25/1001 Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ Initially I was surprised at the number of songs I did actually know, whether I liked them or not is another matter. It's chilled out dance, which ultimately just becomes background music. I found the beats to be repetitive and there a couple of songs that just list off musicians and cars, which frankly is just annoying.
Some real moments on this, particularly liked the instrumental Flower Pot. Trust Us - Take 9 for it's sludgy, bluesy guitar line and hoarse singing and I'm Glad for its soulfulness I do enjoy the blues rock aspect of this, but it is just a bit too on the weird side for me.
It's been a while since I last listened to this, but what struck me most are the baselines in this. When you combine them with the general arrangements and Morrissey's vocals and lyrics, it's a truly great experience. Highlights for me are Barbarism Begins at Home, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore and The Headmaster Ritual.
It's cool as hell this album, even if the beats can get a little repetitive at times. Still can't knock how influential it was.
This is one of my mum's favourite records, so I heard it a lot when growing up. I don't listen to it often anymore, but each time I go back to it, I absolutely love it. King's soulful vocals, impressive melodies and memorable lyrics all add up to a great album. Some of these songs should be in conversations with the best of all time.
One of my favourite records of all time. The fusion of hip hop style backing music with the atmospheric/gothic vocals of Beth Gibbons creates such an interesting dynamic to the music. Each time I listen to it, I get something new from it. One of those fully formed debut albums. Wonderful stuff.
One of those I've listened to countless of times due to it being on heavy rotation in my mum's collection. Yes, the harmonies are great and some of the arrangements are as well. I just enjoy it less and less each time I listen to it.
7/1001 Fatboy Slim - You've Come A Long Way Baby Heard before? ❎ Would I revisit? ❎ I've heard the singles before and they're decent, but this sort of thing is so far out of my comfort zone. One of those where I neither liked nor actively disliked. I can obviously appreciate it's influence on the dance/rave scene.
8/1001 The Young Rascals - Groovin' Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ A bit of light psych rock, a bit of soul. This all comes together in a very enjoyable way. Just how different it is from other stuff in the 60s, I honestly can't say, but it all felt very familiar.
9/1001 The Beach Boys - Surf's Up Heard Before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ Melancholic Beach Boys is the best version of the band. Here, it sounds like a warning of the hippie dream gone wrong. One or two dude here and there, but overall an excellent album.
10/1001 Bill Callaghan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ I only discovered Bill Callaghan in the last year to two years and this was the first I'd listened to of his solo stuff and Smog's. It's categorised as country, but fuses so many other influences into this to great effect. The baritone/almost spoken word aspect of it fuses so well with the sumptuous arrangements. Lyrically, there's a philosophical quality that sometimes verges on gloom and despair. There's experimentation here and whilst not all of it works, it predominantly does. Great stuff.
11/1001 Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 On the whole, I do like this album, but it's one of those that I would have to be in the mood for. However, I can appreciate just how influential it's been on metal in all of its forms.
12/1001 Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks Heard before? Yes Revisit? Yes Culturally more significant than it is musically, but comes with a number of bangers that separate it from becoming too samey. It's brimming with energy and it's just a fun record.
13/1001 Talking Heads - Talking Heads '77 Heard Before? ✅ Revisit? ❎ There should be a lot that clicks with Talking Heads for me, however, whenever I try and album of theirs it always leaves me a bit nonplussed. It's perfectly fine but yeah, I wouldn'trush back to this again... Psycho Killer is a banger though
14/1001 The Band - Music from Big Pink Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ❎ The most famous of the Band's studio albums and I've always been torn on this. Whilst I appreciate its influences on bands and artists I regularly listen to today, there's a lot on this album that just doesn't work for me. Anything with the falsetto like vocals completely ruins the tracks for me personally. The Weight is still such a good track though.
15/1001 Buffalo Springfield - Buffalo Springfield Again Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 This is the quintessential 3 star album - some really good stuff marred by some absolute rubbish. The Young penned songs are predominantly the standouts. More folky/blues rock than psych, but I'm fine with that. I wouldn't be adverse to listening to it again, but would have to wanting this sort of stuff. Also, the album art for this, is utter garbage 😂
16/1001 The Doors - s/t Listened Before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ The hits are incredible on this for me personally. The trippy 8 minutes of Light My Fire, The End - sublime and the opener - Break On Through. Yes there are some duds, but this is still such a great album.
17/1001 Dinosaur Jr - Bug Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Dinosaur Jr really work for me as a band, from the distorted guitar sound to the play with the soft and loud nature of the compositions. Also the monster guitar solos in a couple of tracks here. It took me a while when I first heard Dinosaur Jr to get used to Mascis's vocals, but when the penny dropped, everything just clicked. Hard to ignore just how influential this was for the alternative/grunge scene at the time.
18/1001 Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ I know some will argue that either Leaders of the Free World or Cast of Thousands in particular is the best of theirs, but it's the one that launched them into being household names. So much interesting instrumentation and lyrics that turn the everyday into something quite profound. Yes, I've kinda had enough of One Day Like This, but still I love this album.
19/1001 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III Heard before? ✅ Revisit? 🫳 Led Zeppelin III has one of the greatest opening tracks of all time, however I forgot just how top heavy this album is. After Since I've Been Loving You, it kinda all goes downhill for me. Yes, they're experimenting with the sound on the latter tracks, but they don't work for me.
20/1001 Bee Gees - Odessa Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ Oh the Bee Gees, I'll get some disco to into work to. Nope, not a little bit of it. A concept album based around a Ukrainian port that throws all sorts of genres into the mix - psychedelia, country, soundtrack, ballads. Does it work? Absolutely not. Far too serious for their own good and often times far too overwrought.
21/1001 The Specials - More Specials Heard before? ✅ Revisit? 🫳 It's hard to deny the influence that the Specials had infusing ska, reggae, music hall, lounge and often times biting social commentary. Whilst their debut had the majority of the hits, their follow up feels more experimental and whilst I can appreciate it, it never lives up to the highs of the debut. I still had fun listening to it.
22/1001 The Velvet Underground - s/t Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I've tried to get into the Velvet Underground before with listens to both the album with Nico and Loaded and the music has always held me at a distance. It's the same with this album unfortunately. Not that there's anything I actively dislike here, it just never grabbed my attention, bar a couple of songs. A shame really.
23/1001 Fela Kuti - Zombie Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Ever since hearing Fela Kuti on 6 Music, I loved his music and this is the only physical album I own of his. The fusion of West African music with jazz and funk work so well together. The vocals on this aren't going to be for everyone, but works for me, in this hyper political album.
24/1001 Randy Newman - Sail Away Heard before? ❎ Listen again? ❎ At first I thought yeah this is ok, bluesy kinda voice and some decent arrangements. Then it turned more and more into an amalgamation of the aforementioned bluesy stuff with show tunes bent and I was out.
25/1001 Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ Initially I was surprised at the number of songs I did actually know, whether I liked them or not is another matter. It's chilled out dance, which ultimately just becomes background music. I found the beats to be repetitive and there a couple of songs that just list off musicians and cars, which frankly is just annoying.
26/1001 Jimmy Smith - Back At Tgd Chicken Shack Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 Overall, I enjoyed this. It leans more into that bluesy jazz and reminded me of in parts Booker T's Green Onions. It's a bit on the chilled side, so kinda blends into the background.
27/1001 Silver Jews - Bright Flight Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 Country enthused indie. I think I far prefer the musicianship and arrangements than the drawl that David Berman has. The lyrics can often be quite wry and witty.
28/1001 Black Sabbath - Vol 4 Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ RIP Ozzy 🖤
29/1001 Billy Bragg - Talking with the Taxman About Poetry Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Billy Bragg is someone I admire, even if I don't always love the music. Coming in at just under an hour and ten, this mixes politics with romance and street poetry in a stripped back and raw fashion. There are dashes of country in this as well. There's a clear lineage between him and Woodie Guthrie and updates the sound for the 80s. The politics are still as relevant today as ever. Greetings to the New Brunette is the standout on this.
30/1001 The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I've heard the singles from this and very familiar with them. Whilst I appreciate its crossover appeal between rock/metal and dance/techno giving it this abrasive quality. However, this clearly isn't an album for me.
31/1001 Lou Reed - Transformer Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ I got a lot more from this than I did from the Velvet Underground outing last time around. There's a lot to really enjoy on this from the proto-punk styling on Vicious to the ballad of Perfect Day (which is elevated by the arrangements on here), to the gender/sexual politics on Walk on the Wild Side. My personal favourite is Satellite of Love, which is Glam Rock personified and you can see Bowie and Ronson's fingerprints all over it. For all of this, there's a lot, which just doesn't work for me from Goodnight Ladies to New York Telephone Conversation.
32/1001 Getz/Gilberto - Stan Getz and João Gilberto Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I've heard some João Gilberto before and the Girl from Ipanema, so was prepared for a mellow jazz record. Whilst it works well for a lazy Sunday morning listen, there's not a lot here to keep it from becoming background music. Nice but nothing more.
33/1001 The Cure - Seventeen Seconds Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ The first sign of things to come from The Cure. Whilst it doesn't hit the heights of their magnum opus Disintegration, it shows the haunting beauty of their work. A blueprint for a lot of post rock, it's a really engaging listen. What struck me most on this re-listen are the basslines throughout that just weave in and out of the songs. Absolutely love it.
34/1001 The Beau Brummels - Triangle Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ Imagine a psych-folk band sung by Bob Dylan, albeit with a better voice and this is essentially what you have with this album. Sure it's an easy enough listen and short at 28 minutes, but nothing too much really grabbed me.
35/1001 Christine and the Queens - Chris Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ (not in full) I must admit that after loving their debut Chaleur Humaine, I was kinda disappointed by the 80s tinged singles that were released ahead of this album being released. As such, I didn't actually get around to listening to the album. I understand the need to reinvent your sound, but it wasn't in a way that excited me. On listening to this today, we have two sides - one in English and the other of the same songs in French. Honestly, the French versions work so much better and I wished they'd stuck with one and not the other. Musically, I don't mind it, but never got engaged as much as the debut.
36/1001 Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ❎ At the time, I listened to this album on the strength of The Bucket and Four Kicks, but quickly lost interest in the band after. On this listen, the mumbling vocals with the bluesy-country-garage rock does absolutely nothing for me and at the end of the day, they all feel the same.
37/1001 Supertramp - Crime of the Century Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ This one hit the spot for me this morning and will be listening to it more. Proggy, poppy and basically just one rock opera. Yeah there are moments that don't quite hit, but very impressed with this nonetheless. I love the piano and sax solo at the end of the title track.
38/1001 Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ Well this was a bit of a revelation! This is such a fun record! Jazz, groove, wig out session album. Only one of the six songs has vocals (provided by Captain Beefheart) and enjoyed pretty much all of it.
39/1001 Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ I'd previously heard of Lucinda Williams before and may have heard a track or two, but never delved deeper. First things first, I really like Williams's voice. It's got this soulful country lilt that works. It's full of longing, lust and loneliness and the arrangements and general production are top notch.
40/1001 Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ I mean, what else is there to say about this album? It's got to be one of the best live albums out there. You get to see a completely different side to the band and Cobain. As a kid, I was obsessed with Nirvana but was never allowed to play them in the car until I purchased this. Whilst I think my parents probably tolerated it, it was my soundtrack to summer holidays in France. A truly special album.
41/1001 Laibach - Opus Dei Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ It's quite clear right from the off that Laibach were a heavy influence on Rammstein from the vocals to (on the first half) the industrial style sound. It is a bit more synthy and less heavy, but it's there. I can kind of manage that, but then it turns into marching music to describe it best followed by nationalistic sounding stuff, sampling speeches/singing or speaking them. This where it completely lost me. Now whilst this was on, I was reading about how they would use the nationalistic sounding music to criticise the Communist government in Yugoslavia at the time. However, it does nothing whatsoever for me to enjoy or appreciate this.
42/1001 Sabu - Palo Congo Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ Afro-Cuban jams that put the conga drums at the very fore of the sound. It's very rhythm led album that for the most part have a call and response style vocal. The tracks that have fuller orchestration on share a direct DNA link to the various bands that Sabu previously played in and future Cuban records. There are a couple of almost congo led songs on this, which aren't my thing, but become these hypnotic, danceable tracks. The production on this is pretty raw and makes you feel as though you're part of a show, which kinda feels like the point. One of those where I wish there were half stars, as this sits between a 3 and 4 for me.
43/1001 Elvis Costello and the Attractions - This Year's Model Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Of all the Costello albums on this list, this is the one I'd definitely keep here. It perfectly crosses the pub rock styling with punk, with his oftentimes snarky commentary. The music sometimes feels as though it's going to become too chaotic considering how much is thrown at it, but never does. An album that you can see influence New Wave, 80s indie and to a certain extent the likes of the Police.
44/1001 Pixies - Surfer Rosa Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Whilst this is my second favourite Pixies record after Doolittle, there's so much I appreciate on this record. It's a far less polished, but that works in its favour. There's a real energy that's absolutely palpable, prime example being Something Against You. It's bizarre, manic and yet utterly infectious. This is even before we talk about it influencing the likes of Nirvana or PJ Harvey.
45/1001 Speakerboxxx/The Loce Below Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I honestly dreaded this when it came up and I got it done. For me personally, Speakerboxxx is the far more interesting half with snippets of jazz, soul and funk thrown in. The Love Below feels a bit more experimental and it didn't work for me. What saved that half was the one two of Hey Ya! and Roses.
46/1001 Air - Virgin Suicides Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 As the album starts, it's really quite mellow and potentially mirrors the nature of the film (not seen so cannot judge), but as it progresses, the tension builds up - Ghost Song is particularly good. However, that start did kind of make it blend into the background. Certainly not one I would discount from re-listening to in the future.
47/1001 The Kinks - Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I think this album reinstates my belief that The Kinks are a singles band. Yes this is a concept album, but it needs to the tunes to carry the concept, which this simply doesn't. You have the one good song in Victoria at the start and then a couple of glimmers here and there, but nothing to interest otherwise.
48/1001 Buck Owens - I've Got a Tiger by the Tail Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I'm sure this was super revolutionary in country music circles at the time (and some songs have been covered - Act Naturally on the Beatles' Help album), but there's not enough for me to properly get stuck into. I did enjoy the mix of upbeat and melancholy from song to song, but that's as far as it goes.
49/1001 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ Cave is at his best when dealing with personal tragedy and sadness. In The Boatman's Call, this is his first real move away from his post-punk leanings into a far more introspective look on loss of faith and searching for some sort of meaning and landing on a spirituality of sorts. There is real beauty here, but as with all Cave records, such darkness as well. Over the years, this has cemented itself as one of my favourite records of his.
50/1001 Steely Dan - Aja Heard before? ❎ Revisit? 🫳 Without a doubt an ultra polished sounding album that mixes jazz and rock. The playing and arrangements in this are great. However, it does kind of fade into the background a bit, once you've settled in to it. I imagine I'd probably only revisit it if I needed something on in the background whilst working...
51/1001 The Temptations - Cloud Nine Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ✅ An album of two halves, in which the first is so much more interesting. The first half really delves into funk elements, whilst retaining the soul sound from previous work. The second half mines more of that classic motown soul, which I still enjoy, it's not as interesting.
52/1001 Michael Jackson - Bad Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ I'm lukewarm when it comes to Michael Jackson at the best of times and this album hasn't changed my opinion. The singles from it range from OK to great and the rest is just there. Never got the hype, never will.
53/1001 Marvin Gaye - What's Going On Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ At first, Motown bosses rejected this for it being too political and not on brand for the label, but Gaye convinced them to release it. The themes on this are still as timely now as they were back in the 70s. It's an album that musically looks back with the soulfulness and yet is looking forward with anxiety about the future and a nation tearing itself apart through hatred, suffering and injustice with the backdrop of the Vietnam War. The songs are flow into one and feels as they should all be listened to in one sitting. An absolute all-timer for me.