I am not going to cut any corners here: I cannot for the life of me understand why this album is on this list. While the "music" itself isn't terrible...it lacks energy or range. Its incredibly repetitive and nothing special. The lead singer is frankly terrible. I was completely unfamiliar with this band, and my first response to the second track (the first one isn't really a song so much as half symphony/half noise) is "Oh no it's bad". The lead singer sounds like he's trying to combine the musical styles of Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison...but only the bad traits of each, as if two negatives would make a positive. This album has almost no plays on YouTube Music, my preferred listening platform. This isn't because it's some unheralded gem. It's a bad album. I was starting to give up so decided to skip ahead to their most popular song, "Shiver", and it wasn't any better. I had to cut my losses, I wasn't about to subject myself to two hours of this...and I can't imagine any of this would sound better live than studio produced. Easily the worst thing this project has put in front of me. It's place in this project is an absolute mystery to me. I cannot recommend avoiding this album enough.

Definitely an 80's album, there is not a song on here that you would confuse as a more modern track. Peter Gabriel definitely has a distinct voice and the music is very catchy. The second song, Sledgehammer, is listed as the most popular song on the album by YouTube Music plays, but it's one I'm honestly not familiar with. Red Rain and In Your Eyes are way more iconic to me and continue to get more play/pop culture reference so that's interesting to me. In Your Eyes always has been and always will be an absolute banger.

It's not a bad album but also not particularly great. If you like the 2000s indie sound its solid but nothing sticks out like Take Me Out. Decent background music if you don't want it quiet but don't want the music to take your attention away. Not surprising that there weren't any other popular songs off this one.

CCR is the definition of "Classic Rock". That 60s/70s hippie rock that is such a distinctive, iconic sound. "Bad Moon Rising" is obviously the biggest hit here but the title track "Green River" is one of their best songs too, and that's saying a lot. This is a great album, and the scary part is it may not even be their best album, and the scary part of that is that you could probably make that case for any of their albums. One of the greatest bands of all time, putting out constant hits. Easy to see why they are on this list!

Al Green has a great voice, but this album doesn't do a lot to showcase any kind of range for him. While the opening track "Let's Stay Together" is iconic, the rest of the album feels very similar. Most of the tracks have the same pace, similar sound, and don't really do anything to break things up. It works well for background noise but doesn't really do much for me as far as active listening goes. Nothing "sounds bad" just doesn't switch up enough for my taste. A fine album, but not a particularly great one.

I feel really weird giving this a "mid" review, because it has a couple great songs on it, but other than "Tiny Dancer" and "Levon" nothing else really gripped me. It wasn't that it was "bad" music, just didn't get the same jolt and excitement from the rest of the music. It was just "there". Worked as background music but not something that kept me focused on the songs themselves. Elton's got a fantastic voice, and is definitely one of the all-time greats, but this album as a whole just didn't pull me in the way I expected.

What an iconic 90s rap album. I really love the sound, even if there's no chance in hell I could rap along to 95% of the lyrics. I'd forgotten that rap albums used to be about 80% rap music and 20% comedy skits and low key love that, wish I'd see that more these days. Lots of the music does tend to blend together and sounds get repetitive. It's easy to forget how limited some of the tools were at the time and what they had to work with compared to what's available now. This album has some of the most iconic songs and sounds of the genre and even though I don't listen to rap regularly, I am glad I got to experience this album again after so long.

So many hits on this record, it's easy to see why people remember it as one of the greatest Pop albums of all time. I will say that while there are a number of hits, this does also have a few "misses" like "Speed Demon" and "Just Good Friends" which aren't necessarily "bad" songs but they just aren't anywhere close to the same level as the rest of the album. Everyone absolutely should listen to this album so I'm glad it's here.

Live album with that very distinctive hippie late 60's-early 70's sound. Unfortunately not my thing, really struggled trying to get through this one and eventually just gave up. From a "technical" standpoint it's well put together, just not a sound I enjoy.

Incredibly solid "classic rock" vibe. YouTube Music only hosts 6 of the 18 songs from the album, but of those six there wasn't a single one I didn't enjoy. Surprised I never heard of them before, "8:05" is a great song and feel like it should have more than the 499,000 listens it has at my listening time. Feel like the only way I can describe them is "under rated" and I'll have to search out more from them!

Confession time: I think Bruce Springsteen's voice is terrible. There, I said it publicly. He can write some great songs, but listening to him sing them is painful to me. I couldn't make my way through the album. Great song writer, terrible singer. I know that's an unpopular opinion, and he's an American icon...but man I just can't get behind it. Will not give this one another go.

This album is a bit of a head trip. Going in without any knowledge, it was hard trying to decide if this was going to be ska, or reggae, or rock and roll...and it turns out it's a bit of a mix of all of the above. A "second wave" ska band out of the UK from the 80s. They start the album off with their strongest song in my opinion, and the rest is either mildly interesting or flat. Neat to hear once, don't think I'd need to listen to it again though. Definitely the type of album that has to be "your thing".

One of the all-time classic rock albums. Kashmir is a song that transcends time, and I'm honestly really surprised at the relatively smaller number of listens that "House of the Holy" has on YouTube Music compared to other songs on the album. So many great songs on this album you're bound to find something for everyone.

Very unique vocal sound, and seems to change it up a bit from song to song. A bit of early indie/folk singer-songwriter style popular in the 2000s like Ben Folds. Very calming music, great for a rainy day. A bit on the "emo" side from a vibe-standpoint. Well done album, but no real "hits" on here. Great to have on in the background and vibe to.

This album is an absolute trip in the best way. No two songs feel like they are really the same genre or inspiration. And yet, through all the change, everything sounds great. While listening, one of my comments to my friends was that it seemed like the record label asked them to define their genre and they replied with "lol you'll never guess"...and looking up the band on Wikipedia that's basically the whole purpose of the band to begin with! Absolutely nailed it. This album was an absolute delight. nothing at all like what I expected based on the cover, and I can't wait to check out their other albums. Absolutely fantastic.

This is a rock-opera style album much like The Wall, Tommy, pretty much begging to be made into a musical or movie. The songs flow into each other, with most of them just around a minute or minute and a half. Definitely that "classic rock" sound throughout the album with a little bit of experimentation to keep things interesting. Not a bad album, but not a great one either in my opinion. The album art is fun though....looks like what they used to help train AI.

Historically I'm not much of a Neil Young fan. I connect a lot with vocals and his usually turn me away...I'd rather have his acoustics. However, I've never listened to his music from the 70s and I actually like it much better. Totally different feel. I still won't say that I loved it, but it was actually for the most part tolerable (I still don't like his falsetto). A fine album.

Holy cow 2 hours and 45 minutes. Some of that is live versions and different mixes...but a ton of music here. That said....this is about as generic 60s music as it gets. No songs that really stick out and make me feel like this is a hit. If you like the stereotypical 60s music sound (Beatles, Monkeys, etc) this will be right up your alley. If it's not...this is a lot of music that you won't enjoy. It's fine. Not sure that this is an album that anyone NEEDS to hear before they die. But definitely sounds like a very specific decades music.

An interesting listen. I didn't mind it but it started to grow old half-way through. I have a hard time with foreign language artists because I tend to connect more with lyrics than music, and if I don't have any basis in the language I just don't get that solid connection. Nothing against the artist, that's all on me. Well produced, excellent voice quality and control. Was neat to listen to once but not something I'll pull up again.

You mean to tell me the guy from the 2007 hit family comedy "Are We There Yet?" put out a rap album? (Just kidding, I promise!) Ice Cube was obviously a huge part of the "gangsta rap" movement from the late 80s and early 90s with his part in N.W.A. That said, I always thought his lyrics were weaker than most of the rest of the group, and just never really enjoyed his stuff as much as Dre or Eazy-E. This album is well produced and has a good range where it doesn't just sound like the same sound over and over which plagued a lot of albums from this era. There are definitely worse rappers, but I personally think it was probably best that he put more focus into acting as he got older. I'm obviously not the target market for this album, and wasn't when it came out either. It's not a bad album but not my favorite.

A very different Beach Boys album. It feels like they were trying to shed the bubble gum surfer pop style and transition to a Rock band, but just don't fully have it in them. Every song on here feels like it has a little bit of a different influence, from Sgt Peppers to The Doors and on and on. They never fully nail it, and they never seem to settle on a specific style. The harmonies are still there, just adjusted. It's not a bad sounding album, but not a single song on here is quite a hit. It's sad to hear "Student Demonstration Time" and realize that the world is just repeating patterns that should have died off decades ago. The more things change, the more they truly do stay the same. If this wasn't a "Beach Boys" album maybe I'd enjoy it more...but it doesn't fit what I expect from them and I feel like that's probably affecting me a bit. It's fine. Just not what I wanted going in.

I was surprised that I didn't really remember any reggae undertones to The Police...and then I paid more attention to the album title and felt like an idiot. Decent album. Starts off with an absolute banger with Message in a Bottle. The rest of the songs are fine, but nothing that really stood out to me over the others. Apparently (based on listens on YouTube Music) Walking on the Moon is popular, but I hadn't heard it before. It was ok but a bit repetitive. Overall, a fine album. I like The Police just not a superfan.

To a lot of people, one of the greatest albums of a generation still holds up today. I won't claim to be a huge Radiohead fan but they are a great band, and this album is top notch. Not a single song on here I wanted to skip. Karma Police and No Surprises still get radio play time today because they hold up so well. Excellent album that absolutely belongs on a list of albums you should listen to before you die.

Very solid album. Great vocals, very clean, with some fun lyrics. Has a lot of energy to the music. Would love to see a little more variety to the overall sound...while it's all good stuff, it all starts to blend together over the course of the album. Still very enjoyable though!

Really fun album. Although this is an album from the 70s (late 70s really) it has way more of that 80s sound. Lots of variety to the music without seeming like they don't know what type of music they want to play. Unfortunately the song "Just What I Needed" brings back nightmares of working at Circuit City so I have to skip that one personally. Otherwise, really nice album that still holds up almost 50 years later!

This is one of the first albums I've received on 1001 Albums that I was already familiar with, and it's a tough one for me. I love early Green Day, but this album came out during a time of strong political opinion and issues (much like today). What differs for me personally is that I was much younger and didn't want to be involved in politics. The media was seemingly overbearing and I used music as an escape from it all, so to have an album like this come out from one of my favorite bands at the time felt frustrating to young me (oh the privilege). All this to say: I do not have fond memories of this album, and had to try and reset and give it a fair shake twenty years later. If there is one thing American Idiot is not, it's subtle. Very clear in their disdain for the American military involvement in the Middle East and the Republican leadership of the time (George W Bush), as well as the wave of xenophobia that swept the US after 9/11. With hindsight, hard for me to disagree with their take, and it's shocking that they are seemingly quieter with the current administration. Musically, I still don't think this is their strongest effort. In their desire to make their feelings known, they lost of a lot of the cleverness to their lyrics from previous albums. Some of the music feels derivative (I still, to this day, can't hear "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" without wanting to override the lyrics of "Wonderwall" by Oasis). A lot of the lyrics wouldn't fly today either, even when used intentionally to show the bad intent of others, and it's a bit jarring. It's not as bad of an album as my memory wants it to feel like, and I'm glad I gave it another shake, but still don't think "based on the quality of the music" that it's a fantastic album. It's not a bad album, and it has an important part in music history, but still think Green Day has done better.

What an absolute delight of an album. Not so wild that it seems grating but never so calm that you lose interest. Put me in a wonderful mood to the point that I might listen to this (or something similar) every morning. Fantastic from start to finish. Wish I could give it a million stars!

Seems like a very experimental album. Not a lot of lyrics, and very surprising to find that the hit off of this album "The Forest" is almost five minutes long...quite a bit longer than standard radio play time for its era. This definitely has that trademark "The Cure" sound, but some of it comes across more as "noise" than "music". Not really a huge fan of this album, although I don't generally mind The Cure. This was early on for them so it's interesting to see how much they grew as they went. Not an album I'd want to listen to again, but it wasn't straight terrible.

This album has a cover that looks like it could have come out of any record collection you'd find in your grandparents basement, and sounds exactly like it too. More "Johnny Cash" country than "I lost my wife, dog, truck, and beers" country that was popular when I was growing up and made me decide I wasn't a fan of country. While this isn't something I'm going to search out, I do prefer this style of music over the country I grew up with. Can definitely see the ties to rock and roll, and it's easy to get your toe tappin' to a lot of these songs. Overall, fairly enjoyable. Not my typical cup of tea but not bad for a change of pace!

Of all the Taylor Swift albums to grace this collection, I'm kind of surprised that this one is here. Arguably one of her less-popular albums, with only one single that I didn't even remember the name of. While this does show a bit of both of her "sides" musically (pop and country), this is a pretty slow, almost depressing album for T.S. Seeing that it came out at the end of 2020 after a pandemic year makes a little more sense for the tone. Some of the songs on this just seem honestly bad (closure, long story short) from both a music and lyrical standpoint, which isn't something I think of with Taylor Swift often. The whole album just lacks energy from her singing that's usually there. Not sure if she was just in a bad headspace, the global pandemic was keeping her down, or this album was more about contractual obligation than a passion project, but while it has her trademark hooks and dips there's just no soul behind it. Not excited about this album, probably one I won't listen to again to be honest. Just way below her standard.

I am not going to cut any corners here: I cannot for the life of me understand why this album is on this list. While the "music" itself isn't terrible...it lacks energy or range. Its incredibly repetitive and nothing special. The lead singer is frankly terrible. I was completely unfamiliar with this band, and my first response to the second track (the first one isn't really a song so much as half symphony/half noise) is "Oh no it's bad". The lead singer sounds like he's trying to combine the musical styles of Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison...but only the bad traits of each, as if two negatives would make a positive. This album has almost no plays on YouTube Music, my preferred listening platform. This isn't because it's some unheralded gem. It's a bad album. I was starting to give up so decided to skip ahead to their most popular song, "Shiver", and it wasn't any better. I had to cut my losses, I wasn't about to subject myself to two hours of this...and I can't imagine any of this would sound better live than studio produced. Easily the worst thing this project has put in front of me. It's place in this project is an absolute mystery to me. I cannot recommend avoiding this album enough.

Really fun album. The Score is probably not as commonly played anymore as it should it. Great beats, solid lyrics, and great vocals. A really fun listen that definitely belongs on this list.

This is one of those albums where I wish you could give half a star because I'd feel more comfortable with my rating. Look, "We Are Family" is an all-time classic. I will definitely jam to that song. As far as this whole album goes, the music is really good, the vocal quality is fantastic, but the lyrics are SO BAD. Not only are they overly repetitive, but just from a writing perspective they either don't feel like they fit the flow of the song, or are just generally weak. Distractingly bad. I'd feel more comfortable giving this a 2.5 than a 3, but I don't think it really deserves a 2 star rating, so here we are. One of a few albums where I'd be happier if it was just an instrumental.

Pleasant sound, great vocals, lyrics are solid. Just a really solid album that was easy background music.

Definitely punk, definitely industrial. Big Black was not here to make you feel good, or to be "commercially viable". They were here with a message, and they didn't care if you wanted to hear it or not. Purposefully vulgar and uncomfortable lyrics are their brand, and they wear it proudly even decades after the band has folded. Definitely not for everyone, and while I can appreciate it for what it is, it's not something I'm likely to listen to again. Not upset I got to hear it though!

This album has a lot of praise from when it came out. I thought it was fine but didn't feel especially noteworthy outside of the title track. It wasn't bad, great background music, but didn't really pull me in.

A solid singer/songwriter album. Feels like this probably influenced a lot of the 2000s style artists like Jack Johnson. Album was pretty short so it was an easy listen but also made it feel like there could have been more to it. Very enjoyable though!

This one was a hard rate for me. I'm honestly usually more of a lyrics guy. The music is important but what connects in my brain are the lyrics. I don't do a lot of instrumental stuff because it just doesn't hit the same for me. That said, this album would have been infinitely better overall if it was just instrumental. I loved the beats, the music, but the single phrases repeated over and over were just grating. This one ultimately isn't for me. If it was just the music I'd rate it much higher, but as-is I can't give it a very good score personally. Others more into this genre will likely disagree and that's fine.

Absolutely great album. Irish punk might not be everyone's thing but I absolutely love it. Great sound, We wouldn't have Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly without The Pogues. Sound still holds up today, Definitely belongs on a list of albums everyone should hear! I'll be adding this to regular rotation.

More like a bad Bob Dylan impression mixed with spoken word poetry than music. I know he's famous for Hallelujah and that's a much better showcase of his talents...this album makes calling him a "singer"/songwriter feel generous. Bland acoustic guitar chords as the accompaniment was extra rough. I hated this, and that made me pretty sad. Not a good album, no idea why it's on this list.

This album was alright. It was very much "Eric Clapton on electric guitar with generic classic rock around it". Clapton, while I don't agree with on a personal basis, is a really talented guitar player...and I wish that was all he was known for. He's had some great music over the years, and this album showcases his talent well. But what surrounds him was just very generic, without any particular song really sticking out or catching my attention. It blends into the background well enough, but isn't an all-timer.

It was fine. Enjoyable, but didn't really have any songs that stood out. Great background music, was able to keep me focused without drawing my attention away from work.

Great sound and meaningful lyrics. The poetry-read style at the end was a nice change of pace and fit the rest of the album well. Really enjoyed this one!

I'm honestly not quite sure what this album wanted to be. It didn't seem to hold a specific sound, and while it wasn't like the quality was bad, it just felt off in too many ways. Kind of hard to describe, but it's almost like it wanted to be a sound fusion but couldn't quite ever properly land the combination. The quality of what they put out was good, but ultimately I just didn't enjoy what it ended up being. Just not for me I guess.

Jane's Addiction is a weird one for me. They were big while I was growing up, and while I don't "dislike" them I never really was into them to the point that I thought they deserved all the praise they receive. They definitely have a unique sound, and really they aren't a bad band, but after listening to this album again I still don't think they deserve to be talked about as an "all time great" band. Not that they didn't deserve success mind you, just that I feel they get a bit more love than they maybe deserve. This album includes what I think is probably their most recognizable song, "Been Caught Stealing". It's a fun song, but much of the album sounds very similar. Another "Yeah, it's fine" album for me.

Generic Beach Boys sound. Whatever you hear in your head when someone mentions the Beach Boys, that's what this entire album sounds like. It's fine, nothing special. An important part of American music styling but not really a "stand out" album for me personally.

One of the all time great classic rap albums. The Beastie Boys distinctive sound in in full force here, and it's hard not to love every second of it. Highly recommended album!

80s Pop at some of its finest. Blondie puts out some bangers and this album has two of their all-time greats. Really fun listen, but can start to sound a bit repetitive in places. Definitely a great album though!

Classic Beatles album. Like the rest, so many classic hits in one space. Crazy how a full album used to only run about 30 minutes and yet you still got plenty of hits.

Maybe it's because this was my second Beatles album in a row, but this one didn't hit as hard as Hard Day's Night for me. Still solid Beatles music, albeit a little older style. Some songs on here I didn't remember being related to The Beatles like "Money (That's What I Want)" and "Please Mister Postman". This does have a lot of the songs from the 2000s movie Across the Universe and it made me want to go back and rewatch that since it's been a while, so it wasn't all for nothing!

This is one of those albums I have a hard time rating because it's not that the music was particularly "bad" from a quality standpoint, it's just not something I personally enjoyed. I am definitely not the target audience for this. I was also under the weather, and this was not the type of music to get me through the day, so maybe on a different day I'd give it a slightly better score...but it wasn't my general cup of tea anyway.

Generally not a "electronic" band fan, but this album was way more chill and I actually really vibed with it. Hadn't heard of them before but I'll actually probably listen to this again in the future. Pleasantly surprised!

Whatever you think of when you hear "generic late 60s/early 70s band" that is what this album is. It's not terrible, but nothing really stands out either.

Solid album. Bittersweet Symphony is of course an all-time classic song, but the rest of the album doesn't have anything that's a true "hit". Good tunes and great vibes, but not an all-timer full album to me.

A one-hit wonder album, nothing stood out past Psycho Killer to me. It was fine, but not something that would have made me have a full buy-in on the band when it released.

Easily one of my least favorite albums on this project so far. I feel like putting it here was almost a more "I'm cool because I think this is good when everyone else will hate it" move. The title track, American Gothic, has instrumentals that clash with each other, and the spoken-word type lyrics don't seem to properly match the beat and tone of the acoustic accompaniment. Most of the album has this sort of feel, and I cannot express enough how much I dislike it. The Wikipedia article for this album has the following quote: "In its retrospective review, AllMusic wrote 'American Gothic remains one of those great albums that never found its audience. It waits to be rediscovered.' " I posit this counterpoint: This album never found an audience because it is bad. No one wants to share it because they don't want to look foolish for recommending it. Considering the incredibly low listen rate on YouTube Music, I feel like I have a more correct view of this album than AllMusic.