Excellent on vinyl. Very consistent all through the album. Amy's voice is a throw back dream. The pace was great for me; not super slow.

So, the best of indie pop? This is terrible. Michael Stipe's voice, while technically good, is worse than a prepubecent teens. Grating is an understatement. The music - every song - is now one of the 8 default settings on a Casio keyboard. I award it no stars, and may God have mercy on its soul.

Look, they have like 2, super maybe 3, different songs. The most common is really good. The other on is really bad. But the ratio of good to bad is like 10:1. Two duds on this album (the last 2). But the really good aren't great, so in the end, it's a 3.

So, I'm a fool: I had no idea this was a Latin jam record. Love the concept and the execution was phenomenal. Probably a 3.5.

One of, if not the, first grunge albums. Dark and heavy - especially the lyrics. Would be insanely better on vinyl. Still, not even Uncle Niel's best work. 2.5

Widely regarded as Bob's best album, so I'll leave that as that. Not my personal favorite, so just a 4. Now, as to all the bitching about Bob's voice/singing. It's not great - everyone gets it. But, it's also not bad. He's technically point; it's style and ability that lacks. And despite his voice, he's still one of the greatest singer/songwriters ever. And that's him - he's been covered by better signers with only limited success. So you don't like it? Cool. But you cannot reasonably argue he's bad.

I don't get the appeal. It pop rock. It's modern Beatles which means it's not innovative like the Beatles. It's also not as good. Oasis is to the Beatles as Greta Van Fleet is to Led Zeppelin, but Oasis is serious.

Motown was amazing. Really, no notes. Just not enough of the hits.

Not my thing.I barely feel qualified to review it

He's got a very nice voice. And points for uniqueness. But it's pretty boring pop, and the lyrics can be cringe or just bad (way more composition issues than content).

There're great. Smooth vocals. Rich soulful sound. But this isn't thier best album. One hit and a popular cover.

Harmonies. Hits. Lyrics. Just a great time.

His solo hits. Blusier than I would have given him credit for. Nothing to complain about. Nothing to rave about.

I mean. They're technically brilliant, and I like and respect their sound. And while it's their breakthrough album, this one just isn't very good. The only acceptable 20+ minute song is Alice's Restaurant.

Is this good electronica? No clue. Has electronica contributed meaningfully to misic? Hard maybe. Is there a reasonable argument that digital recording has actually damaged music over time? Yup. Is it one of the 1,001 albums that everyone should listen to? Fuck no.

Prince is great guitar player, and that's about all I have to say about him. This is synth crap.

Greatest punk rock album of all time. Boom.

It's because I wrote that I had respect for Bjork, isn't it. That's why I'm being punished with this? The recording is obviously purposefully poor. They seem to think it's a good effect to jump in and out of quality. I see what we're doing with the strings, but at the end of the day this is way too far towards "art" and away from "music."

Nice little modern punk album. 3.5

It's a musical score? This is tough. It's technically brilliant but not terribly enjoyable.

I mean. Again, I get it. I just don't really like it.

Why? This raised so many questions. Why include this album? Why not Jeff instead? Why is the word happy involved when it's all so depressing? Why make this album? Why not showcase an artist that is capable of saying something interesting about feeling sad instead of this dude? Why did you make me listen to this? Why is this anything other than a footnote on Jeff Buckly's Wikipedia page?

First half is great. Acid rock/stoner rock/whatever you want to call it. Second half drags a bit.

Again?

Solid samba album. As it's apparently THE samba album, it gets the bump.

First hip-hop album, a solid political one, nothing special.

Nice, happy little hip hop album.

This is quite possibly the most overrated album of all time. Minimal hits (one). It's mid Radiohead, which is not bad, but not great. I'm also past the age where I want to hear you whine about your existential crisis.

Three chords and the truth in 3 minutes or less is admittedly restrictive, and music often needs more to do what its creator intends. BUT, 147 chords and a fever dream over 9+ minutes is so much worse. Gabriel simply does not know how to write effectively. He's good, but he can't get it out well enough for most to enjoy. Musically 🎼 this is a completely different story. Collins could be top 10. Hackett is super underrated, and the compositions are very high quality, if disjointed. This version of b-team Rush made a great prog album. But, in true prog fashion, it's the pseudointellectual ravings of a proper wanker.

Only not a 5 because it isn't Jack White's best work.

Happy birthday, Matt, here's a turd. This list is becoming a showcase of the B-Team. I mean the album is fine. There's nothing wrong with it. But there's also nothing great about it. Walker is a fine (like my wife uses the word) troubadour with absolutely nothing special about him.

Sigh. This isn't MBV's best album, just thier first. This isn't the best, most iconic, nor most influential shoegaze album. Just the first. Shoegaze isn't the best, most original, nor particularly influential rock sub-genre. Just - wait, no, just nothing. Shoegaze is an interesting footnote. So why does this abbum get a spot on this list?

This is tough. Isaac is amazing, but tgus album isn't. The first two tracks a good. The other 3 are meh. And I have to say again, only Alice's Restaurant pulls off the super long song. End of day, sorry Isaac, it's not your, it's this album.

An influential classic that I can enjoy (I may be biased by Mr. VanDeusen's influence). I mean, there wouldn't be a Beatles without Buddy.

Flogging Molly is a great, great band. Totally unique, there is really only room for one Flogging Molly in musical history (proof of concept, I once saw FM, Gogol Bodello, and Mariachi El Bronx - an ethnic punk show that was top 5 concerts I've ever been to). I respect that the Mekons made FM and that ilk possible, but this is not good.

They belong on the list. It's fine.

This was just plain fun. Remember when hip hop was fun? Like, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince silly, but Dre/Snoop serious and quality? That's De La Soul, and I am here for it.

Who has anything bad to say about Cyndi Lauper? Great bubble gum pop.

I only needed 2 songs to appreciate this band. It's not bad, It's also just below mid.

2

It's one of the greatest rap albums of all time.

Ice T's best for sure. He has his place. There are several highlights (New Jack Hustler, Body Count, others), but it does feel a bit long. End of day, this album is the epitome of Ice T's place in rap and music generally: a bubble artist. Just on the cusp of a greatest list, but not quite on a greatest list.

Meh

In order to be one of my 1001 albums, the album has to have something more, something extra, something special. This is a fine Radiohead album. But that's all. It's not their first, best, or most influential. It's just a fine album. Meh.

I do not care for prog rock. Like, it's pretty annoying to me. Pretentious theater kids acting like their better that everyone and just telling critics that they don't "get it." That means you aren't conveying anything in a meaningful way; you're just self-grandeurizing.

Wildly talented, and one of the more random characters in music history (he has a small niche place there for sure), Thundercat is . . . something. Not sure what. This sounds like he got really, really high and recorded an album on a Casio keyboard. That's not exactly praise. Mild reprieve from King Crimson (emphasis on mild) and we're back in solid 2-star land. This might actually be a one.

I generally find concept albums to be bloviated artistic self-aggrandizing. But OutKast does it right; you don't need to know about or get into the concept to enjoy it. This was the album with the mega-hits, OutKast is one of the top 5 or 10 rap duos/groups of all time, they're influential, and I like it. It's a 5 from me, dog.

Willie, you're great. You're also super depressing and really not my thing.

Obviously one of - if not the - greatest rock bands of all time. This isn't their best work, but that doesn't mean that it's bad by any stretch. The number of different genres that the band includes on this double album alone is impressive. And while The Wonton Song, Boogie with Stu, and Black Country Woman are favorites of mine, end of day, this is a mid Led Zepplin Album. That's great for most bands, but here they're the victims of their own greatness. 3.5

Why is it so hard to only include certain band's best albums here? If this was The Fat of the Land, it would be a 4.

14 songs, 29:16. Perfect. Three chords and the truth is all you need for a great song, and The Ramones did it first and best.

Finally! We've actually hit a streak of quality. Stevie is just a font of creative talent - this is album number 18 (let that sink in for a moment) and a double at that. Influence 5, Quality 5, Intagibles 4 (it could have easily been albums 18 and 19), personal taste 4. Why can't we have 1/2 stars again?

Ladies and gentlemen, Muddy Waters gives you the blues. Starts off with the kick in the ass Mannish Boy and just keeps hitting you with classic guitar blues. Why does this album sound so good? Well, because it's not just the legendary Waters. Producing and lending additional guitar is Johnny Winters. Top five all-time harmonica player James Cotton features prominently. Influence 5, Quality 4, Intagibles 4, personal taste 4.

I do not like prog. I also don't like the American version of prog (no idea why these are separate categories) - avant-garde.

Again, no hits. I get it; this is the breakthrough (sort of) album that is the godfather of emo/goth rock. But it's neither the best of emo/goth rock nor the best of the Cure.

We get Tiny Dancer and Levon right out of the gate. After that, things get a little self-indulgent and extra. Long songs, overproduced; not his best. But those two songs are great. It's a 2.5 with a rounding error.

Jack White is a national treasure.

Well, it has the hit.

First, Sabbath is the first heavy metal band and gets all the credit for that. Second, this is a solid album. Third, I'm getting it on July 23, 2025 - the day after Ozzy passed. BUT, give me the band's seminal album (Paranoid)! Or the breakout first album (Black Sabbath). Stop with the filler. If this is the 1,001 albums everyone should listen to, include the big deal important albums from these bands!

I think this is the weakest Queen album. Love Queen; don't love this.

Joni Mitchell's magnum opus. Tough rate. As far as influence, Mitchell deserves a place on this list, and this is obviously considered her greatest album. But it doesn't contain her greatest hits (like, none of them), and while she was very influential and paved the way for some really great singer-songwriter women, this is just a super blah album. If it wasn't Joni Mitchell, it'd be a 1. But even her name can't get it to a 3.

Whelp. I don't speak French, so I can't comment on the lyrics. But the music was good, and he's a skilled rapper. Apparently he's THE French rapper and this his big album. 3

We don't get the Girl from Ipanema, but we get everything else. Very solid.

Bowie is good, but not my favorite. This album is very mid Bowie.

Interesting that the rest of the album is a bit different than the One Hit this band is a wonder for. Her voice is great, but that's about it.

One of my personal top 5 rap albums. Probably top ten all-time rap albums.

Stevie is one of the most prolific artists of all time. We're talking 23 studio albums. They are all solid - which is a helluva feat - but no one can make 23 great albums. This is simply not Stevie's best work, but that makes it better than most albums. I hate being put in the position where Stevie doesn't get a 4 or 5. But there are zero real hits on this one.

Sorry Balin, Grace Slick is the star here. Her songs are infinitely better, her voice is more powerful, and the songs she doesn't feature on are copycat Brit-folk. Maybe a touch of Mod influence. Regardless, Somebody to Love and White Rabbit are obvious all-time classics. There is virtually nothing else here. It's disjointed as an album because of the conflicting styles of Slick and Balin. Sorry, but I have to round down from 2.5

Holy crap; I actually discovered something that I like that I would never have heard before. It's the garage punkiness of The White Stripes or The Strokes, but fun like The Darkness.

Okay, I'll give one to the pop princess. 3

What a great little album from a great little rock band. As the band says about its name: it's music; it's just supposed to sound good. 3.5

The first ska band? I get it, but it's not great. I imagine this is what a live band poolside at a Florida resort sounded like in the '50's. Interesting concept, but not something I'm listening to voluntarily.

The best part of this album is that it is 28 minutes long. If Nick Drake were around now, he would be a Conan Grey knock-off. One of the unmemorable, soft-voiced singers that all sound the same. He is a gifted acoustic guitar player, but each song sounds nearly identical and is just sad and boring. 1

A third of the Holy Trinity of Synth Pop. We definitely get the hits on this album, and between those two factors, it's earned its place on the list. I just can't get behind synth pop. Your record should not be able to be reproduced by a teenager and her Casio keyboard. Digital just sounds worse than analogue, and while that can be corrected for with songwriting, actual instrumentation, and other factors, neither The Human League nor any of its progeny manages to do it. 2

Two Nick Drake Albums in three days!?! Murder me. This guy scuks; see below. 1

Very solid CCR outing. 3.5

Bryan Ferry's wrabble is one of the more unique and annoying vocals that I've heard on this list. The album is tolerable new wave, but the problem is that Ziggy Stardust was literally released on the exact same day (June 16). One of those albums is legend, the other forgotten. I didn't hate it, but I can't love it, either.

I'll be magnanimous and give Radiohead 2 albums on this list (the correct answers are OK Computer and Kid A). I've had OK Computer and Rainbows and now this. Combine that with TWO Nick Drake albums, TIM Buckley, and other dreck, and im starting to be concerned about the list maker's mental health. I mean we're clearly clinically depressed, right? 1

Vernon Reid is underrated as a guitar player. This album was released in 1988, and I actually think it was a few years ahead of its time; Cult of Personality certainly rode a wave into the late '90's. Open Letter is a personal favorite. Living Colour is also a terrific example of making a statement with your music in a good way. 3.5 - 4

Another reviewer commented that there is a clearly gifted producer in or around the band, but it's a shame that there's no songwriter. It's not unpleasant, but it's also not really enjoyable.

Potentially the best debut album of all time. Of 11 songs, three are massive hits, three more are widely recognized b-sides, and two more are fan favorites. Love him or hate him, Mr. Mojo Risin is a rock icon. 5

Now we're rolling. Undisputed best album from the undisputed greatest guitar player ever.

In this relentless 34 minutes there is no variance of tempo, no recognizable riffs or remarkable solos, and neither melody nor rhythm to any of the lyrics. I couldn't tell you which song is which upon hearing a sample. Yes, Slayer is one of the Big 4 thrash bands - but they are 4th, and there's a whole lot of room between them and Anthrax. Slayer is just fast, and just because you can doesn't mean you should. I mean, even Metallica evolved.

Top 10 album of all time and for great reason. It's actually surprisingly diverse on a later listen. Every song in here is a classic.

Nevermind is a 5. Bleach is 4.5. Compared to most of the dreck on this list, In Utero is a 6. But how can I give it a 5 when it's really great, but not as great as Nevermind or Bleach? The answer was to read the other reviews. For reasons that I cannot comprehend, the British don't like grunge (but they LOVE prog rock, so apparently there's no accounting for taste). Had this not been Nirvana's final studio album, would we have considered it a sophomore slump or the beginning of the end?

Break through album of one of the top 5 greatest rap groups of all time? Of course. N.W.A. is as great and influential as the Beatles.

Could be called early grunge, but the didn't hit with the others for some reason. Having heard Nevermind so recently, my theory is that The J&MC is too monolithic and distorted. All these songs sound similar and ...thin.

Um. It's decent electronica. I don't personally find it to be the big deal it's made out to be, but I don't really know squat about electronica. I'd listen to it in the background, so that's good for a star.

Human Behavior kicks it off, which may be the best song in Bjork's catalogue. This is clearly her best album, and I for one am here for her voice. Definitely deserves the place on the list as the most mainstream experimental artist (if that's possible). 3