1001 Albums Summary

"Teenage Head" serves as a garage band's take on classic rock n roll, and delivers as expected. The singer's vocal style starts off grating, but over the course of the album settles into a more palatable tone. This is an album that could have been great, but a few shortcomings lead it to just okay.

"The Score" has been described as one of the best alternative hip-hop albums of the decade, a title the album truly deserves. The Fugees draw clear inspiration from other east coast acts of the time and still manage to make the music their own. The melodies are largely sampled throughout the record but often interpolated into something else, indicating a level of care not often seen. The lyrics are heavy hitting, thoughtful, and paint a vivid picture of the culture the group was experiencing at the time.

While not my favorite Springsteen album, "Nebraska" delivers the gritty American folk one would expect from the artist. The record draws inspiration from other great American folk singers like Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, which gives it a sound that is familiar, yet with a twist. That being said, not many tracks from this album stand out and none are Springsteen's best work.

Elvis Costello's debut album "My Aim is True" is an average example from the decade. Drawing clear inspiration from his original namesake, the album's sound is reminiscent of American rock from years prior retuned to fit the up and coming punk rock scene. While influential, the album suffers from poor mixing, lending the tracks muddy vocals and robbing much of the 'oomph' the music could have. This causes the listening experience of the album to be somewhat dull, with a few standout tracks, particularly the single "Alison".

Creedence Clearwater Revival serves up audible nostalgia in "Bayou Country". Their second album, this is the one that put them on the map, and rightfully so. The singles off the album, namely "Proud Mary," are heavy hitting blues rock tracks that deserve to be classics. While the rest of the album is more varied in quality, overall CCR brings a great performance.

"...And Justice for All" is one of Metallica's most acclaimed albums, for reasons I fail to understand. The guitar work is good, but overall I find the album uninteresting. The tracks don't feel different enough, the drums are tinny, and the bass is non-existent.

Warm, rich jazz set apart by its use of an organ, "Back at the Chicken Shack" is a great listen. This album is influential in the evolution from jazz to soul music.

Hendrix provides an amazing blend of soul and psychedelic rock in "Electric Ladyland". The mixing is great, guitarwork is fantastic, and overall is a killer album.

"The Stranger" provides a rich sound with cold lyrics. A cynical take on the American Dream, the album's lyrics remain relevant today. The tracks are some of Joel's best works as a songwriter, feeling varied enough to not be boring but not too much to feel discordant.

Revolutionary in the development of the genre, "Paranoid" is one of the best heavy metal albums of all time. Crunchy, rough sound gives the record an edge that Sabbath became known for. Typically, just because a musician is the first to do something they are not necessarily the best, but "Paranoid" as well as Black Sabbath as a whole stand the test of time.

"Neon Bible" is a confusing choice for one of the 1001 essential albums. Arcade Fire may have been early to the scene for indie rock, but when I think of indie rock classics, Arcade Fire does not even cross my mind. The songs feel the same, the instruments are distant, and overall I was waiting for this album to end.

I was pleasantly surprised by "Stardust." I quite enjoyed the gentle, bossa nova & jazz influence on Nelson's typical outlaw country.

Relaxing, somber, old fashioned country music is the core sound of "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive". The album was well written and sounded great.

I quite liked the lyrics, and the music was well written, but overall "Sail Away" was an average album.

I love Dylan's songwriting, and "Blood on the Tracks" is no exception. Classic American folk music, great guitar, and strong lyrics.

While listening to this album, I wish I wasn't. Truthfully it's not that bad, but a shocking pick for one of the 1001 best albums of all time.

Black Sabbath's self titled debut album is legendary. With it's gritty, heavy, rough sound it brought something entirely new to rock at the time, and defined what metal is today. The record contains what are still some of the best riffs played on a guitar. The lyrics may be a little edgy, but this is peak counterculture. I could only imagine finding this in a record shop when it released.

"LP1" is interesting because it was pretty ahead of its time with its hypnotic, rhythmic, avant- pop sound. For experimental music, it's great. However, tracks began to bleed into one another, and I was ready for it to end.

"The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" had interesting classical music influence that I have not seen in jazz before, but unfortunately it was still instrumental jazz. It's great for 10 minutes, not for a whole album.

This was alright, decent alt rock.

We love talking heads.

One of the best live albums I've listened to. Definitely some classics

Nas delivers fluid, complex lyrics with an incredible rhyming style in "Illmatic". Understandably one of the best rap albums of the decade.

The standout tracks were great, and are famous for a reason. The tracks in-between left me wanting more.

I was quite surprised by "Odelay". It stands out from much of the alt rock of the time with a genre bending style and sound.

The amount of sheer talent in this album is insane. Every song is wicked famous, and stands out in its own way. The album is so sad and somber in a beautiful way.

The passenger was great, the rest of the album muddled together. All in all, it was aight

We love David bowie

I like the sound of this album, incredibly reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane. Unfortunately, I think Jefferson Airplane did it better.

This was groovy, I quite enjoyed listening to it, but can't recall any of the tracks a few days later.

This album feels like a definition of heavy rock in the 70s. Everything had the right sound, but none of it is the best example of rock at that time.

This album did a great job achieving what it set out to do: offer up a dreary, gloomy soundscape to wash over the listener. The music was good, several tracks stood out.

Refreshing, experimental pop in a good way. Kinda Yoko Ono but better.

Sufjan Steven's songwriting in Illinois is incredible. The album is arguably a little long, but I feel like every track has a place. The lyrics lack much meaning, but hearing every single piece of the music come together into a whole is beautiful.

This album's musical style is all over the place, but in a good way. Each track was refreshing to listen to, and I am a fan of the 60's psych influence throughout.

This was alright. Average east coast rap from the 90's. Does not stand out as much as other albums from the decade, but not bad by any means.

This was a very fun album. I love the way Cash interacts with the crowd, which helps bring a lot of the spirit of the album to it. It is a shockingly good live recording.

Ready to Die is cited as one of the best rap albums of all time, and certainly of 90's, and it deserves the title. B.I.G's flow, lyricism, and laid back style were fresh for east coast ganger rap, and became genre defining after its reception. The tracks are well mixed and produced, with satisfying beats and killer samples.

Beyond the title track -- which was superb -- the rest of the album held up. Classic folk rock, Don McLean delivers impactful lyrics, great sound, and an overall compelling listen. The album did however suffer from a lull in the middle which lost me a bit.

This was alright. Chill electronica that was probably early for it's time & defining for the genre. That being said, it is not for me. I was falling asleep listening, and struggle to remember any of the tracks writing the review a couple days later.

This album was great. It was full of emotion, and was cool to hear a rock bands take on electronic instrumentation at a time when it was still a brand new concept.

This was shockingly good. I loved the sound. I wish there were more original songs though! The covers were still pretty fun

This felt really average. Nothing seems to memorable. It's not bad by any stretch, but also not great by any stretch either.

I loved the orchestral infusion into indie rock, the sound on this album was incredible. I felt it overstayed it's welcome by 5-10 minutes though, andAlex Turner's vocal style is a little tiring by the end of it

"American IV" is a cowboy's lament of a life Ill lived and completely subverted my expectations. I knew nothing about the release of this album, and I expected to be somewhat bored coming into it. While listening, I found the tracks engaging and deeply moving. Cash's sombre tone brought a punch of feeling to the songs. Every track belonged, even the covers, and overall was a great record.

This was alright, but you'd expect something great from the Beatles, especially if featured on this list. None of the tracks stood out to me, and by the end it all I found myself bored.

This was fine. Far too long, and the sound I wasn't a huge fan of, but it certainly could have been worse.

I appreciate Kraftwerk's music because of how ahead of its time it was, but man I wish I liked listening to it more.

Violator was a deep, atmospheric listening experience. Somewhere between rock and pop, I quite enjoyed the sound, and find it to be some of the most palatable and interesting synth-pop I've heard. The mood set by the album was dark & brooding, and the music didn't stray from this theme. Overall pretty good.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. The gritty, heavy tones & lyrics work perfectly together, and I quite like this slower, funk influenced genre of metal.

This was fun! Big band jazz will always remain my favorite type of jazz. That being said, it always loses me before the album is over.

This was one of the most surprising albums I've heard, in a bad way. This was genuinely difficult to listen to, arguably some of the worst music I've heard. Every time I started to get into the rhythm of the music, it was torn away and replaced with the most grating, cringing sounds possible. Like nails on chalkboard, forks on plates, and general Bad Sounds. I feel bad for anything else I gave 1 star because those poor albums shouldn't be compared to this shit.

It was cool to hear the early reggae & soul influence on that generation of punk & the influence this album must have had on the upcoming generation of ska. I also appreciate the slower, heavy tones throughout the music. However, I found it a little too long & something about the tracks started losing me on the way.

Young Americans is not Bowie's best album, but it was still a fun listen. I enjoy the small soul influence on his typical pop, and I think the record was far from bad

A nice blend of folk styling & pop writing. Sounds a whole lot like his work with Art Garfunkel, which leads me to believe this was a time when Simon was still figuring out his own style. All in all pleasant, but nothing too extraordinary

This was a strange mix of boring & clown music, with a little bit of Johnny Test thrown into the title track. Not nearly as unpleasant as some other albums, but still not worth listening to. Of the early electronic music, I find this the least compelling

This sounds like pretty typical 80's soul-pop. Definitely not as good as some other contemporaries, but also not nearly the worst music to come out of the 80s

It's obvious that Eminem has extreme talent throughout this record. The rhymes are great, his ability to slant words to make them fit the rhyming scheme is incredible, and it's well produced. But man, after 15 minutes of listening to the edgiest, middle school ass lyrics, it gets tiring. Genuinely surprised he managed such a successful career after a debut like this.

Pretty good for a debut. I love punk music & it's great listening to some of its roots. I think this album was a little long & the music a little muddy, but the musicianship and style here is great.

This was not bad. Classic rock with a sort of operatic influence was interesting and new for the genre.

This was fine, good 80's new wave sound. The highlight track, "this is the day", was great, but some of the other tracks fell behind.

Interesting blend of glam rock & blues with hint of rockabilly. The mixing wasn't great, but the rhythm was. However, all the tracks bled together into a jumble of song, and the lyrics were rough

Interesting alt R&B, but it sounds pretty typical of modern dance music.

After reviewing "...and justice for all", I came into this expecting the worst, and was pleasantly surprised. I like the slower, more methodic sound, the bass is actually present, and the use of atypical instrumentation in metal was cool.

Interesting addition onto the list. I suppose it is impactful for the rise of beyoncé & the infusion of hip hop and r&b into pop, but with the gift of hindsight it's pretty much just normal 2000s pop.

We love a gritty, baritone singer, but man do we not like industrial music. However, of the few industrial albums on the list I've heard so far, this is the best by far.

This was good, Foo Fighters quickly established a very strong sound and identity in this album. However, it does feel a little samey

Like a relaxing, expensive dinner

Definitely early to the indie sound & scene. In terms of defining what indie rock sounds like, I think I prefer this to other early acts. However, after 20 or so years of newer indie, it has lost some charm. Definitely a few bangers though

This album has a cool, funky, electronic sound that I feel was pretty new to the rap scene. Some of it was a little grating

Strong themes, great songwriting, what else is there to say?

As usual, I prefer the alt rap to the typical gangster rap of the 90s, and this is no exception. I also like the positive vibes of this album

This is probably the first electronica album I actually somewhat enjoyed. Punk influenced, fast paced, and heavy, this album exists for x-games montages & tony hawk games.

I was disappointed by this album. For all the hype it gets, I found it lacking something, but I'm not sure what.

This was alright. Id describe it as punk rock without teeth, sterilized to be perfect for commercials and movie soundtracks. It's a type of music that needs to exist and certainly has a place, but I can only hope this album serves and an introduction to punk for someone learning about the genre.

Great guitar work, strong songwriting, and catchy melodies.

More or less kinda just generic 80's pop

It is remarkable how good this album was. ABBA did such a strong job writing pop music that it is still featured on pop radio 50 years later.

I think this is an interesting concept album, and I like the way it was written. I wish I liked listening to it.

This seemed like the worst 80's pop had to offer

This was less my style than other Paul Simon albums, but still very well written pop

This is a no skip album for me. Part of that may be nostalgia, but I love it regardless.

This was fine

Bob Dylan is such an amazing songwriter, I wish I liked listening to his music more

This was not for me. Well produced, but not a good listen