I have no clue how someone could conceptualize this album in 2006 as a 24 year old because it sounds like it's from the 1500's and we're on a pirate ship sailing the seas. There is such an incredible whimsical approach with lyrics that are more similar to Ye Olde English than anything we typically hear today. Her metaphors and analogies are so unusual that it makes it difficult to keep up with what the heck is going on in any of the 10+minute songs. Use of vocabulary is exceptional because it's just so out of place for today. This really is musical poetry and each time I hear an unusual analogy, I have to go back and try and figure it out. Like in Monkey & Bear, when the bear is frolicking in the sea and the bear's shedding it's clothes, which "fell off as easy as if sloughed from boiled tomatoes". Ok it's easy when it's written, but when you randomly hear her talking about boiled tomatoes in a song, you wonder how we got here. Also, she plays the harp. WHAT?! Honestly it seems unfair to have this album on a list with some of the more vapid, well known singers. Popular singers certainly have more public sway, but in terms of true artistic ability and value, I find this album on a completely higher plane.

One of the reasons for doing this list is because I have never been able to have any really contextual relationship with music from previous generations. Household names that I know, and i've heard some of their songs, but never really knew. Or songs that I know, but no clue who sings it. Starting off...I didn't know Ziggy Stardust was a David Bowie song. I didn't know about this whole alter-ego thing either. Apparently I just didn't know anything about Bowie at all and it's hard to separate some of these legends that you just know as old men decades past their prime. This definitely has a rock opera feel and it's a shame that it was never realized as a proper rock opera. Rocky Horror Picture Show came out a few years after this album, and there are some definite similarities. The concept is that Ziggy Stardust is basically an alien that comes to save Earth from destruction. Each song more or less follows Ziggy Stardust through his journey. It's a bit hard to follow, which makes sense since the concept was decided after the fact. Overall the album is great. It's an original idea, with creative lyrics and great sound. Five Years, Starman, Moonage Daydream, Ziggy Stardust. This is an iconic album without the concept part, but the Ziggy Stardust alterego ties it together.

Difficult to really know/hear the importance or significance of this album. We all hear about the Rolling Stones as this legendary band, but difficult to hear it here. Music is decent, but really feels like context is missing.

Not a fan of the old school back and forth and echoing style of rap from the 80's/early 90's, but you can't deny some of the hits from this record that carry into today IE It's Tricky and Walk This Way with Aerosmith. Easy to hear some of the early samples that are still used and today, which is fun. I'm glad we have evolved beyond all the just completely unnecessary filler that is plaguing some of these lyrical tracks - with "Now listen up here cause i'm here to say..." elementary school rhymes, which I guess pretty much started because of Run DMC and early rappers. I find all of the filler and useless intro-sentences really take away from the song Proud to Be Black, which would have a lot stronger of a message if it were better written without so many bars wasted on leading up to the point.

wow Pastime Paradise. No idea Gangsta's Paradise had direct inspiration from this song. Overall this album is incredibly soulful and funky. The lyrics are powerful and significant, but at times hidden behind music that feels upbeat and positive. It's a very interesting juxtaposition. Not to mention the obvious hits Sir Duke, I Wish, Isn't She Lovely; Pasttime Paradise and Village Ghetto Land were very interesting songs that made me stop and reflect for a bit. Disc 2 was a bit exhausting and difficult to get through. With the exception of Isn't She Lovely, I just got tired of it. There were so many parts where there was some dialogue or dramatic scenes in Black Man and Isn't She Lovely specifically that seemed so out of place and distorted that it was difficult to enjoy the song and in Black Man specifically, lost meaning. I understand the point of Black Man is to shine light on the achievements of people of color throughout history, but the part with the teachers and children regurgitating facts was more annoying than powerful since you couldn't really hear what they were saying other than the......color of the skin of the person they were shouting about. Is it about the accomplishment, the person, or are we just reducing them to the color of their skin? I think we could think of a better way to highlight the achievements of black or indigenous individuals in the past. Overall, If we put Isn't She Lovely on Disc 1 and just removed Disc 2......it would be a better experience.

This feels like David Bowie's existential dread album. 66 years old, just had a major heart attack, dark, seems like there's a lot of anxiety, dread and despair. For someone not familiar with Bowie's music, this album does not reflect him in his prime. I just feel sorry for him. I agree with others that said it was probably included assuming that it would be his last album. Just because it's their last album, doesn't mean everyone should listen to it. But maybe I would feel different about this album if I was a bit closer to the end of my own life.

Steve Huey said that this album is the first "artistic punk" album and I couldn't agree more. The album is exactly a blend of poetry and punk. Each song is a story with a specific purpose in mind, but some of the songs have so much going on (Land) that it needs to be analyzed. Elegie is straight up a poem set to music. There's one part in Break It Up when you can hear her obviously pounding on her chest while she sings.....which I have never heard before from a studio album. I can really understand why this album was so important as it is very unique and really needs to be analyzed. I completely get why Patti Smith has been such a huge influence on a lot of female artists even to today. There's definitely punk vibes, but the music perfectly accompanies the story that's being told, ranging from smooth to chaotic.

This entire album is 30 minutes long, so I guess within the span of my life, I can find 30 minutes to listen to it. This isn't what I think about when I think of rock music, but I can imagine myself cruising down Route 66 with it on while i'm not really thinking about anything. It feels like default easy listening. Not threatening, not controversial, very safe, the kind of rock music your Christian grandmother probably likes because she saw it on Good Morning America. Nothing groundbreaking here. I think this album was included simply because the author thought people should know who Tom Petty was.

Having never actually listened to Sinatra or the other crooners, I guess this is my chance. I only really appreciated the album on my second listen. The first listen, everything just kinda blended together. Second listen everything came together. Pull up the lyrics and digest what he's saying as even if they kinda sound similar, the nuances of each song are just perfect. I wasn't ready for this so early in the morning. This is a concept album mostly about loneliness and losing/lacking love. I think this type of music really hits different for expressing this feeling as it just seems to stop you in your tracks. He doesn't say much in the songs, but what he does say is incredibly impactful and perfectly encapsulates the emotion and there's nothing else to say. Everyone that's gone through it gets it. I like the little jazz sprinklings that you can hear in the album. In sections of Mood Indigo, it just sprinkles lightly in the background, just teasing you, in stark contrast to the absolute despair of the lyrics. I Get Along Without You Very Well is so comical. The whole song about him saying how great he's doing without her, except he's constantly thinking about her and reminded of her. Deep in a Dream is genius. A quick snapshot of him smoking in bed, falling asleep and dreaming of the girl he lost, startling himself awake and just being like......damn....... it perfectly follows up I Get Along Without You Very Well because even when we convinces ourselves we're doing great, there are these moments where memories just force it upon us to reflect and it almost starts the cycle over again. Can't We be Friends? Classic Friendzone. Love the jazzy vibe of this song and again, absolutely relatable. Timeless. These songs are just so relatable for anyone that has gone through a breakup and Frank did a fantastic job of covering so many nuances of what we go through. One particular note is that he doesn't seem to particularly disdain or hate the women who broke his heart, he's just heartbroken. At least the album ends on a hopeful note as I'll Never Be the Same and This Love of Mine are both decidedly hopeful. I learned after the fact that Frank didn't write this stuff, which is a same. But everyone that worked on it did a phenomenal job.

I have no clue how someone could conceptualize this album in 2006 as a 24 year old because it sounds like it's from the 1500's and we're on a pirate ship sailing the seas. There is such an incredible whimsical approach with lyrics that are more similar to Ye Olde English than anything we typically hear today. Her metaphors and analogies are so unusual that it makes it difficult to keep up with what the heck is going on in any of the 10+minute songs. Use of vocabulary is exceptional because it's just so out of place for today. This really is musical poetry and each time I hear an unusual analogy, I have to go back and try and figure it out. Like in Monkey & Bear, when the bear is frolicking in the sea and the bear's shedding it's clothes, which "fell off as easy as if sloughed from boiled tomatoes". Ok it's easy when it's written, but when you randomly hear her talking about boiled tomatoes in a song, you wonder how we got here. Also, she plays the harp. WHAT?! Honestly it seems unfair to have this album on a list with some of the more vapid, well known singers. Popular singers certainly have more public sway, but in terms of true artistic ability and value, I find this album on a completely higher plane.

This is my first time listening to Elvis Costello. Caught off-guard right from the first note with how bad this record sounded from an audio quality perspective. It made sense when I read that the entire album was basically recorded "live" in a studio and in one take because everyone hated each other. So they just set up the band as if it were on a stage and recorded it, so none of the audio was isolated. I feel the acclaim that it receives due to its sound is a bit unmerited because it was done completely by accident simply because everyone hated each other and wanted to get it done as soon as possible. It's not attributed to any genius or forecasting for future grunge, it was thrown together to push an album out. It is unique in that it does sound like a live performance, which is cool. Other than that, I think saying you should listen to 6 Elvis Costello albums before you die is a bit.......insane. The album is good, the music is good. That's about it.

First Beatles album i've ever listened to. What strikes me right off the bat is that it's a bit more rock and roll than I expected. Honestly my only other experience with the Beatles is slow songs like Yesterday and Hey Jude, which although are classics in their own right, i'm sick of hearing. So something with a bit more tempo is appreciated. This album is basically the result of The Beatles getting sick of everything and everyone, including they're psychotic fans, going out to "find themselves" and evolving....with the help of drugs. I love that they started trolling their fans with this and there's almost a mocking tone of "This is how we are now, deal with it." that really pushed peoples perception of The Beatles and pop music in general. I can see how it connected with the youth. This is definitely the catalyst to the free spirit "Peace and love" era of the 70's. Completely revolutionary, and LSD experimentation seems obvious in the tracks. From the India influences that show up in Getting Better and Within You Without You; and the weird little twangy alien voices they use in Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds. This album probably hits different while on acid. There's a couple songs that stand out in Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite with it's carnival sound, and When I'm Sixty Four with it's weird old school Mickey Mouse up and down plodding around sound. Within You and Without You as well, just incredibly unique due to it's Indian sound since one of the members went to India to study the Sitar during their sabbatical. Within You Without You is transcendental in meaning and sound with it's Indian mantras. Just really cool hearing a band push the boundaries of peoples expectations and then see how it really impacted people with the 70's hippy movement. Lyrically, there's nothing super revolutionary as they seemed to get inspiration for songs from just random stuff anywhere from a parking meter attendant to stories they saw in the tabloids. The musical choices made to accompany these humdrum lyrics is what's really interesting.......which I guess still rings true today. Doesn't really matter what you sing about as long as the music works. Within You Without You and A Day In The Life have the most powerful overall message. A Day In the Life gave me goosebumps.

One of the reasons for doing this list is because I have never been able to have any really contextual relationship with music from previous generations. Household names that I know, and i've heard some of their songs, but never really knew. Or songs that I know, but no clue who sings it. Starting off...I didn't know Ziggy Stardust was a David Bowie song. I didn't know about this whole alter-ego thing either. Apparently I just didn't know anything about Bowie at all and it's hard to separate some of these legends that you just know as old men decades past their prime. This definitely has a rock opera feel and it's a shame that it was never realized as a proper rock opera. Rocky Horror Picture Show came out a few years after this album, and there are some definite similarities. The concept is that Ziggy Stardust is basically an alien that comes to save Earth from destruction. Each song more or less follows Ziggy Stardust through his journey. It's a bit hard to follow, which makes sense since the concept was decided after the fact. Overall the album is great. It's an original idea, with creative lyrics and great sound. Five Years, Starman, Moonage Daydream, Ziggy Stardust. This is an iconic album without the concept part, but the Ziggy Stardust alterego ties it together.

There is still something about how solemn and passionate his voice is that is incredibly impactful......and yes I know that is Johnny Cash in a nutshell. His voice just kinda affects you even though it sounds like an old man singing to himself in the corner of your living room on a lazy-e-boy. Cash lived a lot of life in his 71 years and this album does seem to be the culmination of that. Just bearing his soul here. Of course, The Man Comes Around, Hurt, Give My Love to Rose, I Hung My Head are incredibly powerful songs, especially with Cash singing. I'm not a huge fan of an album of covers and re-recordings being on this list, but after finishing, something about it feels ok. Obviously Cash's swan song before he died (let's just ignore that he's still releasing albums from beyond the grave). I think what makes this album special is the fact that it is his last album while he was still alive, the massive amount of collaboration with other artists that went into it, and the sheer emotion at which he was singing these songs knowing the end was coming.

This is a rare album that gets better as it goes on. It starts off very punk, but as it progresses, the lo-fi elements really come into play. A ton of female empowerment and reality from a woman's perspective that is really important even in situations relatively innocuous. Soap Star Joe - great song mocking the typical local idiots that think they're hot shit. Divorce Song - Great song about Shatter - wow, there's that lo-fi sound. Very entrancing. Flower - another great sound, really letting loose, basically objectifying some guy she wants to sleep with. It's funny how much this one sticks out but there are so many songs with rock stars saying the same type of stuff about young ladies. I'm fine with it, and think it's great to have a song that shows these thoughts go both ways sometimes. Expressing these inner thoughts is great. I'm a bit surprised with how uneasy I was during the first couple of tracks, and then how much I was enjoying it as it progressed. It's an hour long album and it was an awesome album with a lot of depth and nuance. Really stands on its own in terms of sound and expression. I can only imagine that many people try to compare this to No Doubt, but this album is much deeper and intricate than No Doubt, who is more of your proper punk band.

So this album popularlized the "Bakersville Sound" combination of rock and honky tonk country, which influenced more modern country sounds. You can really hear that guitar electric twang that is associated with this sound and at this point is considered synonymous with country music. It's why this album sounds like the most cliche country album of all time; but this album created what we know today to be the cliche. I like the Streets of Laredo with it's deep bass chorus that really sticks out. Surprised this song isn't bigger. Overall i'm not really a fan, but I can appreciate how this album has influenced an entire genre 60 years later - for better or worse.

This album was difficult. I've already heard Songs in the Key of Life, which imo was a much better album, but I guess this was the album that allowed Stevie to transition into "Stevie Wonder". So it's interesting to hear Innervisions after Key of Life because IMO it's not as good......BUT once again, most of the albums on here are about context. This album was so revolutionary because 1) the TONTO synthesizer allowed Stevie to just mess around and do all kinds of weird stuff, and thankfully he was able to put that weird stuff into an album. Use of the synthesizer revolutionized pop music. 2) He basically did everything on the record himself. Played all the instruments with the exception of a couple guitar parts. 3) Right after the album dropped he survived a major car accident where he basically took a tree log to the face. Kind of a divine inspiration moment. I will say the music is incredibly well composed and is very complex. Seems like he had trouble just stopping and not adding another layer. Higher Ground is THE song on the album, and while some other songs do have a strong overall message, he's not very direct with it which is disappointing. This was a tough album to get through for me. I'm not a fan of R&B or soul, but there is no denying Stevie Wonder is absolutely a legendary talent.

Quintessentially 80's, but at least The Smiths have something to say. Quite a few songs seem to be critical of various people or types of people. Some of them are quite funny, particularly Cemetry Gates and Vicar in a Tutu, which I think are my favorites on this album. Funny how nothing seems to change in this world. Now more than ever are there religious charlatans seeking the spotlight for money while being the most deplorable sinners out of the spotlight. Vicar in a Tutu is expressing exactly that. Other songs are quite angsty. 80's emo music for sure, but it's a nice balance between edgy teenage angst woe is me and a valid commentary on the world. I tend to be a bit more drawn to their commentary than the angsty part, but it may also depend on my mood. I wasn't sold at first as The Queen is Dead was just way too 80's for me, but I liked the album further we went.

Never heard of this collab and it was so much fun. Not a country fan by any means, but this is way better than your classic country......because it's real country. Banjo, strings, harmonica, definitely your local barn hootenanny. This album is such a great idea, bringing together the old gen and the new gen to jam out, collab and bond for music. Kind of like the We Are The World collab. I really enjoyed hearing the bits before the tracks of how they approach the song as a way to connect the listener, because this album is about connecting the generations through music. I was scared of the 2 hour duration of both CD's, but this isn't an album you have to really analyze, it's importance is the collaboration of these great artists playing together and nailing all the songs in 1 or 2 takes.

This album was revolutionary in the earlyish days of the internet and the struggle artists have with the balance of physical and digital media and how it combats piracy. In the wake of the Napster outcry that artists had with people pirating music, Radiohead releases a digital album with the option for fans to pay what they want for it. People still pirated it, but many people also still bought the physical albums. This argument continues to this day with consumers and artists. Consumers still want to own media and support artists; but digital options mean both that you don't actually own what you buy AND does not do a great job in supporting artists in the least. We're still trying to figure it out, but in 2007 Radiohead at least attempted a new approach. That said, they could have released a complete dud with this pay-what-you-want format, but they didn't. The album is this great experimental, euphoric rock album that kind of takes you to a new world. I don't even care what they're saying, I just like being entranced by their sound. Like the music or not, the album and method used to distribute it was revolutionary in it's own right and the fact that it was a great album musically makes it an important one. There's also a Disk 2 that has been released which is.......straying a bit further from "rock" and is a bit too experimental for my tastes.

I'm really liking this album because of the trance/glitch hop/trap elements. This album was produced in 2017, and there's a lot of similarities with the modern KPOP that has crossed over into the west recently (2025) and focuses a lot on hard catchy beats as a foundation. Was Kelela the first to do this? Definitely not and songs like Truth or Dare or Altadena sounds exactly like it could be a Janet Jackson song from the 80's. I think the album is a good progression for R&B music that has, in my opinion, completely fallen flat as a genre in the last 20 years. It's cool to see how Kelela set herself apart in 2017 and I think she did so successfully. I'm really torn on this one because although I really like the album, i'm trying to justify it as being an album that you should listen to before you die vs just being an album that I like. The lyrics frankly are uninspired and follow the same R&B cliches of failed relationships and love. There's really no historical or cultural context, but I acknowledge there is historical bias. It's difficult to judge a contemporary album and it's impact unless there is an immediate cultural shift....but i've never even heard of this album or artist. I listened to it like 4 or 5 times today during work trying to figure out how I feel about it. 1001 albums is a lot and they can't all be life changing and sometimes it's just about hearing something new, which is part of why i'm working through this list. I'm glad I listened to this album for it's progressive take on R&B and mixing in electronic/Trap elements and I guess i'll leave it at that.

One of the greatest and most recognizable songs of all time in Song 2. Absolutely legendary and almost 30 years later, the song is still fantastic and you can't help but rock out to it....which apparently immediately outs me as an American. I had no idea they were this huge in the UK. For other confused Americans out there, the lead singer and chief song writer for Blur, Damon Albarn, also created The Gorillaz. This self-titled album was basically a rebirth after they almost broke up. They wanted to evolve from the Britpop scene and this album was a huge risk that paid off. It's harder, more experimental, and often times quite dark like in Death of a Party. Overall it's a great rock album and a great example of a already popular band reinventing themselves and ascending to new heights.....which we have seen so many times and is what separates legendary artists from the the status quo. It's a big risk. Much easier for a solo artist than a band.

First Springsteen album i've ever heard. I appreciate the album more on 2nd listen when looking at the lyrics. First listen, I was impressed with how great the band was, and very mixed on Bruce. Lyrics are a bit hard to follow without reading them. Band is just awesome. Back before the days of synth and digital mixes, it's awesome to hear proper full band rock out. Harmonica, Sax solos, very different from rock today. I'm not sure how I feel about Bruce. On some tracks his voice is ok, but others it just sticks out way too much and doesn't fit. Like Randy Newman doing rock. Anyway this album was I guess Springsteen's real "coming out" album and I can see how it would connect with a younger generation from it's storytelling. I like that the album doesn't focus so much on success with money and relationships, but more so on taking chances, and with that there is success and failure. In this regard I liked Thunder Road, Backstreets and Meeting Across the River, and Night. Thunder Road - Asking the girl to take a chance and go make their own lives together elsewhere. Backstreets - 2 friends that just kind of lost their friendship over time and missing that old connection. Meeting Across the River - Down on his luck criminal just wanting the chance for that big score to make it. Just a cool perspective. Night - Work sucks. We're all just working away for that bit of time to enjoy our lives. Overall it's a great album, but something about Springsteen bothers me and I can't quite pinpoint it. It almost feels like a curated album to brute force Springsteen into success. Maybe because i'm not a huge fan of his singing (yelling?) and the E Street Band is awesome and overshadows Springsteen...in my opinion.

Tribe was one of the most influential original rap groups and this album still stands up today easily. What sets Tribe apart is their beats almost have this loFi, African, hypnotic chill vibe. It's not overly aggressive, especially when you compare with the rap albums that gained a lot of attention in the 80's/90's. QTip made a lot of these beats as a high school kid, experimenting with sampling other songs, which you can hear clearly in some of the songs like Can I Kick It? There are some beats that don't "work" or a bit off, but overall they are fun beats like you would make for your friends, which is what original rap was all about. Hanging with your friends, trying some rhymes and talking about just the little things in a young kids life. No drugs, drive-bys; just chilling with your friends.