My biggest hangup with Radiohead is how bloodless their music sounds—cold, removed, heady to a fault. After a while, it blends together into a sort of white noise: ambient washes of percussion and synth, with Thom Yorke's heavily reverbed, barely intelligible vocals. My favorite moments on this are the ones have a stronger pulse: the second half of "2 + 2 = 5" and the almost NIN-esque "Myxomatosis." The rest falls away for me.

I don't think this could sound more '80s—it all sounds so synthesized. I wonder if I'd like it more if that weren't the case, but probably not. I always found Simply Red schmaltzy, and the more upbeat, funky or even aggressive moments (like "No Direction") don't land, either. I also can't think of Simply Red without thinking of 24 Hour Party People, when God (as Tony Wilson) speaks to Tony Wilson: "It's a pity you didn't sign the Smiths, but you were right about Mick Hucknell. His music's rubbish, and he's a ginger."

This is quite pleasant, but I don't see myself returning to it.

I liked this more than I remember, but it's still not something I'll revisit much. I generally prefer Lou Reed in small doses and stick to the "hits." But he's an icon, so I appreciate how much he influenced people I like.

What else needs to be say about this album? Even with a dud like "The Girl is Mine" (and to a lesser extent, "The Lady in My Life" and "Baby Be Mine"), it's one of the greatest of all time, even with everything we know about Michael Jackson now. The controversy around him will inevitably fade, but the songs will remain.

This is one of those bands I respect more than I enjoy. I totally appreciate how different they were and the influence they hold, and "Once in a Lifetime" is an undeniable classic, but... their music in general doesn't grab me.

I'm generally good with the hits when it comes to Elvis Costello. "Radio, Radio" and "Pump It Up" are classics, and there's some solid stuff on here, but I'm fine with the best of.

This is supremely cheesy '80s metal-lite, but it's very good at being supremely cheesy '80s metal-lite. Beneath all the "let's rock!" goofiness, there are some great melodic parts, and "Photograph" is still awesome.

C'mon. One of the greatest albums of all time by one of the greatest pop songwriters of all time. Five stars or fuck off.

We're not too deep into the 1001 project yet, but nothing compares to how much I hated this. The stunted adolescent angst of the lyrics, the awful vocals (screaming = fine,if tired; the singing = Creed-level cringe), the guitar wankery, the drum wankery (JFC that china cymbal)...I couldn't have liked it less. These dudes are huge, so this obviously this does something for a lot of people, but I was counting down the seconds till it ended.

The more I've explored the Stones' catalogue, the more I've realized I'm fine with the hits. Obviously "Sympathy for the Devil" is one of the most iconic rock songs of all time, and "Street Fighting Man" is one of their great songs. The rest are good to hear, but won't bring me back. Well, maybe "Stray Cat Blues" to marvel at how problematic it is.

I remember when this came out and people freaking out about it, but I never quite understood the hype. "Last Nite" is great, and I like "Hard to Explain," "New York City Cops," and "Take It or Leave It," but this never struck me as a generation-defining album or anything. It's fine.

Like Enter the Wu-Tang..., this album has a LOT going on, though the production isn't as dynamic as the material warrants. Everything kind of sounds at the same level, and some of the vocals sound surprisingly rough. Regardless, this is one of the landmark albums of '90s rap, even though it's overlong and overstuffed. I think it rewards repeat listens, though, because it's easy to miss everything packed inside it.

This is pleasant, charming '70s country. I liked it, but it's not my thing.

There's no reason this needed to be 18 tracks (or 16, minus the intro & outro). Related: I find CeeLo's voice grating after a while, even with it's enmeshed with well-arranged soul music. I wish there were more of that and less of everything else.

With David Bowie, I fall somewhere on the spectrum between "just the hits" and "will dive into the classic albums." I've done the latter, but generally stick to the former. This is one of many in his string of classics, and it's one where I'm happy just to come back for "Changes," "Oh! You Pretty Things," "Life on Mars?," and "Queen Bitch."

My biggest hangup with Radiohead is how bloodless their music sounds—cold, removed, heady to a fault. After a while, it blends together into a sort of white noise: ambient washes of percussion and synth, with Thom Yorke's heavily reverbed, barely intelligible vocals. My favorite moments on this are the ones have a stronger pulse: the second half of "2 + 2 = 5" and the almost NIN-esque "Myxomatosis." The rest falls away for me.

I don't know a ton about Jeff Buckley, other than "Hallelujah" and that he became pretty revered after his unexpected death at a young age. I know this album by reputation, but I don't think I'd ever listened to it from start to finish. While I enjoyed it more than I expected, I don't know that it's something I'll return to.

I bought this on CD 20+ years ago, listened to it once, found it boring, and haven't touched it since. Now I think it kinda rules?

My whole life, I've found R.E.M. hit and miss, and Document bears that out. I can't remember the last time I heard this, but this time around I thought it dragged—though it surprisingly picks up at the very end with "King of Birds" and "Oddfellows Local 151." Obviously "It's the End of the World as We Know It" is a classic of the era, and "Finest Worksong" remains great, so there's plenty to like here (and plenty you can skip too).

This is brainless party music, best enjoyed while rolling on ecstasy at a rave in 1995. It's a time capsule of mainstream electronic music 30 years ago, and I still like some of the beats and production.

It's always worth listening to full albums by iconic groups to familiarize yourself with the non-hits...but you'll often realize that you're good just knowing the hits, as was the case with me and Jefferson Airplane.

Maybe it's because I was startled to learn there are SIX (!!) Elvis Costello albums on this list, and maybe it's because I (unfairly) associate his '90s output with his crooner phase, and maybe it's because this album just isn't that great, but Brutal Youth did next to nothing for me. I was eager for it to end.

There's no reason for this to be two hours. I understand it's from the CD era, far predating streaming audio and the variety of options for DJs to post full sets. But it's so long and so repetitious. And to make a point that's surely belabored by now, that this is called Timeless is funny, considering it sounds so very '90s. It's very much a time capsule of breakbeat electronic music of that era, which is neat...but way overstays its welcome.

While I like some of the music on this—particularly when horns are part of it—the utter inanity of Steven Tyler's vapid cock-rock is insufferable. "Big Ten Inch Record"? Gimme a break. "Sweet Emotion" is a classic, though I prefer the version of "Walk This Way" with Run-DMC. Aerosmith is a legendary band and all that, but no thanks.

It's a nice break to get something I already know well. This album is understandably heralded as a classic, because it is one. Particularly the first half has a wealth of some of the Clash's best songs. This album is so great, in fact, one of their most well-known songs was buried at the end and not included on the track listing, according to Wikipedia. Even its slower moments are better than other album's better songs. London Calling (the song and the album) rules.

I'm not surprised this was a polarizing album. People probably expected more "My Girl" from the Temptations instead of psychedelic soul message songs, but those are definitely the best part of this album. When they segue into the love songs, it gets repetitious and tedious.

This is fun, if a little repetitive. Not sure this is one I'll revisit, but I do need to dig back into their discography.

This may be the first time I've had a desire to relisten to a Roxy Music album. It's not my thing, but there were enough moments on this that I've saved it to revisit later.

I was looking forward to listening to this, especially with the one-two opening punch of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better." But I didn't anticipate that the rest of the album would be slight variations on the same sound, and that sameness made things drag after a while. Well, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" is still great at least.

Considering how bloodless and bleepy-bloopy Radiohead's music has become, it's interesting to step back in time to when they were still a rock band. The seeds of OK Computer are here, but it's weird to hear them play straightforward rock music (relatively speaking) considering where they went after this.

I generally get my fill of the Pogues pretty quickly, but I liked this quite a bit. "Fairytale of New York" is a classic, and there's plenty to like on this—though I probably need to be in the mood for it.

I owned this album at one point, as well as Violator. I remember their being a bit of a slog outside of the hits. This leans that way—it really fades at the end—but DM does their thing well.

I haven't listened to this in ages and was surprised by how well I remember it. I think I got this from BMG back in the day and played it quite a bit. "Everybody Hurts" feels pretty cringe 30+ years later—and I can't hear without thinking of Dwight on The Office—and "Nightswimming" is the better song anyway. "Man on the Moon" is solid, as are a bunch of other tracks.

Some people I greatly respect worship at the altar of Brian Eno, but I've never really connected to his music. I was just thinking I need to give Hear Come the Warm Jets another try, though I'm sure it's on this list. Another Green World sounds a little undercooked to me, with songs that just sort of end—which makes sense if Eno had nothing prepared when we went into the studio and kind of winged it. Smarter people than I can argue for the genius of this album, but it doesn't do much for me.

This is forget-your-worries dance music, and people always need that. "Le Freak" is of course a classic, and I appreciate CHIC's place in disco and pop-music history. It's not something I'll necessarily revisit—"(Funny) Bone" is a weird way to end this album—but it was a fun listen.

I don't know why the YYYs aren't part of my musical diet more, considering I almost always enjoy them when they pop up. While I'm not sure this is among the 1,001 albums you need to hear before you die, it's very solid.

I'd forgotten how many hits were on this album. That run from "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" through "All Through the Night" is amazing—the rest of the album can't help but pale in comparison, though "Money Changes Everything" is pretty great.

Joni Mitchell is an icon, and Blue is rightfully heralded...but I've never been able to get into her. This album gets me close, though—I immediately played it again when it was finished. When she sings in her upper register, as on "My Old Man," it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. But I can get into the songs where she avoids that, particularly "River," which is great. I can see why people love this, even if it isn't something I'll revisit a lot.

It's always worthwhile to get something you know nothing about, and this couldn't be more foreign to me. At least I understood some of the French? This was enjoyable for a song, but stretched across nine 6- and 7-minute songs, it sounds like one hour-long track. At least I won't have to worry about separating the art from the artist.

This could easily be half as long and be a front-to-back classic. But even at a bloated 20 tracks, there are enough bangers on here to make this one of the Beasties' best and an iconic album of the era. (And I appreciate the instrumentals more now than I did in 1994.) FUN FACT: They recorded this, and I think all of their '90s output, at a studio like five minutes from our place in LA. G-Son Studios, represent.

What a bummer it is to revisit this knowing what Kanye turned into. I've been wondering if I could stomach listening to his stuff anymore, because I haven't in years. There's still plenty to like on here, skits and filler aside. There just isn't anything to like about Kanye personally anymore.

This cover belongs in a museum under a sign that simply says "THE '90s." I like Aimee Mann, though mostly for the Magnolia soundtrack. I haven't listened to much of her solo stuff. This is charming but probably not something I'll revisit (though I liked "4th of July" and "I Should've Known).

Aside from "You Can Call Me Al," I knew this album mostly by reputation, because it was so huge, and then, later, the blowback Simon got for it. I'm not sure what it says about him that the best parts are the ones with South African musicians. Otherwise I think this is kind of repetitive, though the bass work is top-notch.

I don't think this could sound more '80s—it all sounds so synthesized. I wonder if I'd like it more if that weren't the case, but probably not. I always found Simply Red schmaltzy, and the more upbeat, funky or even aggressive moments (like "No Direction") don't land, either. I also can't think of Simply Red without thinking of 24 Hour Party People, when God (as Tony Wilson) speaks to Tony Wilson: "It's a pity you didn't sign the Smiths, but you were right about Mick Hucknell. His music's rubbish, and he's a ginger."

This is completely unvarnished, utterly brainless cock-rock. Which should be an automatic thumbs down from me, but for whatever reason I find AC/DC more charming than, like, '80s hair metal or Led Zeppelin—even though it's SO MUCH dumber. (The rapey vibes of "Night Prowler" aren't great though.) I'm pretty sure it's just because I like Angus Young's playing.

Aside from the iconic songs from Breakfast in America (notably "Goodbye Stranger," which I LOVE), I know next to nothing about Supertramp. There's a throwaway line in High Fidelity where John Cusack dismisses his ex's new boyfriend as a "Supertramp fan." I didn't even know they were British. This isn't grabby like Breakfast in America, but definitely offers a peek into their proggier early days. Not my thing, but a worthwhile listen.

Err, I mostly remember the racy publicity Christina did for this album, not the music, though "Beautiful" was pretty inescapable. But this is from another era: 20 tracks, two "interludes," an intro and intro reprise, 77 minutes...it's overstuffed to say the least. The prefab platitudes in songs like "Soar," "The Voice Within," "Keep on Singin' My Song," etc., feel obvious and boring, but I respect the teeth in "I'm OK." I wish there were more of that.

Listen, if someone said to me in 1975, "Hey, do you wanna go down to the Record Plant and listen to Tom Waits record an album?" I would've said for sure, even though I'm not a fan. Because as a live experience, this was probably a great time 50 years ago, though probably not something I'd ever revisit in album form. Also: Waits was only 26 when this came out. Dude has sounded like a fiftysomething his whole life. BUT HEY now I know where Large Marge from Pee-wee's Big Adventure originated.

Hell yes. If all '60s music sounded like this, the Baby Boomers would have actually accomplished something.