ places. But they were happening there back then. And for some reason (drugs? Artistic disagreements?) they also lost it quite fast after Ritual de lo Habitual, which in 1990-91 was constantly on my turntable. But slowly this album has grown past it I think, hard to say, they are both great. They really know how to make more delicate and fragile sounding, slowly growing songs. But also the rock-funk-groove and energy is there, with a sound like no other. And after 30-35 years it still sounds fresh as fuck.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

David Bowie

2/5

41/1001. Own? Yes. Do I love it? No. I guess I have been buying Bowie albums since every good record collector and music appreciator does. But besides some good songs they are quite a drag to listen to, and this album is one example. I don't know how this repeatedly gets picked to top 100, 50 or even 10 lists, just because of Starman? The playing is lazy, the drummer sounds like he is almost late, the story is sas stupid as Bowies interest in pantomime... for me the highlight this time was It ain't easy - and that turned out to be a cover song. IMHO Bowie is way overrated.

Endtroducing.....

DJ Shadow

5/5

42/1001. Own? Yes (a cd though, which kind of seems like a disgrace here). For me, a dj has always been a person, who spent their lives picking on LPs as depicted in the cover, and through that knows some kick ass music history, can introduce some crazy funky beats on top of familiar melodies you almost don't recognize anymore and spices it up with some speech samples. At least I'm like that as a dj :) I don't think mash-ups or bootlegs were yet a too hot thing when this came out, and while most of them are fun they present two of three top pop songs which fit together so nicely that they sound like another pop hit song. A totally different aesthetic is at play here. Crafting new songs out of samples which don't seem to belong together is a rare skill and DJ shadow is the master of it. I highly also recommend to search for the project where someone digged out all the original songs where the samples are from. Actually the word sample doesn't do proper justice here - song building blocks maybe? A classic, a milestone, adventure in modern recording for sure.

Highway 61 Revisited

Bob Dylan

3/5

43/1001. I guess this is the album when Dylan went electric to a huge disappointment to some folk purists. Well boo-hoo. I haven't listened to this one as a whole before - actually haven't listened to any Dylan too much - nor do I think I ever will (well if I finish this project I'm sure a few albums will pop up). But I never realized how punk he was. No wonder they called him an anarchist (in the U.K), "Give the anarchist a cigarette" -quote (especially sang by Chumbawamba) is a classic. But then, it is all about lyrics, isn't it? I don't tend to listen to lyrics too much when I listen to music - the music should speak to itself. Here the music is raw and rough (read: out of tune), which is great, but but still blues- / folk-based. Uncompromising. Boring, as is his voice. Screeching, blasting your ears with a harmonica (why?). Punk. Not much to love in these quite simple and too long songs wothout the lyrics? So mixed feelings here. I liked it more than the Bowie album I just reviewed though - no fake moonage sci-fi pantomime theatre here, but quite an assault, surprised that common people at that time bought it and loved it. But still a mixed 3.

To Pimp A Butterfly

Kendrick Lamar

4/5

44/1001. Own? Yes, although a library sale copy, which I probably played once. I think I got interested in this after hearing King Kunta in a street dance competition. Around the same time short docufeatures about this album (rap albums which shook the world of something like that) came out. But I think only now I listened to the whole piece concentrated. Or at least tried to concentrate - 1h 20 minutes is just too much to take in for this whitey. Not that any of it is bad, but is more really more in this case? Some thoughts : it has a lot of humour, Kendrick would make an excellent guest in the Muppet Show 😅 But at the same time the thing (not only the lyrics) is dead serious. Hard to find such an interesting mix of the two. The groove is there, the message is there, the little I understand as a cis European male. I don't get the use of the N, F or B words in rap music, shouldn't they spell out NFL or better yet NBA? :D

Bayou Country

Creedence Clearwater Revival

2/5

45/1001. Not all bands went to full psychdelic frenzy in the late 60's. Too bad. This was better than I thought, but as we say in Finnish "pessimisti ei pety".

Selling England By The Pound

Genesis

2/5

46/1001. First I thought it was fresh to hear some progressive rock, but somewhere before the middle all the riffs and changes and extwnded songs were just too much. If they comw up with something interesting one can be sure that they will change quickly in to something else and necer return. Meh.

Done By The Forces Of Nature

Jungle Brothers

4/5

47/1001. This name didn't really say too much beforehand. Perhaps should take a closer look. Tight stuff and good grooves, filling what ever missing links there might have been between funk and hip-hop. Towards the end of the album it got a bit repetitive for mw, and when the album started over it was clearly time to move on. But still a powerful bash of music.

Definitely Maybe

Oasis

1/5

48/1001. How come this album is on this list? It doesn't have any hits, the playing is lazy and the sound is boring, singers wank out their frustration to life.

Opus Dei

Laibach

4/5

50/1001. First I thought this is some joke, kind of like when Gregorians did cover versions of famous pop songs. Ok, this is not a joke, but there is definitely some very very dark humour at play herw. At least I hope there is. Well, of they did the soundtrack to Finnish film Iron Sky that proves this point. But a humor band or a joke album this is not. Beats every wanking brit pop album without question.

Licensed To Ill

Beastie Boys

2/5

49/1001. I used to own this a long time ago, and haven't probably listened to this in 30 years. While it has the raw energy of the youth I'm glad they changed from abnoxious teen party hip-hop band in to abnoxious adult I-don't-know-whats-gonna-happen-next -hip-hop band. Their delivery is as fun and crafted as their shouting and voices are annoying.

At Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash

5/5

51/1001. I am not a big fan of country music but Johnny Cash is an exception and this album is the best live album in the world, period. Anyone not agreeing with this should spend some time in their local prison and wait in vain for such a gig to happen. Love that it includes all the interruptions, booing to the prison staff, hickups and mistakes and stories. The atmosphere is thick with imprisoned joy and anger. I feel this could have lead to a riot.

Sign 'O' The Times

Prince

3/5

52/1001. I do own many Prince LPs, but for some reason have missed this. We'll the catalog is quite immense, right? And with that comes maybe the weakness - no matter how genius one might be, there is no way all the material can be great. For me the music sounds will crafted and I like the way he turns positive what ever limitations there are e.g. in the choice of instrumentation, and also that he doesn't want to let the listener gwt out too easily. But then the problem is that are there any hits, good tunes, memorable songs? Well some, but others just go in one war and out the other, the simplicity-complexity craft not fitting to your brain cells and their patterns. Which is also a positive thing: I'm sure you can listen to this album (as other Prince albums as well) over and over again and discover new things, new favorites, songs you didn't remember were in it. A 3 or 4? I think there will be more Prince here that I'm more familiar of, so only a three here - I didn't discover nothing new really about the man, the myth - the legend.

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

PJ Harvey

4/5

53/1001. I think this was the first PJ Harvey album I didn't buy, and first listen didn't revwal much. However, throughout the years this has grown on me an almost on par with the her other classics. But you know some albums mean more to you because they were THE albums at the time, and these newer ones can never reach that something. So I'm waiting for Bring You My Love and Rid Of Me...meanwhile a steong four. Beautiful but indie. Her voice is amazing, fuck Courtney Love.

Spiderland

Slint

5/5

54/1001. I had no idea what this band or music is about. First few bars remind me of Tortoise, then after the distortion kicks in it feels like a missing link between hard-core and grunge and the American post- rock a la Tortoise et al. And sure enough, reading the band's history, the breadcrumb trail leads from hc to Tortoise. I didn't know this missing link but am glad that it popped up here. There is always new to learn about artists and albums around one's favourite artists, one reason I am doing this project. Meditative, raw, surprising, beautiful, simple, complex, well tuned guitars with new strings creating interesting intervals and harmonies with the bass, Pärt of pop suddenly torn to shreds... I love it when music is all these at the same time. Millions of people claiming this is simple and "I could do it without trying" have no clue (and I'm sure they wet their pants over a Nirvana or Ramones record).

Raising Hell

Run-D.M.C.

4/5

55/1001. Golden age of hip-hop, classic album, greatest hits of the 80s in this genre. Keep it real and minimal, not illin'

Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room

Dwight Yoakam

1/5

56/1001. The story so far: we need more hip-hop and less country.

Low

David Bowie

3/5

57/1001. 2nd Bowie in this list and for the three first songs I thought it was Bowie at his lowest. If avant-garde is synonymous to boring, uninteresting songwriting, songs that are not more than demos, count me out. Thank god Sound and Vision saved that thought, for a moment. Around about the B-side (stupid Spotify doesn’t let me flip the album) the music began to be interesting again, which I credit more to Eno than Bowie — this might be a wrong thought but perhaps not far from the truth (which is: David Bowie alone is super boring). Well, according to wikipedia: ”Eno arrived after the backing tracks for side one were "essentially" finished.” So, for that and Sound and vision, a 3

Nowhere

Ride

2/5

58/1001. I think I used to own it. But haven't missed it if I sold it. I also recommend listening to only the original LP length, which is 8 songs. That is probably enough shoegaze for mid 2020's for a while. 2 for the nostalgia.

Head Hunters

Herbie Hancock

5/5

59/1001. The first Jazz album on this list for me so far, which I hope tells more about the random algorithm which picks the play order, than how much jazz actually is included to the book. C'mon, I've listened to 5,9% of the project already! I'm sure Jazz consistency in the top 1001 albums is at least 14,7%! This said, I can't claim to be a big jazz fan or afficionado, but groovy, funky jazz is just the greatest thing after pickled herrings. And this one also happens to be an album which I own and love. Herbie Hancock is one of the giants, also later merging jazzy stuff to sampling, beats, creating a huge part of the electronic sound of eighties. Here the various synthesizers and their possibilities in combination with more traditional instruments and some kick ass percussion are explored to create an irresistable jazz-funk groove, be it original compositions or a fresh arrangement of old Hancock classic (Watermelon Man). Mindblowing stuff, the importance and greatness of this album only grows over time. Glad also to notice the year the album was made, good vintage (I might be biased about that though).

Pyromania

Def Leppard

1/5

60/1001. File under hard rock. I don't know a situation where I would voluntary listen to this album. Wait a minute, I just did? What was the purpose of this project: to expand musical horizons, to go out of one's comfort zone? Was it worth it? No, not really.

Odelay

Beck

5/5

61/1001. After sauna grillaamista (barbecue), next to the outdoor fireplace which is falling apart, made out of an unused concrete well ring (tai mitä vittuja kaivonrenkaat englanniksi ovatkaan), sun is shining even though it is near midnight (yay Inari!), Beck's Odelay is playing. What a time to be alive!

Hybrid Theory

Linkin Park

2/5

62/1001. Based on my idea and empirical in-the-field test I let chatgpt write this review: We listened to Hybrid Theory while frantically searching for a toilet for our son, who was in the throes of a full-blown poop crisis. As the album raged on, so did the urgency. The tension built track by track – One Step Closer indeed – but when we finally reached the bathroom, the anticipated catharsis refused to come. Much like our son’s bowels, the album struggled to deliver. Loud, angsty, and emotionally overwrought, Hybrid Theory blends rap, metal, and teen turmoil into a sonic hybrid that often feels more engineered than sincere. As a musical experiment, it fuses emotional intensity with the slick, compressed production of early-2000s nu-metal – not always successfully. In the end, this odd combination of parental panic, gastrointestinal suspense, and sonic angst is the only hybrid theory I truly found in the album.

Safe As Milk

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band

3/5

63/1001. While I am a big fan of experimental music, and have been listening to Beefheart albums for a long time, in Safe as Milk there is much still yet to emerge out from the traditional blues / rock / pop mold. Using weird instruments or funny (ok, you can call it everchanging) voice with mostly quite traditional song structures and chord progressions doesn't really make this much different from a comedy album. Better stuff to come, hope also in this list.

The La's

4/5

64/1001. File under "missed when it came out which is too bad I would have enjoyed it quite a lot sounds quite nice but it might be too late to fall in love with this band anymore definitely worth a few more listens sounds like Britpop of the 90s which it is rather than timeless I don't have anything against the bassist James Joyce's skills but I still prefer his books". Or did I write this kind of review already?

Ramones

5/5

65/1001. Repetitive. Repetitive. Repetitive. And the punk who I stole this line from, and gave a 1 couldn't even spell, so I must be right.

Debut

Björk

4/5

66/1001. Loved it when it came out, but now seems a bit aged. Hope more Björk to pop up.

Roger the Engineer

The Yardbirds

4/5

67/1001. Don't know too much about the Yardbirds except that Clapton, Page and Beck all were guitarists at some point, and that this is the album my sister had and we jammed along with it in the late 80's. Good feeling and quite a fun album for.mw then. Next.

Heroes to Zeros

The Beta Band

3/5

68/1001. Ahhh, The Beta band. There are bands (and albums) which sound super good and interesting, and when they are over, one forgets them instantly. This is what happens with me with the Beta band. Repeat listens might help, then again, should I bother?

Tommy

The Who

4/5

69/1001. We all love how the Who brought art and rock together as so called "rock operas" in concept albums. We all hate how the Who brought art and rock together as so called "rock operas" in concept albums. For me this one leans a bit more on the love side, it is 69 (year and my 69th generated album) after all. And I remember Tina Turner kick ass as the acid queen in the film version, plus they are calling my name. I might imagine buying this LP.

good kid, m.A.A.d city

Kendrick Lamar

3/5

70/1001. Another Lamar for me, tpab was first, so this is sort of in the wrong order. This definitely is an album that would need more listens. But the problem is that I don't really listen to this kind of music. Nor that I wouldn't want to, but there is just too much beyatch to get over.

Paranoid

Black Sabbath

5/5

71/1001. I guess this not a coincidence that the album is in my plate the day after Ozzy left us, or is it? A secret war pigs algorithm which puts forward recently deceased artists albums? What are the odds, same as the betting ratio between Iron man vs. Jack the Stripper? Is this a message from an electric funeral in a planet caravan? Hand of doom preparing some rat salad? I think I am paranoid.

Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches

Happy Mondays

3/5

72/1001. I saw the movie 24 hour party people and ecer since have tried to find a good, danceable, party song by the Happy Mondays, but never succeeded. Most of their stuff just floats around, which I guess is their thing. In the end it all feels mediocre.

Parallel Lines

Blondie

5/5

73/1001. There are those albums, which you love and own,but which you don’t listen that much. And then there are those, which you own and love and listen to over and over again. This is one of those latter albums.

The ArchAndroid

Janelle Monáe

5/5

74/1001. Before listening I had no idea what this was. After listening I have no idea what this was.

Let's Get Killed

David Holmes

2/5

75/1001. This I think I have, but I don't know why. The name keeps popping up and the sounds remind of an era but nothing seems to stand out. After half a day of listening I can't recall anything that was in it and don't want or need to go back.

You've Come a Long Way Baby

Fatboy Slim

3/5

76/1001. Is this album a lot of fun? - He'll yeah. Would you consider this to be one of the 1000 masterpieces of popular music? -...

Tank Battles

Dagmar Krause

5/5

77/1001. Used the YouTuble playlist. I'm a fan of weill/brech and this clearly falls in to the same category. I've xome across Krause in Willners superb Lost in the Stars album (also check out the September Songs movie!) compilation. To file this under agit pop or protest songs is a major mistake. The voice and the production is amazing, and the songwriting is great. 26 songs is a lot, but over all this collection of 1001 great album needs more divergence like this one.

The Poet

Bobby Womack

3/5

78/1001. To quote Hitchhiker's Guide to tje Galaxy: mostly harmless.

Emergency On Planet Earth

Jamiroquai

4/5

79/1001. I saw Jamiroquai about 25 years ago, back in 1999 in Helsinki. Red Hot Chili Peppers played the next day at the same place but we chose this gig instead (couldn't afford both as poor students you know). The gig was good and fun, but still I think that perhaps we should have picked RHCP. Well, it seems they are still in business so perhaps it's not too late... My favourite album from J-roquai is Synkronized, this one is a bit too Stevie Wonder pastusche. Well aren't they all? But good grooving and solid tunes.

Automatic For The People

R.E.M.

5/5

80/1001. Definitely my favourite R.E.M. album. I'm sure I haven't heard them all but enough to make this stand out from the others. I love the instrumentals, the slowly swirling low guitars which fit / complement Michael Stipe's voice perfectly, the minimalism, the droning synth and guitars. Excellent tunes all over, and even radio hits. Another one of those timeless albums for me which I can (and have done countless of times over about 30 years) put on and cjill.

Life's Too Good

The Sugarcubes

4/5

81/1001. Although Björk at some point was a sort of a goddess a la Kate Bush for me, I never digged too deep to her earlier production. Well Gling-glo yes and some sugarcubes, but they were not so interesting. Listening to Sugacubes debut arises mixed feelings: on the other hand it is energetic, on the other the music isn't too innovative. Björk's singing is an instrument on it's own, the comes Einar with his crappy output. I don't know if they wanted to create an unmatched pair for a reason, but that's what we hear. Our perhaps they all were to good friends to tell him not to sing. Or most likely just so punk that they wanted to have the shitty output and poor mixing as part of rhe show. Well it is raw and rough, and somehow part of the attraction of it - otherwise it sounds more dated than late 80's in general. But come on, looking back: the band was angry that all the media focused on Björk - well what the fuck else is there to focus on? 3 stars +1 for the supernova called Björk. Btw. i've performed on stage while Björk was in the audience at the Reykjavík city theatre (as a host, not as a musician). God damn you crazy s.l.a.t.u.r. people, or perhaps thanks for not telling me beforehand. I love you all.

16 Lovers Lane

The Go-Betweens

3/5

82/1001. Now I know where to turn to if I need slightly more obscure than average love songs, which sounds like a criticism, which is not true (necessarily). Looking from the bottom of the lake, the light still reaches this album, but it is a shitty place to listen to music.

Ellington at Newport

Duke Ellington

4/5

83/1001. The oldest album at least by a decade. Well they didn't really make albums innthe fifties, right? In the beginning the weird speeches interrupted the good mood and at some point I got bored, but then I put in the headphones and the band started to play for me. Crazy energy and vibes from 70 years ago. Some licks and talented musicians, the recording quality of a gig is what it is, it is 1956 for god's sake. I had some kind of extended version which started putting out some outtakes after the gig finished, and just had to stop. It was good enough already.

Pictures At An Exhibition

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

2/5

84/1001. "The album continues to evoke a highly divided reaction among critics." I think I used to own this and even listen to this. Now I don't really see why. A lot of the early electronic stuff is really boring — there are some interesting sonical experiment things done for sure in radio workshops and by some pioneers, with buchla and tapeloops and all sorts of weird machines, but using a moog to recreate classical music is nowadays imho was and is mistake. Sorry Walter / Wendy Carlos, sorry ELP. I guess this album has created highly divided reactions even within me. There is some groove going on at places and some beautiful moments, so a 2.

One World

John Martyn

5/5

85/1001. The following might include some hallucinations: "Hey chatgpt + music generator, can you create an imaginary artist? He should be a British folk singer/songwriter with a deep and rough voice, incorporates jazz and early electronic elements on his music a bit like pink floyd and progressive rock. I'd like to get a name, short bio and an album from the later part of 1970's" "What an interesting and inspiring combination. Let's create an experimental folk artist which takes folk music beyond Davy Graham, The Pentangle and John Fahey. The artist John Martyn started in the British folk scene in the 1960's, but after befriending BBC radio electronic experimentation lab people and listening to early American psychedelic rock, especially the more experimental section of it, quickly realised his true potential would be combining jazz and electronic music to more traditional folk tunes. His records from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s document the process very well. His masterpiece album "One World" from 1977 was hailed by the critics but failed commercially. Instead of glueing very different styles together, it singlehandedly seemed to define a whole new genre. The new version of ChatGPT can also generate this album for you, would you like to listen to it?" "Yes, please"

Music From The Penguin Cafe

Penguin Cafe Orchestra

5/5

86/1001. This album (and the band behind it) is a living proof that humans with penguin heads do exist and that they make interesting, odd but gentle music. I've known it for the last 30 years since I've owned this album and a few others, and cannot rate this lower than 5, otherwise the hatrded of these demigods will be upon us, they'll curse us, making us unable to incorporate ukuleles on pop / jazz / folk / rock / soul / easy listening music ever again (they will be allowed only on musical albums which contain sampled tape loops of telephone ringing tones).

Fishscale

Ghostface Killah

3/5

87/1001. Interesting. Starts up as a gangsta rap album with a very angry inside reporter from the drug scene, has soul / rnb love songs and skits about domestic violence and ends up with a very angry inside reporter from the drug scene. Wasn't boring to say the least, but as for me - the closest to a bar...was that ballet class? - I don't know if there is a place and time when and where this music would speak to me. Perhaps if and when I want to be evil.

Master Of Puppets

Metallica

5/5

88/1001. Megadeth - Metallica 1-5.

The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

5/5

89/1001. I wonder how all of the reviews do far have missed the point of this album, which of course is the undeniable fact that Morrissey & The Smiths foresaw and predicted Princess Diana's death and the message is hidden all over the place, in the cover, the group photo, the lyrics. Oh, and it apparently is also linked to the death of Jayne Mansfield as well. Here is some solid proof: - There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” and the Underpass: The song talks about a car crash with a loved one, and contains the line “darkened underpass” — eerily like the Alma Tunnel, where Princess Diana died. There is a Flame of Liberty memorial (a light that never goes out) above the crash site. The song was only ever released as a single in France, where the accident happened. - Cover Art & Film Links: The album cover shows actor Alain Delon in Le Passage, where his character dies in a car crash. It can also be connected to actress Jayne Mansfield’s fatal car crash: The character in the film lived from 1933-1961. Jayne Mansfield was born in 1933. Princess Diana was born in 1961. ... - Cemetry Gates: “Keats and Yeats are on your side / but you lose / because Wilde is on mine.” Oscar Wilde died in Paris, the same city where Diana passed away. - In the official lyrics that are printed with the vinyl edition of THE QUEEN IS DEAD, Morrissey's 13th word on Side 1 is "arches" and his 13th word on Side 2 is "smash." Diana will "smash" into the 13th of the "arches" formed by the pillars in an underpass. THEM WAS ROTTEN DAYS" is etched on Side 2 of THE QUEEN IS DEAD. It's a line from the film SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING. Princess Diana crashed twenty-five minutes after midnight on "SATURDAY NIGHT" and she died in the hospital at four o'clock on "SUNDAY MORNING." -In the film"No Place to Hide" A CD of THE QUEEN IS DEAD is handled in Building 31 while the soundtrack plays an unrelated song, EVERY LITTLE BIT OF MY HEART, whose title is listed in the closing credits directly after the words "Paris, France." Within three minutes of THE QUEEN IS DEAD and EVERY LITTLE BIT OF MY HEART, a woman's fatal car crash is shown. Diana, "queen of hearts" was killed in a car crash on August 31 ("Building 31") in Paris, France. Diana crashed while trying to hide from the paparazzi. The name of this film is NO PLACE TO HIDE. - In 2005, PETA presented the "Linda McCartney Memorial Award" to Morrissey. ... The first recipient ever of PETA'S "Linda McCartney Memorial Award" was actress Pamela Anderson. ... Pamela Anderson was born July 1. ... Princess Diana was born July 1. ... Before becoming a Princess, Diana's first official title was "Lady" Diana. ... Pamela Anderson was born on "Lady" Diana's birthday in "LadySmith." ... "Lady" Diana's death was foreshadowed on THE QUEEN IS DEAD by The "Smiths."... Pamela Anderson was born in 1967 on Lady Diana's birthday two days after the car crash that killed Jayne Mansfield. It goes on, read more at http://www.dianamystery.com/ Oh and the music?

Music Has The Right To Children

Boards of Canada

5/5

90/1001. Fourth day of bad / almost no sleep behind, listening to BoC feels like a plush toy in the already surreal mood. Pioneers(?) of the nowadays popular (?) loFi genre, mixing ambient with beats in an ever expaning sonic cinematic landscape. If music can paint it is an abstract Richter but in cooler colors.

Haut de gamme / Koweït, rive gauche

Koffi Olomide

3/5

91/1001. I'm surprised how little world music, especially African music, is on this list. I think this my 2nd album in both categories so far. (This also means that there hasn't been any Brazilian, Jamaican, Columbian, Cuban or any other Latin brilliance, no Indenesian / Balian music, no Siberian throat singing, no mysterious voices from Bulgaria, etc...at least yet). As far as this album goes, a few things: firstly, there always will be a new African superstar, who I've never heard of (and I've tried to listen to quite a lot of African music). Secondly almost all African music I hear is interesting: full of polyphonic melodies and rhythms, call and responses, groovy jamming and excellent musicians. Still, for me at least, Soukos, Highlife, Sungura and many other clean guitar picking music genres lack a sense of danger. The most well known artists kind of sound like they are tailored for western audiences, although that is probably not true. But this is what happened listening this album. I can imagine it being played at a world music festival with a culturally conscious, upper middle class whiteys drinking prosecco and dancing their fat and guilt off. Nothing wrong with that I guess? Groovy music - danger = 3

Fear Of Music

Talking Heads

5/5

92/1001. FEAR OF MUSIC is a green staircase to nowhere, rattling like a typewriter eating rain. Houses in motion? No — the houses breathe. The floorboards whisper, “I Zimbra” in zebra Morse code, while cities turn upside down to comb their hair. This record is not a record, it is a black rectangle filled with invisible giraffes dancing to the sound of boiled clocks. David Byrne’s voice? An umbrella that refuses to open. The bassline? A polite earthquake wearing silk pajamas. You don’t listen to Fear of Music — it listens to you, then nods and rearranges your furniture in alphabetical order.

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

The Flaming Lips

4/5

93/1001. I used to love this album, and there are still a few bangers. However, for some reason listening to this lately doesn't really seem interesting or important. The whole seems quite monotonous and slow, of course the few highlights (Yoshimi pt 1 and 2, Do you realize??) brighten it up. Somehow it is not surreal and dreamy enough, it's a bit too rock?

Floodland

Sisters Of Mercy

4/5

94/1001. The first goth album for me on this list? What took so long? But this one is a classic, although definitely "file under grandiose". Everything is dark and big and echoey and low and, well …gothic. But This Corrosion still rocks and can be played in the middle of any dj set. Well, perhaps not any, but it is a banger.

Neon Bible

Arcade Fire

2/5

95/1001. Never knew Arcade Fire too well (never bothered to listen to a full album that is), but it seems I didn't miss too much. A sort of a 1990s U2 of 2000s? And that is not a compliment. If this is Indie, I wonder what mainstream commercial rock / pop music is then, Coldplay?. For me this sounds bland, calculated, uninteresting, uninspired, dishonest… Nothing that would light my fire. Well, I didn't totally hate it, so 2.

Home Is Where The Music Is

Hugh Masekela

4/5

96/1001. Yes, I know. I've been ranting about more jazz and more Africa. Well here they fucking are. By the first two or three songs I was cursing myself. Where is Mulatu? But then slowly the album opens / opened. Some banger grooves march in. Some jamming, some exquisite orchestrations. Some non-western melodies, syncopation, rhythms. Luckily they fill the rest of the album. Not an instant classic for me, but I don't see reasons not to spin this time and again in the future decades to come.

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Arctic Monkeys

3/5

97/1001. I can clearly see how all the music press went crazy over the next sensation: the Arctic Monkeys - restoring rock ‘n’ roll, making music, great again, giving hope to guitar based music, going back to the basic, the next Strokes etc. And partly why not, it is fresh and has energy, it seems the band had fun, it is not overproduced etc. BUT (add your favourite thing why it also sucks). My kids seem still to love them and their later ouvre, and whenever they have played it I haven't had to squirmish in pain. I guess that count for something. Lastly, as a person living in the Arctic I am ever so grateful for the band for bringing the global focus to the North. Or was it climate change? Well maybe you are to blame about turning my city to a tourist hellhole for 5 months in the fall-winter-spring.

Metal Box

Public Image Ltd.

2/5

98/1001. How do you rate an album which is mostly uncompromising and which is mostly shit? 2, since is not total shit.

Rust Never Sleeps

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

2/5

99/1001. The story of Johnny Rotten: well i just ended up hating P.I.L's Metal Box in the last review. But I don't know about Neil Young, some people claim he's the profet and without him there wouldn't be any grunge and whatnot. For me this is not music to mildly hurt some for. So the same amount of stars as mr. Rotten.

L.A. Woman

The Doors

2/5

100/1001. What is new and refreshing about this album? ___________________. What is memorable, what makes it worth listening to the album as a whole a second time?____________________. What makes this album a masterpiece? __________________. You fill in the blanks, I didn't find them. If this was an average blues band I'd give them 3 stars. Now that this is a Doors album I have to subtract one, not that I hate them but I know they have more intersting stuff. But L.A. Woman and Riders on the Storm for me save it from a total bore. Basically again any song which is as far as possible from the basic blues formula makes Doors worth listening to.

The Suburbs

Arcade Fire

1/5

101/1001. 2nd AF album in a week? And as boring AF again. Come on, they play basic melodies with basic chords and chord progressions and then overlay some production values and orchestrations bought with a lot of $$$ and go out and have a no 1 in three countries on the week the album comes out. And that I guess defines indie rock nowadays.

All Things Must Pass

George Harrison

3/5

102/1001. Six sides of Harrisongs is a bit much. The anniversary and extended versions, which seem to be the only ones in Spotify add some more. But most of the stuff remain interesting, there are some surprises here and there, and some classics. Some of my favourite Beatles tunes are by Harrison, so I am more or less sold. But don't see myself listening through this whole in a while.

In The Court Of The Crimson King

King Crimson

5/5

# 103/1001. Words cannot really describe this album.

Physical Graffiti

Led Zeppelin

4/5

# 104/1001. I thought I was going to listen to some Led Zep, which I didn't know so well beforehand (I have I, II and III in my shelf) but turns out I knew every song, and most of them are still bangers. Apparently my distraction from rock and blues and boogiewookiehonkytonk diddidii hasn't distracted me from this teenage favourite. The length is long, yes, but the material stays great apart from a song or two (jammings etc in the D side), and the talent is there. So, well, it still rocks.

Hot Rats

Frank Zappa

2/5

#105 / 1001. Starts up with jazz, then goes to some Zappaesque craziness, then the rest sounds like an jam session where the players play out of sheet notes. Didn't really move me too much.

Chirping Crickets

Buddy Holly & The Crickets

2/5

#106/1001. 12 songs, 26 minutes. Is this the Ramones? Well, at least makes me understand the Ramones better. Glad to hear more stuff from the 50s, but where is Little Richard and Chuck Berry? I guess coming up later. This is quite a polished version of the raw power which was out there at that time.

Mask

Bauhaus

5/5

# 107/1001. Let's paint our face black and white and go pogoing to the graveyard! Goth music is underrated. Glad to see Bauhaus on this list. This album wasn't so familiar to me, probably just by chance we bought different albums back in the day and got stuck with them. Then insert 30 years of neglect and boom, this music still rules.

Searching For The Young Soul Rebels

Dexys Midnight Runners

3/5

#108/1001. This list has surprisingle little (so far) of rhe 80's. For me it was an inventive era, punk movement maybe died or turned in to hardcore, but it opened up the doors to so many kinds of styles, experimentations, new and old sounds, non-western influences, funk, soull, ska, folk... Era of massive proge and rock giants was over (and era of massive pop giants begun). Dexy's is known from a few songs, but other than that I assume most of their production os unknown for many not living in the U.K at that time. And perhaps to many who were there as well, there were so many things going on. After all, It is a decent album, but for me there is nothing in the whole which makes this a masterpiece. One nice Polaroid of the 80s.

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

4/5

#109/1001. More jazz and 2nd LP from tje fifties in this week. A refreshing change. Some nice unusual rhythm grooves, which they unfortunately break out of during most of the solos. Kind of white man's intellectual grooves? Take Five is of course the masterpiece here, which we learned about already in 5th or 6th grade. After catching my attention in the beginning I lost focus, which for me means the music failed to inspire through the whole. But for the excellent bits a four.

Peace Sells...But Who's Buying

Megadeth

2/5

#110/1001. Lets see, I gave 1 star for the first Megaderh that popped up here and this one gets 2. Will that trend continue? Highly unlikely.

Fun House

The Stooges

4/5

#111/1001. Lets hear it from the critics: "the worst album of the year” - Melody Maker. (The Stooges are) “so exquisitely horrible and down and out that they are the ultimate psychedelic rock band in 1970”. - Rolling Stone ”This group’s first album was nominated here as the worst record of 1969; the present one is merely lousy" - The American Record Guide "All I can hear is crude, repetitious, extremely dull material, no-talent instrumentalists and a pretentious, no-voice singer. The 10-minute ‘We Will Fall’, a constantly-repeated chant with some kind of mutterings by the lead singer (including several minutes of ‘goodbye’ at the end), is undoubtedly the worst rock track I have ever heard. In fact, I have little hesitation in nominating this as the worst album of the season."- The American Record Guide "The group has been practicing, because the instrumental playing is now a bit better than incom¬petent, but still there is not an original idea to be heard anywhere and so the tracks are uniformly monotonous." - The American Record Guide What else to add?

American Gothic

David Ackles

4/5

#112/1001. File under: singer/songwriters from the U.S which I haven't heard before, and perhaps should have, you know the kind of singer who tells stories, which unfortunately people nowadays have no time or interest to listen to with attention, just next to Bobby Russell, Harry Chapin, Tim Buckley, Fred Neil, Jimmy Webb and the like, some of whom I am sure I will still encounter or have already discovered on the 1001 albums project.

MTV Unplugged In New York

Nirvana

4/5

#113/1001. “Unplugged” Verse 1 Wooden strings, candle smoke, notes fall short, bend, choke. groan instead of climb, we follow the ache down. Chorus Groan it out, hurt is the song. Simple bones, bare not wrong. Verse 2 Bowie in a paper mask, Meat Puppets in a borrowed flask. Leadbelly digs through the floorboards, asking where vaseline has gone. Chorus Groan it out, hurt is the song. Simple bones, Fuzz is wrong. Bridge Silence rattles louder than the storm, pretty scars, too clean, too warm. What’s missing hides in the scream we never hear. Outro Groan it out, the beauty breaks. Groan it out, until nothing aches. With some help from good'ol chatgpt, I'm sure Kurt would have hated that.

Dry

PJ Harvey

5/5

#114/1001. I discovered PJ Harvey around Rid of Me and 50 ft Queenie on MTV Alternative Nation / 120 minutes somewhere around -92 or -93 I think. Then To Bring You My Love really blew me away, and I had to get her back catalogue (which by the way seem to be my most valuable vinyls nowadays since everyone around me was already bracing the cd world). Ok, it might be that the current collection contains a disc or two from my sister as she didn't want to take her vinyls overseas when she moved to the States. Anyway, for some reason Dry is the Record I have played the least, and now listening closely I don't know why. For me she is the perfect missing link between top of the pop Morrissettes and "I don't give shit" Riot grrrls, I think both of these extremes have dozens of clones, but there is only one PJH. The songwriting is clever, but mostly listener friendly, yet the sound is in no way polished or forgiving, if rhat is a fitting word here...i love the use of the strings, not to mellow out the tunes - exactly the opposite: distorted guitar sounds mellow compared to the staccatos here. Somehow the song mood changes are perfected on Bring You My Love, but they are present over here as well, making the album an exploration, a trip, which can be taken again and again, with something new revealed every time.

Songs For Swingin' Lovers!

Frank Sinatra

5/5

#115/1001. There is only one Frank Sinatra. Which is great, since if there was more, there would be way too much crooning and swinging. I was wondering what will be the oldest LP on this list (I think it is another Sinatra record) and meanwhile searched for a bit of LP format history. Turns out a Sinatra album was among the first LPs released as a batch in 1948 - although that album had been issued as a set of four 78 rpm discs earlier. This one at the table here is as far as I understood a collection of existing popular songs handpicked for Sinatra, who in turn made the definite standard classic and eternal versions out of so many. Individually they all shine, but something about rhe instrumentation, the delivery and the general swinging mood just repeats itself. Which I guess is a blessing more than a curse.

I Should Coco

Supergrass

4/5

#116/1001. Since rhe band really wants to know, here are some places the strange ones go to: - abandoned nuclear icebreaker harbours - Polish milk bars - Nightclubs where you can sing Karaoke - old water towers - nearly abandoned villages in Estonia countryside - sauna (often) - North of 70° - Russian war memorials - Under the Eiffel tower - Last bus home - Reindeer round-up places - Forest paths you shouldn't bike on with a bike - Old mining sites - Iceland, especially places where a hot river and a cold river meet to swim - Somewhere else than a Supergrass gig However, I can only tell from my experience. Nice pop alternative album from a band which doesn't take itself to seriously, always a pleasure to find an artist like that.

The Slim Shady LP

Eminem

2/5

#117/1001. It took me quite a bit to start not liking this album. Then not too long after to hate it. Or something in between. Seems like there is excellent humor, storytelling and production, but he just doesn't giiiveee aaa fuuuuccckkkkk, and decides to act and rap like a thirteen year old brat with a backwards cap and newly disovered fact that some words slap.

We Are Family

Sister Sledge

5/5

#118/1001. Well isn't this chic! Some time ago, I watched a three episode documentary about Nile Rodgers, and according to him he has defined and redefined most of the existing pop music from the 70s to this day. Well the list is quite impressive, but still... Anyways, I just realised when this album popped up that there hasn't been any disco yet in this list. Come on, it is 2025 and the disco sucks movement should be buried deep somewhere in the cis male subconscious so it will never surface again. What really is wrong with music which is created to enjoy our lives and music that you can dance to? More disco! And don't come complaining that so many of the disco records or artists have just one hit - there is already countless of of one-hit bands or albums which I have reviewed, and I'm only somewhere around 10% of the project so far. So how about a bit of celebration in your life, change those habits, turn hate to love, try dancing instead of saying you can't do it, have some fun instead of glooming in the corner (I know I did). Probably would give this a 3 or 4 otherwise but since we need more disco it is a 5.

Smokers Delight

Nightmares On Wax

3/5

#119/1001. Not counting DJ Shadow earlier I think this is the first instrumental album on this list for me, which makes me think does good music need lyrics? And if the answer is yes, how come they are 98% in English? Well, the album is full of good music, but perhaps it becomes a bit too mellow and chill and background since there are no singing melodies to listen to. I typically don't care too much about lyrics, but, well, we've learned music by singing, right? Something is missing kinda feeling, which doesn't happen with all instrumental music out there. But diggin the grooves and the retro lounge sleazefilm sounds, man... 2 and a half?

The Dark Side Of The Moon

Pink Floyd

5/5

#120/1001. My most fond memories of this album is as we tested out the hoo-haw theory that this album works as the audio track for the film Wizard of Oz. We had an improvised movie festival at a friends cottege. Some people had never seen the film, so they were more concerned what happens in the story (we replaced the original sound completely). There are some key moments, perhaps by accident, and I guess peoples’ minds are constructed in a way that we try to see patterns where no-one really planned them. If you want to try it out, check out where the image changes from black and white to color, or when the witch has a "Great Gig in the Sky". More recognised patterns can be found online. After the night of watching films we spent a few days at the cottage. Dark Side of the Moon was playing in a constant loop inside, ruining my Last.fm stats and oversaturating my meed to ever listen to it again. But that was 20+ years ago and the album sounds as classic as ever.

3 Feet High and Rising

De La Soul

5/5

#121/1001. What a fireworks for an album. I'm sure there is a Religion and a Church of De La Soul out there somewhere, where their lyrics, beats and samples are studied as meticulously as the Talmud. The Gospel of Good and the Bad and the Soul and the Hip Hop and Peace, the Da Inner Sound, Y’all. First time listening (?) to the whole album, these Inputs and Outputs of sound coupled together with the crate digging and humor by P.Paul and all make me understand much of the later and earlier music, potholes in the lawn accross the world. Classic.

Celebrity Skin

Hole

2/5

#122/1001. The album was playing on as I had a boating accident in my garden, failing to change my mood for the good or for the worse. Had to give it a second chance though. 2nd listen: solid playing, good production, ok songs, and music that just doesn't interest me at all.

Rubber Soul

Beatles

4/5

#123/1001. Browsing to find rhe original instead of the remastered version, I noticed I could have picked also Rubber Soul by "the Beatles complete version on Ukulele", the Doraemons' super sleazy lounge version complete with ooh-aah choirs and a whirling wurlitzer, a more recent tribute from a band called Rubber Soul, techno / experimental electronica version (which only seems to borrow the album and the song names) from Ruslan Barysiuk, a jazz version or a few acoustic / unplugged / strings versions (although in some of these songs were a bit here from there or not at least in the typical order). Actually as I was sampling these I thought I had struck on a country band version at What Goes On 😅. Also noticed that the original U.K. pressing seems to have a different song order from some later prints e.g. in the US. Nevertheless, any band's status as a legend is proportonional to the amount of cover bands and cover songs out there. I probably could comple most of the Beatles albums from Finnish cover versions, (in Finland we have been making bad and not so bad cover versions for a long long time, after the 80s it slowly - but not completely -faded away, a tradition, which we are proud/ashamed about (pick your preference)). So I decided not really talk too much about this album, you all know it right? I never actually owned this album so besides the hits and the other will known songs there are some tunes here which haven't worn out (if Beatles' songs can wear out). For me the next albums are much more important and interesting. This seems to dominate the 1001 list currently as the top album btw.

Your New Favourite Band

The Hives

3/5

#127/1001 (not Ministry, which was the 128th listened to). Ok, one of those bands again, who not only discovered rock and roll again, but most likely also saved it, at least if you believe UK and/or US press, at least I assume. But yes, they are fun, and come in with some good tunes, touring the "if a song is over 2 minutes it must be boring" kind of in your face garage mentality. There are a few bands in Finland at least as good as these ones, and perhaps comparisons to hundreds of other acts might be valid as well. So I'm sorry if I didn't become a convert.

Post Orgasmic Chill

Skunk Anansie

2/5

#124/1001. For some reason I get a lot of 90's grunge or post-grunge and rock based stuff in a row. (ok, also 2001). Well, what can I do. I can say that yes, she has a great voice, I remember them from Strange Days, most of the album is boring, next.

KE*A*H** (Psalm 69)

Ministry

2/5

#127/1001. I used to own this one as well, but it has gotten lost, stolen, or sold. Haven't really missed it, too metal for me even back then. Now Lard was fun! And Jesus built my hot rod as well. Otherwise it is just the same guitar sound, electronic drums and sound effects, processed et voice. I guess the band / Jourgensen has its place on the musical map, but I am reading a different map.

Moondance

Van Morrison

2/5

#125/1001. An album to chill out in the middle of grunge, metal, industrial and mod/garage rock. Didn't really know to much about Van Morrison beforehand, not a big name in Finland I guess. Will I knew the name and was expecting something like what was delivered. A few fun and surprising songs (the title song for example), somehow I felt his time had been and gone, he had done his share of influencing other artists, and the demand for this music or album is not really needed anymore. I didn't really like the mix either, many songs had instruments just above hearing threshold level, perhaps contributing to the sound, but somehow annoying to try to pick up if is there a piano or hammond there or not.might be worth a revisit, but somehow I feel more like this will be on the list. I prefer my singer-songwriters with a bit less honky tonk, thanks.

My Generation

The Who

5/5

#126/1001. My 2nd The Who album on this list, and I am sold. This doesn't sound aged at all, unlike Van Morrison which was on the plate yesterday. This is the first punk record perhaps? And what songs, harmonies, rough sound, tight playing and a nice bonus from the piano. I could have skipped the two Brown numbers, I guess some rubber soul was in the air in 1965, but good damn this is much more relevant and fresh and energetic music than the Beatles, at least in 1965.

Back In Black

AC/DC

2/5

#129/1001. Ränttätänttärokkenrollia, as we say in Finnish. I guess some consider this as a standard for which to compare other rock records. Well be my fucking guest. For some of the minimalism a 2.

At Mister Kelly's

Sarah Vaughan

4/5

#130/1001. Didn’t really get in to this album, don’t know why since Sarahbis on the top of Jazz singers and jazz is always a welcome change for all the guitar based macho scheisse on this list. Someone else said this is the only Vaughan album on the list? Wtf. For that alone the rationg goes up.

Survivor

Destiny's Child

2/5

#131/1001. For me, there is two kinds of rnb. Those, in which the singers yodel and squirm, and those, which I secretely love. I really wished this was the latter. But no. Ränkistelyä ja jolinaa. I loved the mash-up of bootylicious and smells like teen spirit, and I thing both songs are equally great. But for some reason it is not on this album. I’m pretty confident I will encoubter Beyonce solo albums on this list later on. Let’s review those masterpieces then.

Make Yourself

Incubus

1/5

#132/1001. I thought I already listened to the album but shit there is like 6 songs still. Really thought of skipping, but kind of promised I won't because I'm stupid and want to follow orders and please some wanking music journalists/ experts who put this (so far mostly either cliche classics or hit-of-this-year albums) book together. This one is clearly the latter, at least according to some critics who think it was an original (and good idea to put a dj scratching with a band, who sound like a lame version of Faith No More. Worth listening to before I die? Cmon.

Metallica

2/5

#133/1001....And Justice for all was the last Metallica album I was interested - and could play through the riffs with my guitar (probably still can, but that was about 35 years ago, so perhaps not so well). This does have undeniable classics, which I guess a) made them one of the biggest rock bands in the world or b) shows that they sold out or c) both. For me it doesn't really matter (nothing really matters, as long as you don't upload this album to Napster), since the hit songs wouldn't be something I'd listen to anymore, and the rest of the album is pretty mediocre.

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

5/5

#134/1001. I am not sure who put the ram in rama-lama-ding-dong, put my best guess would be Little Richard.

Hearts And Bones

Paul Simon

2/5

#135/1001. Paul Simon marries the 80s and it ends up in a divorce three years later in Graceland. Claims for divorce were grounded on the infidelity with at least 35 musicians who came and went for the album sessions, and at least as many techical personnel people - the 8 second engineers all wanted equal share claiming they were the true 2nd engineer, and bousting their superiority over the 5 additional engineers. More evidence were given by Art Garfunkel, and the court was unanimous in the judgement: mostly good and some okayish songs covered with 80s overproduction and confetti should be outlawed and mr. Simon should perhaps look for inspiration in world music, perhaps South Africa or something.

1989

Taylor Swift

2/5

#136/1001. I don't think I've never listened to a whole Swift album. Many friends with good musical taste have become swifties, so why not give it a fresh listen. But the 2nd or third song the pattern was more or less clear: too perfect pop songs meant for stadiums of swifties, or dancing at your home on a fake white oak-patterned floor holding an alcohol free bacardi mojito on your hand. The songs are so perfect there is no guessing how they will turn out and play, a feature I am sure millions of her fans expect and want. More danger please. I really tried, but this is not for me.

Brothers

The Black Keys

4/5

#137/1001. This was a new band to me. Alica keyes vs black eyed peas vs. Black sabbath / crowes or what? This could benefit from a second listen, and out of the many savers of rocknroll inevitably on this book/list for me sounds interesting enough, although everything is so retro it must have been planned meticulously. But I'm buying it!

Fisherman's Blues

The Waterboys

2/5

#140/1001. I don't know how many days it took to finish this album. It was a busy week, and I tried to sqeeze in a bit of waterboys every now and then. Still it seemed like ages when I finally had time to sit down and listen it to the end. Perhaps the music didn't really inspire either. Some quite basic celtic rock and some quite beautiful numbers. But I could have lived the rest of my life happily without listening to this.

Life Thru A Lens

Robbie Williams

3/5

#141/1001. I’m not a huge fan of overproduced pop, but something about this album managed to feel not so calculated. Most of the songs come and go, but then there are eternal classics. Actually just a few days later I played Let Me Entertain You on my dj gig - a bit late when most of the audience had gone, but I didn't see anyone not dancing out of those who had stayed. And that is pretty good if you think that the audience was art teachers and students - not perhaps the obvious pop loving audience.

The Man Machine

Kraftwerk

5/5

#139/1001. In the documentary film about Kraftwerk done music theorists claim that Kraftwerk has influenced contemporary music more than the Beatles. I totally buy that idea (although my predictive typing app doesn't agree): there were tens and hundreds of other guitar, bass, drums, singing combos, but only a tiny handful of electronic acts and perhaps Kraftwerk was the only one who could create pop tunes with this level of richness, detail, catching melodies, new sounds. Just look how much of the music today is based on electronic instruments and production. Go Techno! I hope there will be as many Kraftwerk albums on this list as Beatles albums, I own most of them (released after 1 and 2, that is) and all of them rule. Afrika Bambaata considered this to be the music of the future and space travel, and still this holds true.

Abraxas

Santana

5/5

#138/1001. All the Santana hits in one album? I didn't realize this was the case. I think I am only familiar eith couple other albums from some reason. But this rocks, the original superstar who brought Latin grooves to hippie consciousness and beyond. I'm also glad how the guitar master sometimes steps aside and let's the band shine.

If You're Feeling Sinister

Belle & Sebastian

2/5

#142/1001. I've always wanted to be a Belle and Sebastian fan, but they never adopted me.

The Soft Bulletin

The Flaming Lips

3/5

#143/1001. Sounds like another great Flaming Lips album. Sounds like the other ones, without the good songs in the other ones. But I was totally ok to play this again a few times. If I would have to remember any of the stuff later I couldn't.

Illmatic

Nas

2/5

#144/1001. The flow is great, the beats are good, the songs are copies each ither and the lyrics tell me nothing to me about my life.

Catch A Fire

Bob Marley & The Wailers

3/5

#145/1001. I used to not like reggae, then my friend got me in to it. Then slowly I started disliking it. Then another friend played Concrete Jungle (I think this version,.I tried to find it afterwards and there are lousy versing out there). After that I have understood that many genres have classics and bangers, but still most of the album doesn't speak to me. All this has averaged in this list to either 2 or 3. So yes, je regrette mon reggae phase.

Mothership Connection

Parliament

5/5

#146/1001. Good ol p-funk! Music like this should be more on this list, so we would do something else than just sit there. I knew couple of songs from some parliament/funkadelic collection, but never listened to this album as a whole. I'm glad I did before the funk hits the fan.

NEU! 75

Neu!

5/5

147/1001. Krautrock is still one of my favorite musical sausages, a bit hard to tell why since it is based on repetition - not many dishes, which consist of seemingly few ingredients can be eaten again and again. Maybe it is the local and fresh ingredients and the right spices here now and then. The taste is solid and doesn't become too monotonous. It can be consumed (both sides of a) plate after plate, without feeling that one is too much full. I have tasted Neu! before, although I am more familiar of eraly Kraftwerk, Faust, Can and later culinary mixtures of Stereolab and Circle to name a few. This plate was a good reminder to consume the band more and taste their ealier offerings as well as various side offerings and solo ouvres that the master chefs have prepared for us to enjoy. What did you say? KrautROCK, not wurst?

(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)

Lynyrd Skynyrd

1/5

148/1001. (Pronounced 'wʌɾə ˈloːɾəv ˈkræəp')

High Violet

The National

4/5

#149/1001. I had only a vague idea what kind of music The National plays - perhaps something in between Coldplay and the xx. And to Bo honest this is what this album sounds like. And if I had to choose which one it reminds more it would be xx, thank God for that. I like the layers of sounds, how they texture the sky with multitudinous clouds, yet still the 80s sun shines through here and there, revealing a sophisticated and mature approach of song making and a nod to the past, building on what has been instead of just xeroxing a bad copy.

The Low End Theory

A Tribe Called Quest

3/5

#150/1001. My wife said that this is hip hop she understands, and that is a great compliment from her. For me it falls somewhere in the middle, not super innovative, not terrible. The flow and the beats are again good, and there is a bit less ghetto and anger, which for me is a plus. But still a 3.

Exile In Guyville

Liz Phair

4/5

#151/1001. Can’t sayI knew too much about Liz. The first few songs didn’t really speak to me, generic songs in a way I think has been done hundreds of times. But then the album grows, has some great tunes and moments, quiet and loud, simple and less simple meditative instrumentations. The simplicity works here and I’m interested in listening more. What else could a first listen achieve?

Raw Power

The Stooges

5/5

#155/1001. Again during this project was a phase that albums to be reviewed queue got a bit longer, and for some reason I picked them out leaving a better moment for this. Well that better moment never came, unless you set your mind in to thinking every moment is a potential raw power moment. I think I first heard about Iggy in the 80s when metal was the thing and my cousin talked about this funny song in which the singer wanted to kive on dog food. How did she get exposed to it - I don’t know if she hanged out with the wrong people or was it just because she was Swedish. Later on in the 90s I saw Iggy, opening for the Ramones. I remember thinking that “man, that old dude can rock”. And that is over 40 years ago? I guess he is still doing shows? Hail the new Ozzy. Iggy / stooges has never been in my album collection or turntable, perhaps after 40 years or so when my kids drag me in to old peoples’ home I can blast this out, twist and jerk around semi-naked around in my leather pants, showing nurses born in 2040s how to rock.

Live!

Fela Kuti

4/5

#153/1001. Yet another interesting choice: from the wonderful Fela Kuti / Afrobeat / Tony Allen ouvre a live album with a random white guy? Ok perhaps not so random, but still. Of course Fela is great live, but I don’t think they captured all of the moves and grooves, the heat and the beat. Well they tried with the one album side long drum duel…which I read is a bonus track. Fuck bonus tracks, but if I never need to pull a 16 minute drum jam, i need to look no further.

Shalimar

Rahul Dev Burman

5/5

#152/1001. I give this album a 5 because: A) it is a banger B) this list should have more variety in the selected music C) baby let’s dance together D) i don’t care if it is a soundtrack E) none of the above F) all of the above

Talking Book

Stevie Wonder

5/5

#154/1001. Yes, this is the album with Superstition in it. 3 albums in about a year? And most of them contain classics. No wonder his name is Wonder. And this is the one or if the classics I don't own, perhaps need to change that.

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

Aretha Franklin

5/5

#156/1001. R.e.s.p.e.c.t.

Ray Of Light

Madonna

5/5

#156/1001. My favourite Madonna album, easily. For me everything that came after is her trying to reach this album mixed with trying to reach the 80s mixed with trying not to get old. All the electronics start sounding the same, a bit too new agey - for me the album is not really experimental - unless of course if you compare it to her previous work or what was happening at the top ten at the time. But yes, we did have electronica artists in the mainstream, and also artists like Björk and Beck creating big hits mixing electronics, pop sensibility and weird shit. Or artists like Prince -while not heavily using electronics - still constantly redefined what a pop song / hot 100 hit might sound like. But the beauty and genius of Madonna and Orbit in this album is that you mix a quite a simple song and melody and layer electronics, instruments and all droning and circling around the main melody, creating a sound which is meditative, easy to approach, interesting and at times instant dance floor classics.

Bad

Michael Jackson

1/5

#158/1001. Earlier I was thinking I'll skip this album. Before that I saw Leaving Neverland, and have refused to play MJ as a dj ever since. Before that I was a big fan. Well, what if all that is lies and people who are after his money? Let's see. In 1993, Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler. Jackson denied the claims and settled the case out of court for US$23 million. In April 2005, Ralph Chacon, a former security guard at Neverland Ranch, testified that he had seen Jackson performing oral sex on Chandler in the early 1990s. Chacon also described seeing Jackson passionately kiss Chandler and place his hand on Chandler's crotch. Jackson made an out-of-court settlement with the mother of another boy, Jason Francia, for more than US$2 million, who, in 1993, previously told police that Jackson never molested him. A former maid at the ranch, Adrian McManus, testified that she had seen Jackson kissing boys including the actor Macaulay Culkin, and described Jackson touching Culkin's leg and rear. She told the court that she had seen Jackson touching Chandler's genitals. Phillip LeMarque, Jackson's cook, said that he entered Jackson's room and saw Jackson with his hand in Culkin's underpants. Wade Robson and James Safechuck were depicted in the film Leaving neverland, providing descriptions of Jackson's alleged sex acts, including masturbation, oral sex and anal sex. Safechuck's mother Stephanie describes feeling elated and dancing upon hearing of Jackson's death: "'Oh thank God, he can't hurt any more children!' In the film Living with Michael Jackson, MJ was seen holding hands with 12-year-old Gavin Arvizo and talked about sharing a bed with him. In the 2005 criminal trial People v. Jackson (full title: 1133603: The People of the State of California v. Michael Joe Jackson) Jackson was indicted on four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor to molest him, one count of attempted child molestation, one count of conspiring to hold the Arvizo family captive, and conspiring to commit extortion and child abduction. Jackson had begun serving him and his younger brother wine, sometimes concealed in soda cans, showing them pornography and making sexual advances. He said that Jackson had twice manually stimulated him to ejaculation after they had drunk alcohol, and then told him that if men do not masturbate, they "might rape a girl". Gavin's younger brother, Star, told the court that he had twice seen Jackson molest Gavin. He also said that Jackson had displayed his erection and masturbated in front of them, telling them that "everyone did it", and encouraged them to try it. "We expected better evidence, something that was a little more convincing. It just wasn't there." For me MJ remains not BAD, but filthy, foul, nasty, dirty, lousy, smutty, sleazy, bum, cheap, cheesy, chintzy, crummy, punk, tinny, seamy, seedy, sordid, squalid, kinky, distorted, misrepresented, twisted, depraved, perverse, reprobate, and immoral. and the album sounds and feels very plastic nowadays.

Are You Experienced

Jimi Hendrix

3/5

#159/1001. I am experienced enough to know that when you put a U.K release and a U.S. release together with some random singles and end up with 17 songs the concept of an "album" is totally shattered, exploding in all directions. If there would be one exception one might assume it to be Jimi Hendrix, but no. Most of these are classic songs, but I think I already sold my Hendrix albums in the late 90s and haven't really missed them. But every now and then as a DJ I play "puita kaminaan", which is an excellent Finnish cover version of Fire by Manifest. Surprises Finnish and international audiences alike. The final verdict is 3, which is kind of a curse — a 1 star or 5 star review both have an attitude, but a 3 is just something average, which for me this now is.

Guitar Town

Steve Earle

1/5

#160/1001. I am super glad I got to listen to this album before I died so I can tell the rock and roll angel in the afterlife that "Hey, I already listened to this in my previous life, so could you please shut that off".

The Stranger

Billy Joel

2/5

#161/1001. Another musical gap in my life filled, this time in the shape and size of a full Billy Joel album, 9 songs, 42 minutes. How does this fixture protect me from the various atrocities laid upon us by mankind? Weakly. I can't really cling on the saxophone solos, or to the "this must be from a musical" feeling. There is no songs to play to the four horsemen of the apocalypse, or to play on repeat while stuck in limbo waiting for the final verdict: bottle of red, bottle of white - perhaps rose instead? There might be a place and time for this, so I'll give it a second spin when they invent space-time and alternative universe travel.

The Doors

5/5

#162/1001. Mother! Yrs son? I want to…rate this album 5 stars!

Alien Lanes

Guided By Voices

2/5

#163/1001. This was the best demo tape of b-sides from an indie band which sounds exactly like X and has been obviously inspired by Y. I couldn't get any grip on the album so I started it all over again. Didn't help. But perhaps that is just the fun of it. Or perhaps this a clarevoyant depiction of our fragmented time and a metaphor or our chaotic world. Nah. It is a demo tape.

Blackstar

David Bowie

4/5

#164/1001. I've had a few familiar DB albums here before, and will probably have a few more later. I don't know why, but the classics I had to review for me sounded nowadays fake and too theatrical. And theatrical is again a key word here, but fake? No way. Fragile and weird perhaps, the songs and the blackstar video kind of convinces is that David Bowie's overtheatricality is not fake acting, that's who he is (was). The album is at times aged and uses sounds and instruments which are not in any way current - even sounding at times like they are from a wrong era - but still there is an interesting mystic atmosphere fluttering around. As a final word, a manifesto some parts of the album make sense, then again it has some out of the context diibadaaba songs, which I guess he wanted to include since this would be the last shot. I mean, (gangsta rap aside) how many living musicians would get away with a song title such as "'tis a pity she was a whore?" But yes, this album did speak to me, like a Greek drama. But would I want to watch /listen to the same drama again and again? But suddenly this was raised high in my Bowie album lists.

Seventh Tree

Goldfrapp

3/5

#166/1001. This introduced an unknown Goldfrapp for me. The folky sounds lured me to the same old story. With the first two songs I was in love with this album. Then settings went on, and as with love often, the passionate feeling started fading away, and changed first into liking, then to whatever. I don't know if I could live happily ever after with this album. I'm pretty sure I would fall in to infidelity with some other artist. I don't have anything against visiting the album again, hoping to revive initial moments of attraction, but would that help? I don't think it is an album that I'll keep around till death do us apart. Sorry Goldfrapp, it was fun while it lasted, hope you have better luck with someone else.

Ágætis Byrjun

Sigur Rós

5/5

#165/1001. Once in a while a band comes out who seems to create their own musical and lyrical universe. In the case of Sigur Rós, they also did the unexpected by doing this and gaining international attention and fame. I have been a fan of this for a long time and actually own this on vinyl, and it doesn't grow old. For me it remains fresh, interesting and new and ageless, genuine and out of this world at the same time. I've been to Iceland many times and recommend listening this through headphones while driving or walking through the alien planet landscape. Suddenly it all makes sense.

Modern Life Is Rubbish

Blur

3/5

#167/1001. Well, this sounds like a blur album. Decent Brit pop, nothing to hate too much, nothing to love too much.

25

Adele

2/5

#168/1001. Hello from the other side - from the listener side. I honestly think you have your right to express all your big and sad and awful and disgusting feelings and emotions with your amazing voice, but I feel it is all a bit too much. You know all the emotions sound quite the same, or at least the songs do, I am not sure if singing them aloud helps you or some other listeners or should you perhaps consult a therapist or something. Perhaps you have and there were a lot of things to discuss and a lot of trauma to go through. Yes it does feel sincere here too, but it is not anything I would really need in my life at the moment. Thanks and goodbye.

Maggot Brain

Funkadelic

1/5

#169/1001. I tried to listen to this on my car radio, and couldn't make anything out of it. Clearly it was not produced for listening in cars. Then I listened to it on my headphones and couldn't make anything of it. And i thought I loved all p-funk.

Underwater Moonlight

The Soft Boys

4/5

#170/1001. Yet another case when I start listening to an album, and it just keeps on going and going. Yes, the original had only 10 songs instead of the 40 supplied by the system. God damn, the special editions are for hardcore fans, and have already spoiled many a good review and album as a whole. Had to give it another spin to hear it as it should be. Well, sounds like the early 1980s, some post punk touch topped with ringing guitars, echo here and there, punky - nearly goth - bass and drums, psychedelic influences, neat pop songs, the whole is mostly harmless than scary or weird or painful as many contemporaries were. The 2nd listen reveals a neglected classic which nearly got buried under 2h 27 minutes.

Fuzzy Logic

Super Furry Animals

3/5

#171/1001. Not much to rant about this album. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad.

Hms Fable

Shack

1/5

#172/1001. There is a grave in between stadium rock and insie pop in which this album should be buried.

3 + 3

The Isley Brothers

4/5

#173/1001. Refreshing to hear such good soul/funk after too much 90s brit pop. An album worth coming back to.

Franz Ferdinand

2/5

#174/1001. Ok, se we all probably know Take me out. Let's see if rest of the album sounds the same. Well it does and songs are worse. Too many of these end up here, although this isn't really bad - just one ear in other ear out stuff.

Cupid & Psyche 85

Scritti Politti

3/5

#175/1001. Let's see if these count as valid 80s band and album: - band was formed after seeing Sex Pistols on their debut tour - art school background -started with punk, turned in to something else - heavyly diy in the beginning - formed their own label -moved to London and lived in a squat - members changed frequently after musical styles changed - stage fright - bad habits - long breaks and getaways - intellectual lyrics - marxist leanings - inspired by French deconstrucionist and linguistic philosophers - turned to more commercial pop - reggae influence - soul, funk and hip-hop influence - collaborations with key musicians - new york period - heavy use of synths, e.g. horns, chords with echo and reverb - heavy use of drum machines, samplers, sequencers - syncopated percussion - top notch production - weird name ...yeah, that just about cuts it.

Crosby, Stills & Nash

5/5

#176/1001. I was perhaps expecting some kind of country western boogaloo, but instead got a most beautiful album of americana psychedelic folk. I've been raised with two albums of Bristish and Finnish late 60s- early 70s folk (Pentangle and Pihasoittajat) so this is a sweet spot for me. But why not, the songs are beautiful, a bit trippy here and there, harmonies are great, songwriting is good. what's not to love?

Shake Your Money Maker

The Black Crowes

1/5

#177/1001. I vaguely remember Black Crowes being labeled as yet another of those saviours of rock'n'roll by the press. But I forgot that it was title always given to a band who did everything to the fax copy same way 1001 other bands had done through the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s etc. And most likely the trend still goes on. Listen to Black Flag's Jealous Again and Black Crowes' Jealous Again and tell honestly which one rocks harder.

Happy Sad

Tim Buckley

4/5

#178/1001. A buckley album worth listening to. I always preferred the sr over the sr.

Tigermilk

Belle & Sebastian

3/5

#179/1001. I think this is a beautiful example of a young fresh Independent band showcasing all of their ideas, which for them were fresh and new. This is BS in a way that I’ve never had it before. It did sound like a demo of a band which just came out of the crypt. Fresher than the later ones I’ve heard. OK this was a drunk review, I have to admit. perhaps I was wrong, perhaps I was right, perhaps I was somewhere in the middle.

Black Holes and Revelations

Muse

3/5

# 180/1001. U2 + Radiohead + Coldplay + progressive metal+ mediocre songwriting + knights of cyd equals 3.

Chemtrails Over The Country Club

Lana Del Rey

4/5

#181/1001. Lana Del Rays music is the equivalent of post coital quality time. It is the smell of coffee made from freshly ground beans. It is slipping under cool satin bedcloth. The feeling on your skin and scent of a day in the morning when you know the day will be warm. A jump of a single fish in a pond. You know, those feelings and sensations which are irrelevant for survival, but which make life worth living, but which also could be replaced with a ton of other sensations. Very few do it with their music though.

Killing Joke

4/5

#182/1001. - Dad, what is post-punk? - Well, glad you asked, son. Hand me over that cheap cabernet sauvignon and I'll pour you aswell a drink, you're already 14 after all. Now let's put on the Killing Joke debut and let them explain everything, for I am too wasted to explain it further. Fuckin' smashing, aye?

Court And Spark

Joni Mitchell

4/5

#183/1001. Joni somewhere between folk, jazz and the inevitable 80s sonic experimentation (read: outdated and overused synths). Somehow this album feels like it is on transition to something or from something. But so are we all all the time, right? The thing which bothers me most is the amount of stories and text. Feels like she just has too much to recount and using songs to do that works sometimes, sometimes not. Our perhaps it is only me, who wouldn't / couldn't pay attention for every small and big story. Well or might be a good reason to revisit.

Slipknot

1/5

#184/1001. - So dad, what is Nu-metal? (Dad bursts out half-a mouthful of red wine in surprise, disbelief and contempt). - What the fuck, is this another joke? Don't you simpleton EVER mention that term in this house again! Get the fuck away to your room! Where you gonna be in the five next years? - but Dad, Slipknot really... - Shut the fuck up you stupid fucking stupid fuck! That's it, you're grounded for the week! Get this or die: If I hear that name again you'll have to suck the snot end of the tip of my prick, you fucking cunt! - (Dad to himself: what the hell (the hell) did I do to deserve all of this? Continued from my review 182/1001.

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

2/5

#185/1001. Don't know why, but always when I try to get into Neil Young's music I find it super boring. Wheather he reinvented americana or created something of his own, I don't care since it is so dull.

São Paulo Confessions

Suba

2/5

#186/1001. When the album started I thought this would be a refreshing change to all the rock music canon this list is made of. Instead we got an album full of washed out Brazilian sounds and westernified latin rhythms. Someone went to Ibiza, soent their time hanging out at the hotel pool and bar instead of clubbing and grabbed a best of Cafe del Mar compilation at the airport, fell in love with the opening track. Wtf is this book's focus? Brazil is a fucking musical wikipedia, and an album like this gets picked up?

Brothers In Arms

Dire Straits

2/5

#187/1001. I suppose there are tons of people who keep the original version of this album in a safe, have bought the remasterd cd, a few extra cd copies (one for the car, one for the garage), listen to this on streaming services daily and have the nth anniversary special 380 gram 8-vinyl release on display prominently on their coffee table. But why? This album was much more boring than I remembered, the only song which might make an impression - Money for nothing - would be a banger, but it has been banging on the radio and karaoke systems all around the globe so much that it more or less has lost its meaning and memeing.

Toys In The Attic

Aerosmith

2/5

#190/1001. I had low expectations, so I wasn't disappointed too much. Don't see a reason to listen to it again, it has a few ok songs and the rest are more or less fillers. The Run D.M.C version is better, but it is refreshing to hear the original Walk This Way once in a while.

Trans Europe Express

Kraftwerk

5/5

#188/1001. Another classic Kraftwerk. Still a bit ambient and evolving, but I often prefer these tracks to the hit song(s). Hall of mirrors has been my new favourite Kraftwerk track for some time. Use of vocoder, drum sounds, the feeling of locomotion with some metallic noise, synthetic melodies and harmonies, what's not to love?

Purple Rain

Prince

5/5

191/1001. What a classic album, has been on my shelf for decades. Still there are songs which I don't remember. That is the curse of Prince - he has songs which renewed the whole industry, and then songs with sounds like nothing you ever heard before (doves cry?), but which are utterly boring in the end. Nevertheless, amazing stuff even in these forgettable bits. It is the eternal battle between form and the function. At best there are both, at worst the form. Stevie Vai, I believe back in the late 80s in Guitar Player magazine discussed how one can express emotions and feeling with guitar playing (solos and more), and he said something like "Prince's solos all are about an orgasm". He was wrong. It is every instrument, the whole song, the whole album, the whole catalog. And my guess is that he also met people who faked their orgasms and he put that superficiality (form) in to some of his songs. And the function is the Grind, grind, grind, grind - at best they meet unlike any artist I know of. !gnimoc m'I ,ecnirP

Kind Of Blue

Miles Davis

5/5

#189/1001. I've been trying to listen to Miles Davis but always bumped in to some psychedelic grooves (bitches brew); some fairly basic jazz (cookin', relaxin', workin' etc.); or overly orchestrated stuff (miles ahead), never finding this one, although even the name screams it is a classic. Top musicians at their peak (over of the peak for many of them for sure). If you'd have to explain what jazz is to an alien, this would be a good record to play. Talking about aliens, I wonder what it felt like to be the white policeman who beat up Miles without a reason around the time the album came out, wheather he ever thought what he did was wrong - he must have found out who the guy was then or later on. And now it is 2025 that was 65 years ago and the same shit goes on. I wonder which future talents they are beating up or shooting today.

Exit Planet Dust

The Chemical Brothers

4/5

#192/1001. The story went something like this: “We’ll be the Dust Brothers! No… Well it wasn’t wise to use the same name as our inspiration, we need an exit plan, exit from planet dust!” On a lecture on music vs sound art the teacher talked about music made only with ‘sounds’ instead of instruments and played Block Rocking Beats as an example. Although they were in no way pioneering this kind of production (and also neglecting to call bass lines, synths and drums as music), ever since listening to the Chemical Brothers I am spotting the sounds, wondering about sonic collages, ways of layering sounds to create compositions in the new world. Here’s the sonical journey seems to travel song to song, like adj gig in a club, inviting singers towards the end to finish the gig in style. Good start for the Brothers, but more bangers are yet to come.

Remain In Light

Talking Heads

4/5

#193/1001. Wtf happened to the site ui? Not good. The weird thing about the Talking Heads is, that the first time you listen to one of their albums, you notice the hit song(s) and the rest remain more or less unnoticed. The more you listen to the album though, the more the other songs pop out, and the hit song - well, still is a hit song. I have owned this album for a long, long time, but still now that I listened to it for this project, it felt like I had never listened to it before, and it is full of excellency. Then I’m also sure I will forget these songs again. Perhaps it is like a suit that changes size slowly - although my experience is that clothes shrink instead of grow over time. I wonder if that will happen to the other Talking Heads albums in this list…songs grow and shrink in their greatness…

Low-Life

New Order

3/5

#194/1001. It took three albums for New Order to emerge from the legacy of Joy Division and the blend into the by then ubiquitous sound of the 80s. There are signs of the massive hits which will fill the dance floors all around the world 30 years later, but still for me this album is sort of between.

The Yes Album

Yes

2/5

#195/1001. Lets see what kind of people enjoy progressive music: - people who think rock music should have similar rules like classical music - nerds who think the more the music is like math the better - people who are stoned - those boys who never learned more than 3 chords on the guitar - people who don’t understand what good songwriting consists of - people who enjoy when 5 songs are glued together into one 14 minute ”song” All these or none of these. Not for me though.

Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

Derek & The Dominos

3/5

#196/1001. Can't confirm myself as a fan of mr. Clapton's and his friends blues. There is some great shredding here and even funky and soulful stuff with the inevitable psychedelic organs and effects - I did read about the band basically living on hard drugs at the time, which might explain some of that for sure. But as with the sister project, the Harrison album All Things Must Pass, there is a bit too much jamming to my taste, and less nice things for my ear. I was thinking 2, but my daughter is called Laila - not after the song though - so I'll ramp the number up to 3.

Cloud Nine

The Temptations

4/5

#197/1001. Well, i don't think this shot was just as a oassing phase, and thank God the producer Norman Whitfield changed this opinion in a few months in '68. But I have my doubts that cloud nine is about a state of mind. Come on, it is 1968! The times were hip and people turned on, tuned in and dropped out. This is psychedelic soul / funk, and according to ai, The term psychedelic comes from two Greek roots: • psyche (ψυχή) — mind, soul, spirit • delos (δηλος) — to make visible, to reveal, to manifest So psychedelic literally means “mind-manifesting” or “revealing the soul.” What better way to manifest the concept than a gospel / motown / rnb band turing in to a funkier, urban, new dimensions seeking sound. Album retrrats to old manners at some point though, but it was a bold move for an old band, and it has stood the test of time.

Copper Blue

Sugar

3/5

198/1001. First comment from my wife when CarPlay started album of the day playlist from Sporify: "I thought this was a 2nd hand 90s radio station, which plays all the leftovers, you know 2nd rate songs and albums from 90s". I did give it a closer listening, and also the name Sugar reminded me of something, and sure enough it was Bob Mould from Hüsker Dü. Many people claim this band tries to imitate the grunge / R.E.M sound, but actually it is quite the opposite, most bands took influence of the Dü. Then again Nevermind came out, and Mould was inspired, but this time perhaps didn't go too far? Or went in to quite a safe direction? The album flows quite nicely, the songs change on the spot just before they get boring. But the overall feel is a bit laggy, and production isn't superb. Unfortunately, it is one of those albums dangerously close to the label "what happened in the nineties should stay in the nineties". But not quite, there has been a lot worse crap from the decade on this list so far, and I fear more is to come. Kind of weird to like and not like an album which falls straight into middle. Still, get this: the album was voted as NME best album of the year, beating other indies and mainstream acts like Sonic Youth's Dirty, Faith No More's Angel Dust and R.E.M's Automatic For The People, not to mention Pavement, Alice in Chains, R.A.T.M, Dr. Dre, Neal Young, Beasties...

The Next Day

David Bowie

1/5

#199/1001. The story didn't really go like this: 1001 album book critics talk to the editor: - "You know Bowie died, right? We should include all his work in the book" - "All? I mean he has already 7 albums on the list" -"Yes, all of them" -"Even the boring ones?" -"Yes. Even them" - "Even the newest ones?" -"Well we first thought no, but it has to be all of them. He is David Bowie after all." -"You got a point there." My new nickname forhis work is David Bowring.

Rhythm Nation 1814

Janet Jackson

5/5

#200/1001. Glad to review this one as my 200th. This hits straight to my soft rnb -spot. Velvet Rope bored the hell or off me, but this one is like a good book or movie. It is clearly a pop album with a conscious message, managing to not cross the line of overly educating or criticising. When this is about to happen there is the line: 'Get the point? Good. Let's dance ...' Get the message on the dancefloor, y'all! There is a nice dramatic arc and even the end with its ballads doesn't feel boring. This is the Janet Jackson album worth picking up from the 1 euro bin at the local fleamarket. Other things I learned about this album: - the number "1814" represents the year the national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written. - New Jack Swing is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. - Her handwritten lyrics to the album's title track "Rhythm Nation" as well as her militaristic uniform for its music video have been preserved by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. - Janet did all of her background vocals and not just the lead vocals. - It is the only album in the history of the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart to have seven commercial singles peak within the top five positions. - In 1990 it was the best-selling album in the U.S. - something Madonna never accomplished. - the 30 minute film / music video (telemusical) "Rhythm Nation 1814" had a budget of $1.6 million. - the wikipedia article is miles too long. - 90s fashion should stay in the 90s. - Patrick Purdy was a sick son of a bitch.

Tea for the Tillerman

Cat Stevens

3/5

#201/1001. Sounds good in a car, recognisable vocal( definitely Steve Adams/Steven Demetre Georgiou / Cat Stevens / Yusuf (Islam), and I discovered some songs which I've only known as Finnish covers. Never knew Wild World was his original. Most of the songs sound quite the same and maybe it's just me (as a non native English speaker), but the lyrics don't really matter me much. All in all, something I wouldn't mind if I had to listen to it again, but wouldn't necessarily seek it. You know, classic gaussian scale medium stuff. The cover: well I'm glad he dropped art school and focused on music.

A Northern Soul

The Verve

3/5

#202/1001. Never heard this Verve album before. Quite a surreal soulful trip recorded on an ecstacy binge. But it was interesting while it lasted. Will I ever return to it? Most likely not. The guys made the greatest album ever and we don't care and still Oasis went bigger. But definitely more interesting than Oasis for sure.

The Wildest!

Louis Prima

3/5

Abbey Road

Beatles

4/5

#205/1001. At the moment this is the top rated Beatles album on this list (for some reason I thought it was Rubber Soul) and shares the top spot with the same score as Fleetwood Mac (Fleetwood Mac? Really?). Since I don't own this but three copies of Sgt. Pepper my view on it is perhaps a bit incomplete - common math says I've listened to Sgt. Pepper 300% more. Something in the way the album works as a whole is interesting - some of the songs individually don't really strike me, but as a medley McCartney's (and Lennon's) snippets of Granny music work out great. The two Harrisongs are great, and Come together is the best song with that name (sorry Annie, Spiritualized, Primal Scream etc.) and perhaps even the greatest song ever. Still I miss something, don't know what. Or perhaps it is Maxwell.

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo

Devo

5/5

#203/1001. Imagine a world without DEVO. What a sad, low-saline level and (cubic)square place it would be. The only comfort might be the band DOVE, a Christian soft rock group.

Pretzel Logic

Steely Dan

2/5

#205/1001. (Abbey Road #206, Are we not men #204. Not rating Loius Prima caused errors in my numbering) and that might be the things I have about this album: listened somewhere in between losing numbers. Mostly harmless.

Henry's Dream

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

5/5

#207/1001. This is my first Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds review in this project (hopefully not the last) so I talk more about my relationship with his music than just this album. That said, I do remember when I was about 19 and at a student bar asked the dj to play the latest Nick Cave album which just had come out, and he did! I’m pretty sure not many people except me owned Henry's Dream yet in my city at that time, but I might be wrong since basically all the goth / punk / hippie chicks I have ever met from the 90s onwards have had a crush on him, and some (or all?) still do, and they knew his music and had his albums. This includes my wife btw, from whom our household has still kept Tender Pray and The Good Son. And why not have a crush? With some artists as time goes by their music starts to lose meaning, or it starts to sound dated. That for me never has happened with NC atBS. I did sell my Birthday Party albums though, and haven't really missed them much. As for my favourite Nick Cave album that would be a tough choice: this one or Do You Love Me bang hard, then again Firstborn is Dead and the cover album Kicking Against the Pricks are ones I keep returning to, and then our beloved Tender Pray and Good Son... But anything newer than Murder Ballads sounds to me like just another Nick Cave album. They seem to be nice, but they are not embedded to my life as the earlier stuff was. Nevertheless, this album is still and forever will be a banger. A banger with ballads and one and only storytelling journey.

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Coldplay

1/5

#208/1001. When you make music for everyone you are making music for no-one. So polished, so compromised, so already heard. This was my first Coldplay album, and I got nothing out of it.

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

Mudhoney

3/5

#209/1001. Another album that takes me back to my high school years. As grunge got bigger and bigger, there were many interesting acts who popped out. For me this was a natural continuum of punk which I had listened to quite actively for a few years. But apparently not for some: as we were blasting this tape at our high school recreational area, playing table tennis, some newly born Nirvana fans came in, stopped the tape and put on teen spirit. I thought then why bother, Mudhoney was much better. But the question now is that do I still think so? The answer is probably no. I can't blame they would be only Nirvana wannabes or grunge wave riders, they rock and are fun, but nothing stands out ageless as so many Nirvana tunes have done. So a nostalgic three.

We're Only In It For The Money

The Mothers Of Invention

2/5

#210/1001. The music of Frank Zappa vs. my interests: Humour? Check. Talented musicians? Check. Inventive? Check. Nerdy? You bet. Yet somehow I never was and probably never will be a huge Zappa fan. Too nerdy for a nerd? Does good musicanship mean showing off, you know can't do that on stage anymore stuff, and if it does why does it put me off? That's probably how they wanted to happen, and I should be cool enough to know this and to dig the sound nevertheless, but perhaps they predict that I'm so cool and reinvent and change their sound because of that...you know a never ending cycle of hot rats eating their tales (miss spelled on porpoise). I think I'm getting old though since every time I hear a Zappa album again, it seems to get better. Or the world, me included is catching up. For a first listen to this album, let's start with a 2.

This Is Fats Domino

Fats Domino

4/5

#211/1001. According to Wikipedia this ois am album. But I guess at the time most artists released singles and when the LP format started gaining popularity, the singles were collected there. And it sort of happened with cds, you could have more stuff in them. And I can now see "albums" such as 100 hits of 1956 in Spotify so the trend goes on. Nevertheless, the song list is a bit different than in wiki, it is basically the A side of the original plus two extra songs. You can find most songs from the Complete Imperial Singles album. Definitely classic stuff and a nice reminder that 70 year old music can sound fresh.

Back At The Chicken Shack

Jimmy Smith

3/5

#213/1001. According to Whosampled.com, there are 134 songs which have sampled Jimmy Smith, but none come from this album. Perhaps DJs, hip-hop producers and electronic music artists know better since while all this sounds good it doesn't sound like something that I must listen to before I die.

Tical

Method Man

2/5

#212/1001. Taking in consideration all listens (1), 2.

Sound of Silver

LCD Soundsystem

5/5

#214/1001. I’m Losing my edge, but I was there! I was the first to play LCD Soundsystem to the art school students here on the Arctic Circle in 2005. I was there as a computer virus as they released this album on MySpace in 2007! I remixed My Friends for the President of Finland's secret party on new year's eve 2008, and then later a new remix at the prime minister's infamous summer party (sorry Sanna, shouldn't have posted those photos to IG). I'm losing my edge, couldn't do the 45h 33min run anymore, non-stop. I've been losing my edge, since I still play LCD SS. Or am I? DJ's always know the best dance-punk-electronic-rock music. This is my musical history in one album mixed up to make you all dance. I was there!

Play

Moby

4/5

#215/1001. This is kind of 2 albums in one. Gospel- and blues-sample based triphop/breakbeat/groove party album and ambient electronica. On their own they both are great, and I've sure made people dance with Honey, but what does 5+4 make? I think listening now with some years in between since I've listened to this as a whole, it does sound a bit more like a product of its time than an ageless classic.

Manassas

Stephen Stills

2/5

#216/1001. Apparently Mr. Stills forced the band to do multi-day non-stop sessions and called the producer in the middle of the night to test some idea. Here is one phonecall: Ring…ringggg…(repeat 30 times) … ”whatthe…” ”Hi producer, it’s me, Steve! Listen there is one idea I’d like to try out, come over to the studio!” ”What the fuck, it is 4 am” ”Yes yes, but it’s a really cool thing” ”Don’t say it is like last week’s idea of playing some 12 bar blues” ”…weell…” ”?” ”yes, but this time we also put in some lame latin percussion in!” ”Beep beep beep beep…” Ok, this now sorted out of the way, some other opinions about the album: - I've never heard or known about it before - It sounds too American - it is way too long - it jumps from style to style so it feels like at least three albums - The third part (the most psychedelic before the blues reprise) is most interesting -what the ff is with these americana people always singing about gypsy women? I mean did they ever evwn meet one? And why are they always devilish and heartstealers?

Elvis Is Back

Elvis Presley

1/5

# 217/1001. Let's play the Elvis is back -game. The rules are: one person says a line starting with Elvis is dead...filling the sentence with some Elvish. And the other person answers with a line that beats or rhymes or in other way complements, contradicts or completes the first sentence. Here is an imaginary gameplay: Elvis is back from the army From the war From teenage girls' bed From the dead From Sun From the moon From the 50s From Vegas From an OD trip From a trip with a VD With a fever With a fiver For the disappointment of moms and dads For the disappointment of 50 million fans Softer than ever Harder than Jello From Germany As a nazi In white leather In a gold sweater More boring than ever Singing even fever The king is dead Long live the king

1999

Prince

4/5

#218/1001. Yet another Prince album I don't own, and probably should. Some songs were familiar of course, but the whole package is tight as a glove that doesn't quite fit. Fun fact: there are much better party songs here than 1999...

Iron Maiden

2/5

#221/1001. Before listening I was remembering myself as a 10-12 year old aspiring guitar player and a metal fan, who put bands in top order. Ordering was heavily based on band images, logos and album covers. I think the top three were WASP, Kiss, Iron Maiden. Listening to the music itself was much more difficult: the record were quite expensive, the library didn't have anything, the only places where LPs were sold were basically music sections of department stores or muisic (instrumebt) shops, and listening possibility in them was minimal. Copying tapes from friends was the norm, but then again not many people were in to hard rock /heavy metal then. It eased out a bit when we got cable TV to our town -Sky Channel and Hesdbanger's Ball, yeah! But as for Iron Maiden (the band and this album) - I think I had only Powerslave on tape, and have heard Prowler and Running Free, I'm pretty confident they would have dropped out of my top 3...too proggy and melodic? Listening to the debut now gives me a bit conflicting feelings: I have left heavy and hard rock behind and while there is some nostalgia, I don't have any reasons to go back and dig my childhood favourites. Then again the album seems like a start of something new (yes they called it NWOBHM), can't but think that the punk / new wave movement came and went and somehow allowed some room fir this music to emerge as well (although the band clearly stated they hated punk and punks). But no, in the end nothing too go back or forwards to for me in here.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West

5/5

#222/1001. About 5th through this list, and a thing I've been telling everyone when the 1001 project is mentioned, is that the rnb and hiphop albums have been the best positive new surprises for me. I don't know the genres too well, but almost everything that has been included I've come across so far puts all of the 70s blues / prog rock, 80s new wave (although I've gotten weird albums from that excellent era so far), 90s indie or 00s onwards rock/pop, not to mention quite a few overrated classics to shame. This seems to be yet another one of those albums. Of course we all know Kanye and some of his hits (and misses, if we talk about non-musical accomplishments), but this was the first full KW album I listened with concentration, and it delivers! Full of banners, with self boast and a bit of self parody as well, samples, kick-ass feats, top notch production, sonic journey and a collage, electronically distorted vocals next the string quartet and a dripping piano... It is a mountain, but I'm sure there are people who won't see a mountain for the trees. A toast for those douchebags!

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector

Various Artists

5/5

#219/1001. As I saw this is included in the list, I expecting this present. So I started listening to it - about 20-30 years ago, daily for a week or two before Christmas. But isn't it funny how quick after xmas all the music that has been wassaled on the radio, at home on your albums, streaming playlists and c-tapes and in shopping malls, churches plus schools gets old and out of place. But year after year, this present is opened and delivers such joy to the world that I'm not sure if mankind deserves it.

Beauty And The Beat

The Go-Go's

2/5

#220/1001. I have my doubts as why this album is on the list. Oh well, We Got the Beat is already on my 80s playlist, no need to add anything else.

Here Are the Sonics

The Sonics

3/5

#225/1001. This album feels like a paleontologist's find: an excavation of music that no one knew existed, but still feels like the missing link between 50s rock and roll and 70s punk. I guess it is unique and fresh and new to find out and to listen to it now after 60 years or so, but I also am sure it didn't really affect much of what was happening in popular music at its time, and perhaps only a little later on. The Garage rock phenomenon has been well documented, and a stream of lo-fi rock bands are sourcing from those nuggets, but still the mainstream went otherway. If I try to analyse the record or if its context or seems like a bad college band ripping through rock and roll classics with a crazy (in a good way) singer. So a few points for the context, a few for the rawness equals to something around 3.

Fuzzy

Grant Lee Buffalo

2/5

#223/1001. Based on the name, I was expecting a boogie reggae confederationalist. Instead I got a fireside guitarist who wants to share his views on America. Sigh. Once again there are probably people who this album is worth living for, but I don't belong to that group, and sincerely wonder what is so great about this that it is included in the 1001 collection.

Diamond Life

Sade

1/5

#224/1001. This is muzak for rich millionaires' paid escorts to slowly strip their clothes off to.

Tragic Songs of Life

The Louvin Brothers

1/5

#226/1001. Guitar. Mandolin. Vocals. Tragic.

Peter Gabriel 3

Peter Gabriel

3/5

#227/1001. I think I used to own this but sold or gave it away. Didn't really remember any of these songs though. First listen in the car was super meh, but I decided to give it a second chance with headphones during the night. This 2nd listen revealed a totally different album, at least sonically: all sort of interesting things happening here, curious song crafting out of the normal mold. I also realized something about those 80s drums (reading wikipedia): this album doesn't use any cymbals, and the fab seemed to catch up, with all the jungle and goth drums: today as I'm writing this the project is offering me beloved Echo and the Bunnymen, many songs without any cymbals as well it seems... But something disturbs about the Gabriel III album, hard to pin what it is, his voice or the boring (as in not popular / hit material) songs, or the 80s aged synth sounds or a mixture of these? Nevertheless for me the greatest sin in this album is that if you get Kate Bush to sing on your album, give the Goddess a bit more room for christs sake. For this fact -1

Porcupine

Echo And The Bunnymen

5/5

#228/1001. Echo and the Bunnymen are - at least in Finland - one of those forgotten gems of popular music. I learned about them sometime late 99s or early 00s, as a friend of mine (who was in the know) and his British mate were remembering the good old days along an E&tB Box. Unlike many bands before that and later, this is one I never got bored with. I soon got myself a greatest hit cd and learned a bit more about the band. Apparently it was either them or U2 who the British press thought as the next big thing, sort of heirs of Joy Division after Ian Curtis joined the heavenly (or the other) post-rock band. Well we kind of know what happened. New Order! No, not really. This album has the band at its gloomy prime, with a pair of opening tracks that cut through you, followed by a few delicate pieces, with all sorts of interesting things happening left, right, up, down, back, forth and inside your head. The title track and Ripeness are newly found favorites for me, since I kind of fell in to the trap of getting too familiar with the greatest hit compilation which I started with. The melodies are great, the ominous feeling kicks U2s ass any day or time. I just reviewed Peter Gabriel's 3rd, famous for not using any cymbals, and while they do exist here, they are used very sparingly. I think only one or two songs use hi-hats. I don't know who invented these heavy reverbed goth drums, but although they sound very 80s and goth, they couldn't be done any other way. There are drums, drum machines, handclaps, xylophones, you name it. God I miss the 80s rhythm sections, percussions, imagination they had to try different things in pop / rock music. The album and the related music video shoot must be the reason there are so much good music coming out of Iceland ever since the mid 80s. My advice is to skip the alternative versions (at least I was recommended a Spotify album with quite a load of bonus tracks), or take them as a curious adventure of how what not to do if you want an Echo and the Bunnyman evergreen. The last bonus song is an extra-album single, and a neu-wave disco banger.

Amnesiac

Radiohead

4/5

#229/1001. I've always liked Radiohead, but never been their fan. Does that make sense? Does it matter? Does Radiohead matter? Does it make sense? Does life make sense? This review doesn't. Typical reactions to radiohead? Perhaps, but time has also caught them. Nevertheless, good memories.

Loveless

My Bloody Valentine

2/5

#230/1001. My son is in to shoegaze music now. As this was on the list I played it to him in the car, asking what does he think. His answer repeats the list: I don't know, it sounds quite meh. As for me, I remember browsing LPs in so many record stores 30 or so years ago, and bumping in to this cover many many times, imagining what the band would sound like. Ok, now it was on the list and it sounds exactly as I thought it would. So I don't regret not buying it, although I'm sure the album would have meant a lot more to me.

Rings Around The World

Super Furry Animals

3/5

#231/1001. This was quite a fun sonic collage, musical pastiche, pop and rock tribute. Kind of like my 1001 listening history so far. Might come back and listen to it again. Might.

Led Zeppelin III

Led Zeppelin

4/5

#232/1001. I've always liked folky and acoustic zeppelin, and this album is heavily acoustic. III might even be my favourite zep. Somehow there is interesting rawness and experimentation which seems a bit like a step towards unknown since they were already a huge band. The album also gets quite psychedelic at points, which in this case is a merit. Oh, and I love the volvelle rotating album cover which I have in my vinyl version. So some of this review and points come from late 80s nostalgia...

Pornography

The Cure

4/5

#233/1001. I was just praising 80s goth drums on an Echo and the Bunnymen album, asking for more, and sure I got what I deserved. All engraved to what must be one of the most depressing albums in popular music history. Kind of feels like listening to someone's suicide note - which according to Wikipedia quoting Smith it more or less is. Sonically and probably also lyrically I guess it should be considered as the ISO standard Goth Rock album all other works are compared to. But the absence of hope, humour, playfullness or openness make the album perhaps a bit too much of an inner journey, in which the protagonist (guess who) is fighting against his own personal demons. I guess he won since the later albums start to present at least a little bit cured Cure. Dystopian masterpiece, but should we praise dystopia?

Dookie

Green Day

1/5

#234/1001. Ok, I had the time to listen to Green Day whine about nothing and everything, but I hope I will never have to do it again. I mean I love punk, sometimes also skate punk - if that is a label one gives to Bad Religion - but this is just too cheesy and commercial and simple and polished and easy and compromising.

Pearl

Janis Joplin

5/5

#235/1001. I had Big Brother & co at #31, didn't give it too rave reviews, but said that I'll wait for Pearl. And here it is. This album makes me want to step in to a time machine, tune in, turn on and drop out and move to Haight and Ashbury, get high, find some lovin and cosmically groove eternally to the bongos and finish the day with a religious celebration ritual of listening to this album (which did come 4 years after the summer of love, but since I have a time machine I can pick it along). But then I read Joan Didion's article "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" on the Haight-Ashbury in the September 1967 issue of The Saturday Evening Post and it made me rethink,especially about what happened to Susan, then 5 years, whose mom had been giving her Peyote and acid for a year. So I'll stick with my normal life, thanks.

Lost In The Dream

The War On Drugs

2/5

#236/1001. According to the bands self-written description in Spitify, "Folk, indie, kosmiche, noise, roots, arena, psychedelic, soft, whatever—The War on Drugs are this century’s great rock ’n’ roll synthesists, obviating the gaps between the underground and the mainstream, between the abstruse and the anthemic, making records that wrestle a fractured past into a unified and engrossing present." According to me, they sound like mediocre shit.

Aftermath

The Rolling Stones

2/5

#237/1001. Going home, babe. What was this? Jagger failing to be Jim Morrison a year before the Doors album was released? Drop some of the shitty songs and jams, rethink your lyrics, put some more effort on the production and perhaps this would be a decent album. Or actually, drop the rock and roll and blues - they are at best when they experiment with sounds, instruments and songwriting. And put only the best songs from the two versions on one album so we can talk.

Locust Abortion Technician

Butthole Surfers

5/5

#2380000000/1001. File under: head(phones) melting from the inside File under: hats of meat File under: songs as both disease descriptions and related medical procedures File under: Alaskan heatstroke theology File under: horror movies played backward File under: punk rock played by cockroaches on acid File under: comedy without toothpaste File under: inspiration in a liquid state File under: basslines sampling the ceiling File under: nonsense that knows exactly what it’s doing File under: stroboscope in stereo: ugliness in left, beauty in right channels File under: too stupid to be fake File under: too smart to be fake File under: fake File under: childhood nightmares with disposable drum kits File under: drinking milk without instructions File under: laughter, fear, then laughter again File under: dayscreaming for profit File under: seen live in LA in 1991, never recovered

Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin

3/5

#239/1001. Let's do this review in a format of yellow-press tabloid headlines: ROBERT PLANT FALLS OUT OF BED AFTER GROUPIE SQUEEZES HIS LEMON TOO HARD BAND BORROWS BLUES, FORGETS TO RETURN IT, EVERYONE PRETENDS NOT TO NOTICE FOUR MUSICIANS, 30 STUDIOS, ONE ALBUM — ZEPPELIN RECORD II TO FILL THE WORLD WITH LOVIN' BAND ADMITS THEY “CAN’T QUIT YOU BABY,” PROCEEDS TO TOUR ANYWAY JIMMY PAGE SUMMONS RIFFS SO HEAVY THEY WARP TIME, SPACE, AND BLUES HISTORY LEATHER-CLAD MEN POSE LIKE BIKERS, ACTUALLY WWI FLYING ACES — NO ONE CHECKS BONHAM HITS DRUMS LIKE HE’S ARGUING WITH GOD — GOD LOSES STEREO PANNING PSYCHEDELIC MOANS - INSIDE-JOB FOR BACKDOOR MEN? MUSIC SO SEXUAL IT SCARES THE RADIO, SO GOOD IT PLAYS IT ANYWAY WHAT IS AND WHAT SHOULD NEVER BE CAUSES LOUD CONFUSION IMPORTANCE FADES, RIFFS REMAIN THE SAME “MOBY DICK” CONFIRMS ENDURANCE MATTERS WHOLE LOTTA LOVE GOES FROM LAWSUIT SCANDAL TO SCHOOL CURRICULUM

A Night At The Opera

Queen

5/5

#240/1001. This is probably the first complete Queen album I listen to voluntarily. Not that I would hate them - I just haven't thought about any good reason why I should have. For sure I cannot but give 5 to an album which not only has Bohemian Rhapsody, but manages to put it on the record just as any one song or there - previously I thought it would stand out like a canary in a black metal concert, but no, here it makes sense. Which also reveals a great side of Queen: the songs which do not play on the radio. But after listening to this, even after givong 5 stars, I don't know any good reason to listen this or some other Queen album again willingly - except that I am sure more of them will appear to be reviewed. Until then, Bismillah.

Different Class

Pulp

2/5

#241/1001. Different Class wants to dress itself up as a chronicle of ordinary lives, but the result often feels like mis-shapes parading in borrowed irony, a pencil skirt of ideas stretched thin while claiming allegiance to common people; Jarvis peers outward with an I Spy squint, past a Disco 2000 nostalgia haze into a Live Bed Show of Britpop manners where something changed yet not quite enough, slogans getting sorted for E’s & Wizz slickness rather than substance, in the search of a F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E, spelled out so carefully it forgets to be felt, glimpses of underwear-level intimacy arriving on a Monday Morning only to drift away to Bar Italia cool, leaving an album that talks loudly about class and connection but settles for observation over empathy, more posture than pulse, competent and catchy yet curiously distant from the lives it insists on narrating. Basic Pulp.

Apocalypse Dudes

Turbonegro

1/5

#242/1001. Music for all those, who have mentally and socially stayed a teenager - including the stupid joke that their fan club is called Turbo Jugend. I admit listening to similar music in the 80s as a teenager: Mötley Crüe, Wasp, Kiss, along with countless other heavy and hard rock bands, but at least I moved on. This is perhaps a bit more punk rocky, but that just makes it worse: think longer Ramones songs with guutar solos and a masculine cis white hetro male rock god attitude, yuck.

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

The Smashing Pumpkins

2/5

#244/1001. To be honest, I'm only half way through, so giving a rating now feels like cheating. On another hand, I have 1 hour of experience already, which is about 30 minutes more than a good album should last. The album just turned 30, which makes me about 22 when this came out, still in potential target group. And yes, I think Siamese Twins was on the turntable every now and then and some friends had this one on their shelves - parts besides the hits are familiar. This also includes the too heavy metal sounding guitar, and the horrible voice of Corgan (did he want to sound like he had a flu or something?), but also the beautiful acoustic pieces. Some musical experimentation audible here and there, nothing specially inventive. The buzz guitars sound the same every track. For me the best songs are the ones where the distortion or guitars are turned off. Perhaps instead of the 28 songs one could get a rather nice Mercury Rev fanboy acoustic album somewhere around 30 minutes. Rather that than a 6CD 30th anniversary, thanks.

...The Dandy Warhols Come Down

The Dandy Warhols

4/5

#243/1001. I enjoyed this album much more than I thought I would, and what the initial impression was. Poppy psychedelic shoegaze, listed as one of the best Brit-pop albums...which is not British. I like the drony textures and really have to tip my hat off to the song Pete International Airport, it is probably so far closest to sound art what this list has offered me. Well except Butthole Surfers perhaps. Heck, a four!

Dr. Octagonecologyst

Dr. Octagon

3/5

#247/1001. Mo' wax! I had an era when it was my go to label, ah the memories...some first dj gigs / spinning vinyl on bars on Friday nights, music changing from style to another style during a pint - to be honst still more or less my style to entertain, hats off to DJ Bunuel. I recognized the trip-hoppy mood and the murky samples, I can place them exactly to summers -97 and -98, spotted some of the songs as well. Initially I remembered it to be more turntablist, so perhaps I mix it with Qbert and others from that era (Qbert featured here, so not totally a wrong memory). Didn't really remember the tongue in cheek humour of the lyrics and the whole character though. But when and where and for whom would I play this Blue Flowers or the whole album nowadays? With these kitchy exploitation samples? A nostalgia trip worth a 3.

Bringing It All Back Home

Bob Dylan

3/5

#249/1001. Ok, this is the one where Dylan goes electric, purist fans boo and sales skyrocket. I wonder how long would he have survived on the surface of popular music as a man+acoustic guitar combo. Rolling Dylan gathers no dust though. Somehow the "electric" or rock and roll backing which by modern standards sounds quite...acoustic? And his sound and voice is probably most commercial, even radio friendly so far and perhaps ever since (my Dylan knowledge is fairly liniged though). I am sure his voice divides people motmre tahan wheather there is an electric guitar in the band or not. And perhaps the harmonica. But I wouldn't call him an anarchist based on this album, even less give the anarchist a cigarette. But songs are great and a new chapter in folk begun. Also Subterranean homesick blues and its video are both classics. Perhaps the whole album. Still, I don't have any personal affection towards the music, no need to come back to it. But I don't hate it either, sorry to say this comes down to an average 3.

The Cars

1/5

#246/1001. As I was around 17-18 I was in to punk and the Ramones. Someone recommended me the Cars, since their music was similarly simple (as far as I remember). I tried and didn't like them at all ...I didn't like Ramones because they were simple, I liked them because they were punk. 35 years later I usually prefer late 70s-80s new wave over Ramones. But the Cars don't really ring my bell, the simplicity is now just mainly boring, radio friendliness is for me a curse word, this is just aor masked as a new wave entity, one ear in, one out. Just what I needed - more than a feeling?

Bug

Dinosaur Jr.

2/5

#245/1001. A band that is angrier than Nirvana for one song and less angry in 9 songs.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill

4/5

#247/1001. On the other hand this hits my soft RnB spot, on the other hand it always seems to be a chore to listen through the complete album. I do own it, but probably listened through it only once before. It wasn't helping too much, that I had accidentally Spotty on random, playing some songs at random order, and when I thought I disabled it, some kind of ai-shuffle was turned on. So I had to restart to hear the album in the intended order ...and that was two days ago or smthn and I am nearly finishing. Soft, full of soul, whispering, partying, rapping, nice tributes and covers - but also this yodeling - or whatever is this rnb overuse of vibrato called (not as bad here as in some other cases). So sort of mixed feelings - 5/5 songs and overall sound and production, but somehow the texture and the mood stays the same mellow yellow (tangerine? Like the cover?), the spoken interludes (school room recordings or whatever they are) get old very fast (basically in the middle of first occurance of such). So little by little after 77 minutes the 5 star tasting is eaten out...

Dirt

Alice In Chains

2/5

#252/1001. Check the following statements to finish your review: Does it have distorted guitars? ✅ Was it cool in the 90s? ✅ Do you think they included it in the book 1001 albums you must hear before you die? ✅ Is it yet another album and a band who deal with drug use? ✅ Does any of these matter to you at all? ❌ P.s "bassist Mike Starr was fired in January 1993 during the tour to support the album." That seemed to work since the album sold well and was hauled by the critics. I'll give a two for the guitar sound and the riffs.

The Sensual World

Kate Bush

5/5

#250/1001. Finally Kate Bush. Out of her albums this is probably one of the ones I've listened the least - although I do own it in vinyl. So there is always room to learn more (to know them by heart kind of way) of her music. She was perhaps even too prolific in the beginning of her career, but definitely not prolific enough from this point on... life happens I guess. Her music seems to come out of some other planet or universe or some divine realm out of our reach. Although she tried to couple her first hits with overly acting and lovely but crudely 80s style choreographies, it was all in vain since the songs themselves are gesamstkunstwerks: they contain everything one needs in order to stay sane, to grow up, to learn, to become more as a human being. She stopped playing live earlier and by this album I guess she was more or less done with music videos as well, but I'm totally happy with just the music - although my earliest memories of probably came through the video for Cloudbusting. I don't want to thank god for Kate Bush, because the gods, which I know, are mean shitty bastards, who perhaps will raise their wrath upon earth out of jealousity when they hear her music.

Live At Leeds

The Who

1/5

#251/1001. So far the two the Who albums I've reviewed have been positive surprises. I didn't really become a fan or know their music that much in order to respect the masterness of this piece. There are weird bits of silence and weird 12 minute mashups, which just makes me think this might have been interesting at thevtime and the place, but not as an album format. Fans only.

Red Headed Stranger

Willie Nelson

2/5

#255/1001. This sounds like a country album from Willie Nelson, and the best songs sound like they could be on the Muppet Show (which of course is a praise of a highest level).

Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Stereolab

5/5

#253/1001. One of my alltime favourite albums by one of my alltime favorite bands. This record never gets old, it is music made by an honest band who loves music, old electronic instruments, respecting them, not use them for a gimmick. By this album their balance with rock guitar sounds and all the mellotrons and whatnots was perfect, one or two albums before and after are excellent material as well (Dots and Loops anyone?). You can put this record on any moment and immerse yourself in this sea of sound, which lets you float as you admire some of the artificiality: the lyrics, the French, the dual vocals. This reminded me to book a flight and catch them live in Ireland in a few weeks. What are reviews built on? They are built on words and they are built on laughter.

Smile

Brian Wilson

4/5

#257/1001. I just wrote the best review ever and accidentally deleted it so I'll just say this: slightly (40 years) late and slightly (no dugs) out of place. And: there is no reason to have a cancel button here to accidentally press and erase your review? I still prefer the Bootleg version over this one.

Stardust

Willie Nelson

5/5

#256/1001. The second Willie Nelson album in 4 days, and that can only mean one thing... but no, he is not dead. When this started to play I was so sure this would be some 2000s let's go back in time and do some classics, you know everyone from Paul Anka to Johnny Cash to Vesa-Matti Loiri doing "old crooner crooning pop songs" type of thing, exact same thing except Willie Nelson doing pop standards. But what the fuck, 1978? The previous album from 1975 was basically the man and a guitar as-country-as-you-can-get album which blew the bank and made him a star (after 18 albums it was about time). This is so un-country at times that I think the 1001 project curators included this one to piss every country fan out there - or perhaps not since Georgia on my Mind won a Grammy... And I can not but smile about the fact that In 1979, "September Song" peaked at number 15 in Billboard's Hot Country Singles. I can hear Kurt Weill rolling in his grave... But this is something I really love: songs which would fit Sinatra (and most likely which he also sung) interpreted by Willie Nelson. Here his voice doesn't begin to annoy. Fuck, a 5.

Talking Heads 77

Talking Heads

3/5

#254/1001. I think I have two Taking Heads LPs missing from my collection: the first and the last. The band is great, but perhaps these two albums never were the ones to go out for, when money was tight, and local record shops and their selections were scarce. The band is still quite ripe here, no doubt that they already had found their unique slot in a musical landscape which soon would be called New Wave, but perhaps still more full of ideas rather than means to execute them as songs or production experimentations. My initial experience from TH albums has been that "there is one hit", but after each listening time the beauty and complexity and multilayered construction of each and every song slowly reveals itself, but somehow I don't feel this album would do that. Perhaps I need more tiles to listen to it through.

Harvest

Neil Young

2/5

#258/1001. Neil Young lives s Rock'n'roll lifestyle: breaks his back renovating his home and goes acoustic. Makes his "signature" album, which has Heart of Gold (a song Dylan hated because it sounded too Dylan), which puts him on the move and fame, which "ends in a ditch". Goes on to rock, experiments (e.g. with metal, electronics, noise, grunge), back to acoustics and politically correctness. Rinse this and repeat, release every demo you ever done in the middle, end crazy horse live gigs with a 2-3 minute whining and wanking jam/ feedback - not just the gig but every goddamn song, which even Jarmusch couldn't document well enough to prevent me from leaving the movie in the middle in Midnight Sun Film Festival - or perhaps it was just the level of alcohol dropping in my blood or bladder which couldn't hold all the beer. That's all very Neil Young for me. I have tried to get inside Neil Young's music so many times, that it hurts. But no. Heart of Gold is a nice song, especially the Boney M version.

Dear Science

TV On The Radio

4/5

#259/1001. This was a band I haven't heard before. At least I don't think so. Their sound was interesting combination of funk, rock, pop and synth, somehow reminding me of the aesthetics of Prince or m.j, although the end result and the songs are totally different. I was thinking of also bedroom aesthetics - you know, making music at night using modern computer production tools, but it seems it is a flesh and blood band who all contribute(?). After listening and now writing about it a few days later it is hard to recall any of it though. So might need a few more listens, perhaps it will grow, but probably not as a favoutite. So file under worth checking out later.

The Joshua Tree

U2

4/5

#260/1001. I have this still on my LP shelf, but when was the last time I listened to it? Somewhere in the (early) nineties? Still, some of the early U2 albums (tjis was the last one I got) meant a lot to me at some point, so don't want to sell them away. This album reset the epitome for stadium rock, and the sound has been influential and imitated by all the cold(ly)play(ing) stadium bands ever since. The masses love, but if the music is errorless it is also meaningless or something like that. What a roster of classics and songs which I know by heart - as do millions of others, and for that I cannot but rate this quite high. Perhaps I joined this project, cause I still haven't found what I was looking for, but apparently it was not U2.

The Dreaming

Kate Bush

5/5

#261/1001. This was the first Kate Bush LP I bought, and (still? I am not sure if it was one at that time...) after 30+ years one of my desert island discs. Kate at her most angry, reading, weird, funny, even sentimental. Her uniqueness puts people away and that is fine with me, choose your own religion among the hordes of mediocre possibilities. Again I was thinking of her way to construct and perform music as non-human: I think I talked about out of this planet or divine possibilities in the last review not too long ago, but another comparison came to mind: Bella Baxter, a frankenfetus from Poor Things, brought back to this world, not really knowing how to behave or act, tries to imitate things - of course not managing to do it, but somehow this creates immense beauty. So maybe that is how Kate Bush was created: someone planted the brain of Mozart's and Afrodites unborn baby in her head.

1977

Ash

2/5

#262/1001. Mid 90s grunge-meets-pop punk brit pop. It sounds like they took influence of much more experimental acts at the time and melted it down to some kind of chartable, critic-friendly mediocrity. Youthful energy definitely, but for me not much more. File under: you don't have to hear this before you die.

At Fillmore East

The Allman Brothers Band

2/5

#263/1001. To quote Stevie Ray Vaughan: "I might be white, but I ain't stupid". I ain't stupid enough to like white man's blues. All blues songs sound like they didn't wake up this morning.

Bryter Layter

Nick Drake

5/5

#264/1001. Another long time favourite - although Nick Drake without backing musicians in Pink Moon perhaps excels this - the beauty of his songs are in their simplistic execution, guitar and voice alone are enough. However, arrangements here are wonderfully arranged and executed. Nick Drake's vision is unique, as far as I understood his strive for perfection and lack of respect caused heavy mental issues (depression / schizophrenia) and "unbelievable amount if cannabis" (as his friends stated) use probably didn't help. But his unique vision of life and personality gave us three musical gems (amd quite a lot of bootlegs) - their immortality perhaps helped with the classic tale of the suffering artist genius - or perhaps just by the fact that there was nothing like that. (I don't know if there would be likes of Sufjan Stevens or Iron Wine without him). Poor Nick didn't even make it to the 27 club.

Youth And Young Manhood

Kings of Leon

1/5

#265/1001. How are these people? Why are these? 2003 what happened? I'd hope that when I get old I woudn't understand today's music, it would be, you know, something unlistenable noise the kids only respect (In 2003 I was 30, old you know). But no, this album is just based on the same old and tried rock and roll formula, which gets invented every few years by a band or another, and they all get to be put to the 1001 book. Nothing wrong about this album and that is just it: no errors, no experimentation, no danger - let's just do things as they always have been done -kind of thing.

Eli And The Thirteenth Confession

Laura Nyro

2/5

#268/1001. Third strong female singer in a row (Patti Smith and Joan Armatrading). I was fooled by the music and the cover to think that this is some late 90s esoteric artist creating her own musical at an arts high school. But no, it was an esoteric artist creating her own musical from the late 60s. Does it make me resoect the music more? I can see the influence she had on many theatrical singers in the following decades. So perhaps a bit? Does it make me like it? No, not really - at least on the first listen. Perhaps revisiting would reveal the beauty, but now it just goes up and down, fast and slow, like a butterfly in a shopping mall.

White Blood Cells

The White Stripes

5/5

#270/1001. Stripped, raw, minimal. Rock.

Joan Armatrading

5/5

#267/1001. I do own Joan Armatrading's debut album, but somehow shelved it and haven't paid too much attention to her. But this album is the shit. Will come back to it and her music more. I guess comparisons to Joni Mitchell are relevant, not in a way that she would be copying her stuff, but in a way she creates her own way of writing and performing songs. Her musical styles are broader though, folk, jazz, blues, pop, soul, even funk all mingle here, but still everything fits together. Amazing akbum.

Blood And Chocolate

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

3/5

#271/1001. Somehow it is really hard for me to figure out Elvis Costello. It's not that he or his music needs to be categorized nicely between this and that artist in order to help respect or show a place in a musical map. His music mostly confirms to existing standards, I am not sure what is or was innovative, if anything was. This leaves his character, which can seem arrogant, sincere or longing, but not as arrogant, sincere or longing, as many others, so what is left? Perhaps repeated listens would help, but they haven't helped so far. But much more interesting than most of the rock and pop here so far.

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

Soft Cell

5/5

#272/1001. Early 80s synth pop rules. Soft Cell were not the only ones who took pre-aids period gayness to the front, and the whole album is like a luring introduction to queer side of sexuality to the average Joe. The version Spotify gave me seemed a bit long - perhaps there were extras (the album lasts way more than your typical sexual act, even in gay worls I would presume). Still I can't but love the early synth sounds and all the jingle jangle that goes on in the legt and right throughout the record. Also a pity the two best songs are covers (with the same riff even). But also they remind us of a wonderful musical genre, which was named after music, which was played by dj's and danced to by dedicated fans in bars: Northern Soul. This is what it sounds like, when that genre collides with elwctronic experimentation by (British) bands, kraftwerk and disco. Blue movies in music.

Horses

Patti Smith

5/5

#266/1001. This one I picked from my recird shelf, a cheap and crackly copy, but somehow it fits. Perhaps she is the main reason punk broke out in NY. Or perhaps she just continued where the velvets went too pop. Or perhaps let's just look at the back cover: compacted awareness .. gems flattening .. long streams of resin tools .. kool system of destine wax sculpt..drums tongue and waves slapping .. the feel of horses long before horses enter the scene .. molten tar stud dead w/bones and glass and the teeth of women ... veins filled w/existance .. beyond race gender baptism mathmatics politricks ... assassinating rythum .. c-rude transending .. soul-ar energy in the shape of a laughing pack of scarabs dressed in coats of milk armour..grace greased w/merc and henna ... hair wires .. neither the desire nor the ability to stop i plop on the bed pink electric immediate some human light bulb these bands around my neck should reveal what state i'm in .. only history (gentle rocking mona lisa) seals .. only histoire is responsible for the ultimate cannonizing .. as for me i am truly totally ready to go ... sonic klein man its me my shape burnt in the sky its me the memoire of me racing thru the eye of the mer thru the eye of the sea thru the arm of the needle merging and jacking new filaments new risks etched forever in a cold system of wax .. horses groping for a sign for a breath ... charms. sweet angels - you have made me no longer afraid of death.

Live And Dangerous

Thin Lizzy

2/5

#269/1001. It's seems the band and the audience is having fun at a rock gig. So? Asking aloud "I don't know why I had to listen to this album before I die?" My wife answered:" well, it is much easier to listen to it before you die than after it." Nuff said.

Hunky Dory

David Bowie

3/5

#273/1001. Hi David, it's you again in this list. Yet again you managed to put out an album, which has some classics, some boring songs better forgotten and some quite nice ones I don't remember hearing before. At least there is not too much theatricality. This leaves me in the same position with you as before: I won't be selling the few Bowie albums I own, but I don't have a reason to buy new ones. In another words: I've grown over the phase where you or your music impressed me. Luv, an-ex fan.

The College Dropout

Kanye West

4/5

#280/1001. This lists most interesting findings have been in the realm of hiphop / rap. There are also some crazy ass people, but those do exist in rock and pop and disco throughout the years as well, and sometimes we blame them sometimes we don't. Nevertheless, an amazing and funny debut, although better stuff was yet to come. I don't know if it is the drugs / alcohol or the fame or the money or combination of these which seem to ruin people in this business, and often I don't care. But for shits sake, Kanye wtf?

Brilliant Corners

Thelonious Monk

4/5

#274/1001. Cool jazz. Hip, not hop. Most jazz here beats the rock albums here. 1001 jazz albums to ear before you die would be a far more interesting project.

Talk Talk Talk

The Psychedelic Furs

4/5

#275/1001. The flock of seagulls and bands emerging from the U.K after punk broke and choked is astonishing. They all seem to find their place, some more experimental, some more dark, some more popular, some more electronic etc. I knew only few songs from them before - probably from movie aoundtracks. They do sound interesting enough to scout their discoraphy a bit, but no interesting enough to spend a fortune buying their albums. So somewhere in the middle of 2 and four I think, and since I truly think 80s was the greatest decade in music, I'll round this up.

Bitte Orca

Dirty Projectors

4/5

#277/1001. This one was new to me, and even falling to sleep in the airplane due to too early morning wake up, I want to go back again and see if this is a 5. Who are them? Where did they come from and what are they doing on earth? Innovative music at least.

Natty Dread

Bob Marley & The Wailers

3/5

#276/1001. I should probably stop hating reggae and buy the t-shirt with Che Guevara's face with the text Bob Marley.

Miriam Makeba

4/5

278/1001. Her legacy, sotory and influence is much more greater that can be heard from this album. That can be even seen from the album's wiki page, which is basically empty. There is some sort of cautiousness at display here. Perhaps it would be quite wrong to blame her for sounding too western or not exotic enough - that would just enflame the otherness, and after all she was a cosmopolitan mover already in the early 60s. But what if most of the music just sounds dated? Meaning - I don't consider it a classic which has stood the test of time, but rather an album which just pinpoints one era? The latter is of course valuable as well, and there are classic songs here, which helped to make it easier for music from non-western cultures to emerge. But is it due to this album alone? Not in my opinion. However, for the songs, the interpration and legacy and the fact that albums defying the western canon are quite scarce here, a four.

Destroy Rock & Roll

Mylo

2/5

#279/1001. Do you destroy rock and roll with mostly boring electronic music? I don't think so. There are others who did it much better in the IDM/ ambient/experimental electronic genre, and electronic artists who make you dance better. A 2 only because it is not rock.

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

Ray Charles

1/5

281/1001. Am I allowed not to like this album? No matter how good some of the faster versions are, the slower ballads take me to some idealised version of 50s-60s america, where housewives wear high heels, dad makes money enough to buy two cars for the family, two kids, (a boy and a girl of course) eat their Kellogg's because that prevents masturbation. You put sugar on top of your bread, bacon, candy, and potatoes, and every day ends by the campfire where some cowboys sing in harmony. I never thought it would be a Ray Charles record which would make me write these kinds of lines.

Green

R.E.M.

4/5

#283/1001. Besides Automatic for the People I haven't been a big fan - or a hater - of R.E.M. This one sounds very familiar, although I don't think I've listened to the album as a whole. Very Rem-y? Jingle jangle and Stioe's vocals of course, but there is something about the simplicity which hides great things. If a band manages to sound like themselves instead of a copy of a copy it is always an achievement. This one I might go back to at times.

The Holy Bible

Manic Street Preachers

2/5

#282/1001. Quite a bit darker and heavier sound than what I expected. But does it help? Not really especially if the album is this long. First listen just numbed me, and today I didn't need to be numb. I don't have a clue what happened to the msp after the suicidality met its destiny and I don't want to find out. No points for being the suffering artists from me.

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Sinead O'Connor

4/5

#284/1001. Quite an album an a document of one era and one artist at her peak, shadowed by the one hit song. Here it makes sense, although many other songs either seem to be leading towards it or sound like cheap copies of it (pick one). She seemed to have quite a lot of ups and downs in her life, and a courage to talk about both her and the world's problems. This album is something I might consider owning and coming back later on. Or maybe it is just because I just came back from Ireland?

The Gershwin Songbook

Ella Fitzgerald

5/5

#285(-290)/1001. Omg this project should now be named 1006 Albums? Come to think of it, if all albums here were 6LP sets, we only would have 167 or so to go through. I don’t know how many other of her songbooks make it here, perhaps the Cole Porter or the Rodgers & Hart or the Duke Ellington (there are more)… but ok, what do I think about this? Of course it is fucking brilliant. Perhaps the weirdest fact I can lay here is that I have seen her live, somewhere between '90 and '91 (I heard she quit in '91, so it must have been some of her last shows) at the Hollywood Bowl. As a young punk / hippie I was totally not into this kind of easy listening / jazz thing, but as a 17-year old exchange student it was an opportunity for me to find out about my musical boundaries. And I do remember that on the second part of the show she scatted the hell out of the whole audience. I remember she had to be escorted to the stage and that she sat down the whole gig. But hey, if you are about 75, and have a career of about 60 years behind you, wouldn't you as well? As for this album goes, of course there are well known classics and not so well known songs and some of them are even bangers. But also a lot of them just come and go, no matter how good the production and the interpretation is, at least if you try to swallow everything down in one or two zips. But would it be as good with perhaps a selection of 10-12 songs? Not even a fair question. But reviewing this is reviewing musical history, not music. Funny that I just trashed Ray Charles' take on country and western songs as too cheesy and sugary versions of the american dream, but I don't get it here at all. i guess it is because she doesn't need a harmony-singing backup choir consisting of fake cowgirls and -boys.

Achtung Baby

U2

3/5

#286/1001. This was the last u2 album I listened to. At the time I thought it was ok, but it never grew on me like e.g. War or Joshua Tree. Coming back to it about 35 years later doesn't reveal too much new, the band had become synonymous with stadium rock, and experiments with e.g guitar sounds did little to change that. Some classic songs here and many which I had forgotten for 35 years and forgot again after 2 days.

New York Dolls

2/5

#288/1001. Basic sleazy punky rock and roll. It sounds like they could have improved the sound and the imact with better production but disn’t want to do it. There is a story by the Finnish bass player Sami Yaffa: as the band was reunited somewhere in the 2006 or so, in the beginning practised a lot, and when went to do some gigs in Japan the singer David Johansen looked worried. It wasn't that the band played bad, in fact the opposite: "no more practice!" was the verdict. Ugly and raw, not for me.

Parklife

Blur

3/5

#287/1001. I think I own this? Perhaps or perhaps not. Surely listened to it quite a lot back then. Girls and Boys is something I still play as a dj every now and then (typically incorporated with 20+ other girls / boys themed songs in a live mash-up). Other than that it has some fun songs and is a nice document of the genre and it's era, but it's it really a record that changed the world? Does it have to be in order to be included? Perhaps the whole Britpop movement is something worth that title and perhaps this album even is one of the best documents of that genre. But still...it's so nineties that it hurts.

Winter In America

Gil Scott-Heron

4/5

#291/1001. Some of the chiller songs seem to take over, but then there are the bangers, The Bottle (drowning in to it seemed to be the fate of Scott-Heron as well) and h2ogate: has anything changed in 50 years in America? Still looks like a cold cold winter over there.

Maxinquaye

Tricky

4/5

#289/1001. I Strongly recommend not listening in a car with low volume. 2nd listen with headphones revealed much more whispers, crittefs crawling, dust flowing in the air, snap, cracle and pop of sampled vinyl. Intricate, erotic and dark, cornerstone of trip hop. Oh, and named after his mother.

Strange Cargo III

William Orbit

2/5

#290/1001. What is it with all the Orb, Orbit, Orbital and electronic music? Out of the three this Madonna Ray of Light / Music producer seems the weakest. I've heard quite a lot of good IDM, and this is just some background electronica.

Smash

The Offspring

2/5

#292/1001. I think Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic nailed it by saying: "solid record, filled with enough heavy riffs to keep most teenagers happy". For me Offspring are just one another offspring of Bad Religion.

The Healer

John Lee Hooker

4/5

#293/1001. Blues stripped to ita core, kicks out the jams compared to all the white mans blues wankings so far. Even the 80s sounds don't spoil it too much.

First Band On The Moon

The Cardigans

3/5

294/1001. Yet another 90s familiar band here. But the Cardigans are so cute! And they did 2-3 near pefect pop songs, out of which at least Lovefool is on this record. Still, I have no need to go back, just remember them with a warmish smile.

Madman Across The Water

Elton John

3/5

#295/1001. Funnily I have never seen this album cover in record stores, although I have done my share of picking. Perhaps I've skipped the John Elton sections. Also my knowledge of his music is limited to some of his radio hits, the movie and a making of Yellow brick road album documentary. This album provides us an orchestrated singer songwriter, ready to amaze friends of musicals all around the western hemisphere. The songs are not bad, but nothing stands out in the first listen. Then again I wouldn't mind having to listen to it again. Mostly harmless.

Gold

Ryan Adams

3/5

296/1001. Just after John Elton I get Ryan Adams, first I didn't even notice the album changed, or I thought Elton was changing his instrumentation a bit. Not my favourite Ryan album, but enough to provide mushy music for mellow moods.

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon

3/5

#297/1001. Didn't I rate this one? Or does he (and his lover and band) just recycle songs and ideas? Or perhaps most of his songbook has been playing around my life: radio, tv, home, school bus tours (although we had only one and I don't think John Lennon was played, but take it as a metaphor). I've been so grown up on the Beatles and from the solo era especially Lennon, I could put this on any time. But I've also built my own path in the interesting world of music listening that it just drops to the background as something basic, de facto which doesn't really arouse any stronger emotions, not even nostalgia. Although his and Yoko Onos experimental work are almost unlistenable, I am much more fascinated by them.

Atomizer

Big Black

5/5

#298/1001. Finally something different. I would imagine there would be two possible ways to think about a 1001 collection: 1) collect the major commercially and critically acclaimed albums out there. 2) Collect the most extreme, all but unlistenable, audio, music and genre bending albums out there. This project of course follows the first, wider and easier path, the rich and the famous and safe and sound. But continuing the biblical reference, doesn't that lead to boredom, unification, sin and eventually hell? Aren't we willing to listen outside the box, expand our ears, find out that these kind of weird and unique musical planets, galaxies and universes exist? Big Black and Atomizer (along a handful of other albums on this list) hint at an interesting possibility of a golden path in the middle - although staying safe in the experimental side, a prove of which is that the album still sounds fresh and harsh - unlike e.g. Never Mind the Bollocks, which sort of surprised me as I heard Anarchy in the UK playing in the background in a family restaurant, fitting perfectly to the cosy atmosphere, no-one paying any attention. Waiting for the day to hear Big Money or Kerosene in similar situation - for me that would be signal of cultural progression and general step higher upnin human awareness. Till then, a 5.

She's So Unusual

Cyndi Lauper

5/5

#299/1001. The record which defines the 80s, or at leadt one of those albums. It is sort of surprising hiw some of these songs still hold their charm, and are still so much fun even though they constantly are playing on tv, radio, online etc. I admit that I own 2 copies of this, since I had forgotten that I had already bought it. It is easy to bump into in fleamarkets and 1-2 € bins so grab a copy or two as well, and jive to she-bob!

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane

5/5

#300/1001. There is a church in San Francisco based on this album. https://www.coltranechurch.org/ I think if all religions were like that we would have a much better world. What else can I say. Not only natural high, but also natural 5.

After The Gold Rush

Neil Young

1/5

#301/1001. Nah, I'm not getting it. He might be an important figure in american music history, but who likes anything american these days?

The Atomic Mr Basie

Count Basie & His Orchestra

5/5

#303/1001. Jazz creeps in to this list, and for me I welcome it to wash away all the mossy rolling stones and 90s and 00s rock saviours. The title and the cover couldn't be any more kitschier and out of context, but the music be-pops the hell out of most on this project.

Let It Bleed

The Rolling Stones

2/5

#302/1001. Another mediocre Rolling Stones album, which flopped on the third song, a country version of honky tonk women? But you can't always get what you want, more a rule than an exception in this 1001 project.

S&M

Metallica

1/5

#304/1001. By the third song this sounds more a joke than a blasphemy. Why sprinkle the beauty of raw metal with some classical jingle jangle? If ypu want a classical metallica, check out Apocalyptica. This is almost as bad as Metallica & Lou Reed. Whew, only 2 more hours to go.

Le Tigre

5/5

#306/1001. After 2h and 13 minutes of Metallica mashed up with a Symphony orchestra this washed out any sonic shit or off my ears. (Well I did skip 2 hours of the s&m album, but still felt like I was lost in neverneverland). I forgot how fun the first Le Tigre album is, on par with Julie Ruin s/t. Fun and political, what's not to like? Sorry for stealing the bomb, I really regret that, but I put it to Pirkko Mannola's Maailman paras levy, where it will serve several future generations.

Illinois

Sufjan Stevens

5/5

#308/1001. Although it was a joke and a gimmick, I still wish Sufjan Stevens would complete the 50 states album series and then move on to do an album (plus of course the outtake bonus albums) per every country in the planet. I also wish I could find new artists like this on the 1001 project. I remember hearing songs like Transfiguration and Chicago for the first time and thinking that the planet and the U.S. has some hope. This and Iron Wine are among some of my last great musical discoveries - you know the ones you wouldn't ever like to let go from. Which makes me wonder why I haven't bumped into anything so great in the last 15-20 years. All sorts of nice things for sure, old and new musical cultures from around the world, but nothing to get stuck on a desert island with. All this said it is also funny to notice that I haven't really followed Sufjan Stevens' work ever since: back then I was introduced to a few great albums and this masterpiece from him, I guess the stakes are so high that I'm a bit scared to check out if the newer work keep dropping the bar. It is a really sorry way to think, but what can I do. Well, at least listen to his lo-fi Christmas songs every December. And I can always come back to feel some Illinoise. Easily in the top 5 in this project so far.

Chelsea Girl

Nico

5/5

#302/1001. Aaaahhhhh. Nico. We love you, although I know it didn't make you feel any bettah, so you went and did what you did. But before you went totally dark and gloomy with the organ you gave us some gems, and this along the Velvets' first is one of them. Songs for Sundays.

Lady Soul

Aretha Franklin

5/5

#303/1001. The queen of Soul, the queen of RnB, the queen of Gospel, the queen of Blues. She makes every song a classic and her interpretations are the ones other interpretations are compared to. what else to say?

Exile On Main Street

The Rolling Stones

2/5

#309/1001. Well that was a lot of honkkitonkki and rokkenrolli, as expected. Some unexpected ones lift this to a 2.

AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted

Ice Cube

4/5

310/1001. Can this album be fun and gangsta at the same time? I’m pretty sure Ice Cube has some real life experiences to tell, but am not sure if this eased out any possible white-black relations. And I suppose that never was the purpose of the album. Antway somehow the Public Enemy production takes the album to a whole new level. Not perhaps music I would be listening to very often or playing to my friends and and family, but that’s another reason to respect it.

Sunshine Superman

Donovan

2/5

#311/1001. I used to like Donovan a lot, back then when I was a hippie so much that it hurts. Now those days are gone, thanks to cosmic unity for that. A few good songs remain and a lot of new age hooplah.

Only By The Night

Kings of Leon

1/5

#312/1001. What a load of crap.

Hot Fuss

The Killers

2/5

#320/1001. A) music critics who put together this book got older and wanted to stay in their comfort zone, picking only albums and bands which play out safe and sound like all the music before. B) no good and innovative music has been made post year 2000. I vote for A, at least in this case.

All Directions

The Temptations

4/5

#317/1001. Starts up with a (fake?) live song, suddenly jumps to Papa, then done now slower and ghetto funk. Or psychedelic / cinematic soul. A bit ago directions, also turns out most of the songs were picked from other artists, I guess common for this era / style, as our is often mentioned how the band was a vehicle for the producer's ideas. But what a vehicle! Must be a smoochy Cadillac with a big enough back seat to show some heaven to the ladies in.

This Year's Model

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

2/5

#316/1001. I really respect artists, who have a unique sound, are instantly recognizable and write their songs in a personal style, all this fitting to a slot in the musical map we didn't know had an empty spot. And while Elvis Costello is surely one such artist (not the only one like that in this list), I still just don't like his music (not to mention his voice). Repeat listens might help it but I doubt it.

OK Computer

Radiohead

4/5

#318/1001. Finally a record whose existence in this list is not questioned, right? Although this was more or less a soundtrack of my summer -97, it turns out I had forgotten quite many of the songs in it. But then again the classics remain classics. A bit more conventional and rock'n' rolly than I remembered, I prefer the more electronic Radiohead around Kid A / Amnesiac / Hail to Thief / In Rainbows. But they don't contain masterpieces such as Paranoid Android.

Konnichiwa

Skepta

2/5

#319/1001. i guess this is the first album here which talks about Instagram. And as often with rap (or I guess in this case Grime?) also other topics are also alien to me and my life, as a highly educated post 50-year white hetero male living in the happiest country in the world. Somehow it is even more relevant in this case since we are taking about a very British act, a very British social culture and atmosphere - the political situation of blacks in America as well as American rap, soul, funk and rnb is much more familiar to us who don't really follow the scene over here in Europe. So what can I talk about then? The music and the flow are good but also gets a bit repetitive. The visitors bring freshness in, but still they want nasty girls to twerk for them. That's about it for now.

If I Should Fall From Grace With God

The Pogues

4/5

#313/1001. Fast song slow song Irish song classic song Christmas song, sometimes many or even all together. Gets a bit sing-a-longy when the Dubliners enter the stage, I don't know if that was a bonus or something, but then again after just visiting Ireland I suppose it could be like that at least somewhere very far from Dublin's Temple Bar.

The Boatman's Call

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

4/5

#314/1001. It was the Good Friday, so I choose this album in staff of some others on my list. Despite some classics not my favorite Cave album, the mayhem and sinister and murder and all the maniac loving seem to be missing. In another words I've always liked Cave's ballads, but there seems to be nothing else on this album. 3,5?

Get Behind Me Satan

The White Stripes

3/5

#321/1001. I probably hadn't listened to this album before. First listen lifted out some interesting tunes and charming simplicity is present as always, but also my mind drifted away every now and then. Nothing against or for if I had to listen to it one more time before I die.

Selected Ambient Works 85-92

Aphex Twin

4/5

#315/1001. Although I prefer SAW 2, I was thinking of giving this 5 just because it stands out from the mediocrity of the list. But then it just seems to bw going on and repeating. A lot of it is not really ambient, is it?

Lam Toro

Baaba Maal

5/5

#322/1001. Africa is the new Black! But why this album, why not e.g. Firin' In Fouta? Or Traveller? Or Being? This one can be safely categorized as world music, whereas his newer production often cleverly remixes pop, salsa, electronic, street, folk etc. with African stuff, truly reinventing what world music could and should be. Still, a 5 since it it refreshing to hear, and to see that this kind of music, at least every now and then, exists in this list.

Hard Again

Muddy Waters

2/5

#323/1001. Q magazine called this a guaranteed delight for students of the post-war blues. Shit, I took Post-Humanism in Feminist Punk. Well actually, I don't regret my choice.

At San Quentin

Johnny Cash

4/5

#324/1001. Feels like I already treated it. Oh, it was Folsom's. Would it have been heresy to include a double album of both gigs? Now waiting for På Österåker.

Merriweather Post Pavilion

Animal Collective

5/5

#325/1001. Turns out I’m 3 degrees of separation of away from the Animal collective. But I guess that is just because I know someone from Iceland (from the music scene). But as far as the music goes the seoaration diminishes to 2, 1, 0. It's there any separation? This is my music, although I didn't make it. We don't play guitars. For me this album is a proof that pop music can still evolve, change, open new doors, step out of the path instead of following the same footsteps hundreds have followed before. One can hear animal collective in a lot of things that came after this, merely imitating the sound, stealing glimpses of it, somehow because surpassing the sound experimentation vs pop attitude in this album would have made everyone fail. This record sets some limits for pop sonics and until they change it will be a 5.

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