1001 Albums Summary

Best solo Beatles album

Not the best Fatboy Slim album but still a good listen

Look I get that it's a renowned album for what it does. I just don't care for Jazz. Too many notes.

Great music to wind down. Very soothing. Also fun fact: it's the group that Lindsay Lohan's parents go to see when she throws the house party in the movie Mean Girls!

Weird in a good way? Sounds ahead of its time for the era it was released

4, but only because it has literally the three best Oasis songs all on this album. Many of the other tracks miss for me and sound like generic 90s stuff.

as far as jazz goes, pretty good

I really liked it.

it's fine

For being 36 years old it really holds up to modern times. "Fuck the Police" is as relevant as ever.

makes me want to watch the movie. great concept album by itself

It's really good, but I'm pretty sure that album is intended to only be listened to in the bedroom.

Starts strong and finishes strong

Pretty forgettable with the exception of "Smack my Bitch Up"

I've heard some of these samples in more modern music, so it's really great foundational stuff. And the band lives up their name.

Fun art and some fun songs. Just doesn't have the replay value

It's fine, but it's not for me.

When I think of Slipknot I mostly think of songs that sound like Psychosocial, so I was impressed and surprised by stuff like Sulfur and Snuff. Also the drums on this album is awesome.

Loved it -- way different sound than I expected having only heard "The Weight" from them previously. I really liked "Up on Cripple Creek"

one of the best albums of all time

I loved this album. A raw Boss distilled down to story telling. I loved the theme across the album. Atlantic City, Johnny 99, Mansion on the Hill, and State Trooper are all standouts on this album for me. Why wasn't he doing more of this stuff all along?

All tracks sound the same. It's fine enough, but nothing really pops.

I've always hated skits in rap albums, and these really bring it down. The tracks themselves are very good. Too bad Kanye is also a massive POS.

Starts strong then becomes too samey

I don't get it.

This is why I'm here

Really enjoyed "revolution", "suicide" and "Lord Can you Hear Me" -- the rest is kind of just... noise?

Rio and Hungry like the wolf are classics, rest is nice background work music.

Love Willie Nelson, love his cover of Georgia on my mind, but the rest is kind of middlin'

Poor man's bob dylan

"Sledgehammer" and "In your eyes" are all timers. I was pleasantly surprised to see Kate Bush make an appearance in "Don't Give Up" but the rest of this was not for me.

Not good

Loved it. Kind of reminds me of Fountains of Wayne

It's kind of a cosmic gumbo

Whose world is it? Nas' apparently

My apologies to the Bee Gees, I wasn't familiar with their game

Can they kick it? Yes. They can.

Fine enough. But not Buddy Holly's best.

Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, and Head Over Heels are all quintessentially 80s. Unfortunately I don't think they're all-time good enough, and the rest of the album is pretty meh. So this doesn't crack above a 3.

Never heard this album before, but assumed most Marilyn Manson stuff was just garbage. It's not _great_, but honestly it was a lot better than I thought it would be. 3/5

It's fine, sort of catchy as you listen through but then pretty forgettable. Greenman is a banger.

So good

Maybe it's because I was listening to this at 4AM but this is horrible. The weird train whistle and breaking plate sound effects are like someone discovered the shitty sound effects mode on their keyboard. And it went on for 8+ minutes!! And that's only the first real track. The rest of the tracks are similarly long, use unnecessary sound effects and are way too repetitive. How this made the list is beyond me. This might be music I'd choose to torture someone.

This list is called 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Silly me for thinking it meant that these were things you had to listen to because they were supposed to be good. This is one you must hear because it's SO colossally bad. Or maybe it's like fashion shows -- not meant for most audiences, kind of weird, and is meant to move the industry forward. Either way, woof.

This album was just what I needed.

3 only because of how good All I Wanna Do and String Enough are.

Of all the albums on the list, this is one of them.

I think this probably only makes the list because it came out a couple days before Bowie died. It is an interesting fusion of jazz and drum and bass, but it's far from Bowie at his peak.

Better than I thought it'd be based on name and album art. Still not great.

This album would be on here of it only contained Fairytale of New York. The Pogues are great.

Funky

Perfectly cromulent

Pretty good for a debut album. Wonder if they made anything else

Moody and atmospheric. Just not my mood and not my atmosphere.

Made worse by the fact it was a rambling double album, it wasn't even the best versions of these songs.

I like the commentary, something about it just feels.... hokey?

Fantastic debut album. Has all the Cyndi Lauper songs I know. I guess that makes sense though because after this one, I'm sure that money changed everything.

Missed opportunity not to call this "For your aMUSEment"

Sick beats, meh lyrics, whack skits.

Grunge = good

This is literally what every song in the late 2000s sounded like.

Another double album. And this one "A commercial and critical failure upon its release". I was pleasantly surprised; most of this works really well -- I was expecting the above to mean it would be a slog, but I thought the album had a lot of heart. Probably didn't need to be a double album though. I think "Is That Enough" was my favorite track.

Really good, I enjoyed it. Not really my style, but kept me interested throughout.

Cool

Wall Street Shuffle is a certified banger

There's a reason Elvis is the King. I wasn't really in an Elvis kind of mood today when I started this album, so I wanted to dislike it. But it just hooks you and by the time you're hitting "Suspicious Minds" you're like, YES MY LIEGE!

Never heard any of these before. Neat.

meh

B-A-D. Bad.

Fantastic stuff. Outside of the known hits (Green River, Bad Moon Rising) I really enjoyed. Commotion and Wrote a Song for Everyone.

Obvious 5/5 if only for "Three Little Birds" -- the song that would soothe our newborn any time he was fussy.

Sexually deviant alien doctor. Got it.

A soundtrack to a fictional noir album sounds like a cool concept. But it ends up feeling hokey.

Look, if you have a 14 minute track, it cannot be incredibly flat throughout. The whole album feels edgy in a way that isn't good. "Kindness from strangers" seemed sort of promising until it added the weird crying effects. Kylie Minogue is the best part of this but even "Where the wild roses grow" is rough. Before this I think I've only ever heard "Red Right Hand" and the song from Shrek 2. Those are good, so like... Why is this here??

Layla is a 5/5 but some of the other tracks are a bit too meandering for me

Never heard of grime as a genre before, so I dig the beats associated with it.

Timeless.

Perfect album to listen to on a low-key Sunday morning. It's easy-listening EDM.

These songs sound like the kinds you hear during the credits of a 90s movie. Not for me, but not bad.

Common? More like exceptional! The whole album just sounds smooth, from the beats to the lyrics. Blessedly, it's a hip hop album without skits in it!

not bad, but i immediately forgot what I had listened to after it was done.

I don't get it. It's music to fall asleep to.

Kind of a more forgettable version of the cure.

What this list has been teaching me is that apparently I like REM

Not as good as MM LP or the Eminem show, but what a debut! The theatricality is incredible. The album is just as shocking as it was when it came out. Love it.

Reminds me of soundtrack music you'd hear in Austin Powers, which I guess means it feels very bossa nova?

I've only ever known Dexys Midnight Runners for "Come on Eileen". But I'm glad to have heard the rest of this album; it's a lot of fun. I particularly liked "Jackie Wilson Said", "All in All", "Plan B", and "I'll Show You"

Listening to this album in contrast to other hip hop or rap albums already on this list, it really shows how TPAB stands head and shoulders above the others. The sound is layered and complex. We have effectively free verse poems in between tracks. Just really well executed and interesting to listen to.

I've been up for three days listening to Baba O'Riley nonstop. In unrelated news, I tried Starbucks coffee the other day.

No Bittersweet Symphony? Still good!

There's a reason Count Basie's name is still known all these years later

HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE

Fantastic stuff. Only knew "Love Her Madly" and "Riders on the Storm" coming into this, but the whole thing slaps.

I can't really handle how discordant the keys are through this album. I can't feel its rhythm and it feels like it's adding friction for the hell of it -- never do I feel any resolution with its presence. The album would be better off without it.

For as hyped as the Chronic is, I wish it were better.

1999 and Little Red Corvette alone make this an all time album.

Yeah alright

I often hear people say "Dark Side of the Moon" is the best Pink Floyd album, but I think it has to be this one. "Wish You Were Here" as a track is so ubiquitous it sort of feels like it's old-hat, but do you remember what it felt like the first time you heard it? I was like Joe Pera with "Baba O'Riley", I just needed to hear it again and again and again. For that reason alone, this album is an all-timer. But as I've gotten older, I appreciate more the totality of the album -- "Have A Cigar" in particular really sticks with me. It's obvious take on the cynicism of commercialized music, but I feel like I relate to it as a cog in the corporate machine and how much I hate the "if we all pull together as a team" BS mentality. Anyway, what I'm saying is: this album is fantastic top to bottom. A+, wouldn't change anything.

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

4 because Chameleon is fantastic

I like the Ramones, but listening to this album feels like hearing the same 3 songs in a row. They're better consumed on a per song basis. Songs I especially liked: "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Beat on the Brat", "List to My Heart", "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World"

Fine enough for background music while you work

I miss Apex Twin.

It turns out I love ABBA. Really fun and catchy.

more 80s slop

I'm one of the few who likes the Grateful Dead more for their studio recorded stuff vs the live albums. The music just feels joyous; it's like a blanket on a cozy day. Seems like the guys are just having a great time when they're making the record. Love this album.

Pretty much all bangers. There's a reason this dude's music was everywhere in the early 00s.

Turns out he needs Stills and Nash

Weird, but interesting.

tl;dr Nothing Compares 2 Nothing Compares 2 U It's a good album - it feels moody, it's interesting, and no one has probably been more vindicated in the years since it came out than Sinead O'Connor. That said, it feels pretty forgettable outside of Nothing Compares 2 U.

Yeah it's fine

Really enjoyable. More stuff like this would be very welcome on this list.

Oops! All bangers.

Not as weird as I'd have thought

Normally I can't stand Neil Young but this was alright

The only thing I liked about this album was the band's name.

I remember this being outstanding when I used to listen to Jurassic 5, but in the context of this list I feel like it is more middle of the pack.

The album art is cool, at least.

This feels every bit its age. Run DMC is a fantastic rap group, but the sounds just don't hold up in 2026. It's very easy to see the influence they've had on what came after, but without any nostalgia attached to it, it feels lacking.

Very enjoyable, but not something I think I'd be listening to over and again

Police songs are too repetitive. Police songs are too repetitive. Police songs are too repetitive (a-way-oh!) ACAB includes The Police

What an incredible band name. What a letdown of an album. Aside from the Hot Burrito tracks, everything sounds very generic country. What a letdown.

Nice change of pace from the things I know from Cee-Lo Green (Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", and obviously "Fuck You"). It just didn't really stick for me.

I finally can understand why people lost their shit over U2; this album absolutely slaps. I really enjoyed "Bullet the Blue Sky" as far as songs I've never heard.

Really fun listen. I liked the theatricality of it all.

Honestly there's probably a couple tracks they could cut and it's an easy 5. So many classics on here. The album opens so strong, it's in the back half that it starts to lose a little steam.

Eminently forgettable

A very gritty sound. I can appreciate how this would appeal to some people, but this just clashed too hard for me to actually be something I'd want to listen to regularly. "Hold Hands and It Will Happen Anyway" kind of exemplifies it for me. Ending with a long outro soundscape of bird noises was easily my favorite part.

I remember listening to this album the first time with my dad, when he dug out his old vinyl collection. I remember being so excited about how much art vinyl albums had compared to CDs and cassettes -- the fact it was a double album gave it that much space to be fun and creative. I would read along the lyrics as the album played. Love the whole thing, and I'm aware I'm super biased from nostalgia. I like to think even if I weren't this would be an easy 4 or 5.

Love a good concept album

Beatles Stan stans the Beatles

Weird album art, but a killer album. Scarborough Fair, 59th St Bridge Song, Homeward Bound all on the same album?? Fantastic. Wild that the album itself touted "The Dangling Conversation" as one of their singles off of it. It feels to me one of the least interesting songs on the record. Really enjoyed "Patterns", "Cloudy", "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine", and the Bob Dylan kind of parody (if you can call it that?) that is "A Simple Desultory Phillipic" when it came to songs I didn't know before. Feels rare to have an album that is fun to listen to top to bottom.

Funky! And Groovy!

"There She Goes" is great. The rest is fine.

It's not as great as "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", but I have a lot of love for this album.

This is the -gazi we should have excoriated Hilary about.

love that bluesy rock sound.

The worst kind of 80s music sound.

Ella is great. Gershwin songs are hit and miss. Three hours is much too long

Feels like it should be an American album as a response to yuppie and Reagan-era cultures. But I'm surprised to see it's yet another middling English album. Kind of interesting, but very forgettable.

This is the soundtrack for the end credits of every single movie in the 90s and for that reason, I'm out.

I never thought I'd actually enjoy a post-rock kind of album, but this one was a pleasant surprise. The soundscape it provided felt like running from one fever dream to the next. Maybe if it had hit me on another day I'd be more sour, but I enjoyed the experience. Not something I'd queue up to listen to on a whim, but cool for what it does.

Not my fav RS album, but it is still very good.

"America" is such a great song. I was surprised at the depth of the entirety of the album. I guess there's a reason Simon & Garfunkel were such a phenomenon in their time.

"Pet Sounds" is worth the hype; I've known for a long time it's considered one of the best albums ever written but never found time to actually sit and listen to it. It is musically deep and sounds as fresh today as it did when it was released in 1966. "God Only Knows" is maybe the greatest song of all time. 5/5 if only for that.

Guess I must be a tiger with a tail, because Buck Owen sure gets me.

I like that old timey sound

Not for me, but interesting for what it is.

It's... fine.

Enjoyable enough while sitting on a long flight and zoning out. Not something I'd go out of my way for or regularly care to listen to.

"Life During Wartime" and "Heaven" are both all-time classics but this isn't one of the albums I'd select for this list. I'd hope to see something like "Speaking in Tongues" and/or the "Stop Making Sense" live album.

It rocks

I really disliked this. Way too long. Way too brooding

How timely I was just watching the Foo Fighters tiny desk concert the day before this album comes up

Fine but forgettable

Take Five is a masterpiece. And also I imagine a nightmare to count and play. Kudos to them

This is why I like this project

I waffle on this. Some of it has a pretty great sound for its time but some of it sounds like generic garage band stuff

If Wes Anderson were a sound

It's basically two REALLY GOOD solo albums smashed together. I think I can even overlook the ridiculous skits. "God (Interlude)" is especially funny for a skit. As I get older the more I appreciate Big Boi and Speakerboxx but the artistry from Andre 3000 in The Love Below is just so good.

I really enjoyed this.

The strangest thing about this album is how The Stranger is one of the worst songs. But it all slaps so it's minor nits to pick

Not the best ABBA. Still very good

She's got an interesting voice and I love "These Days", but the rest doesn't do much for me

It's great all around. Great album art and name, great songs.

Wildly surprised with how much I liked it.

There are a few pieces here and there that I appreciate for what it's done to music in general but overall it's not good and it's too long

Good stuff. "Papa was a rolling stone" is an all timer

Torn on what to give this. I love a lot of what the New Wave sound has become. I like some of the underlying beats and melodies that this album provides. I cannot stand the singer and their style. So where to put this?

I feel like I've heard these before but I don't know where. Anyway, enjoyable!

Sounds about right for the era. IDK if it does much for me.

This is a fine album. However, it feels criminal to have 3 Blur albums and only one Gorillaz album. Maybe Damon Albarn moved the industry (or Euro music?) a lot with Blur. But given that only one song from this (or any of the 3) album ever really did anything, I'm not convinced Gorillaz isn't his bigger legacy. #justiceforgorillaz

Idk, it's not _bad_ but it just feels devoid of any heart or soul.

It's easy to forget how good of an artist Snoop used to be

This one found me on the right day. It's very good but could easily be a 3 or 4

I enjoyed it but it's not particularly great

This album could be absolute garbage and it would still need to be on this list. The history and story behind Smile is legendary across the music industry. Nevermind that Brian Wilson's push for weird soundscape stuff has undoubtedly left a large impact on the future music scene. Who knows what the original Smile album in the 60s would have been and whether or not it would actually be close to the version Wilson was able to conjure in 2004. Either way, it's an interesting listen. It does feel manic and all over the place, which feels very 60s Brian Wilson for sure. It's interesting, but it's not something I'd put in a regular rotation

Nice background music, sort of ambient but with some interesting vibes

Fantastic album. Interesting, artsy, and fun to listen to over and again.

Da Mystery of Chessboxin is still my favorite on this one.

I enjoyed it, but it's not something I keep coming back to. IMO this is only here because of "The Killing Moon" and how iconic it is.

I've never actually listened to a full Beck album before. This was a good one to have be the first. I'd heard "Girl" and "E-Pro" before a few times (both excellent), but I was surprised at how the entire album just kept a really nice flow and theme throughout. Feels top 20% worthy.

Why is this on here?

Didn't do much for me.

Copy/paste from the last Joy Division album we had. I definitely don't think we need multiple JD albums on this list... Anyway: "Torn on what to give this. I love a lot of what the New Wave sound has become. I like some of the underlying beats and melodies that this album provides. I cannot stand the singer and their style. So where to put this?"

Bottom 20% of this list for sure

Early punk, but too repetitive to be good.

Fun disco sounds! Le Freak is very recognizable, but the whole thing has been very fun and really enjoyable. Especially for a Friday listen to get into the weekend.

I appreciate they had something they wanted to say.

1. Thom Yorke's voice is often uninteresting (too whiny, too one-dimensional, idk?). Lol Wikipedia tells me he's noted for his wide vocal range. Someone tell me where to find it on In Rainbows please. There's a lot of flat normal register singing, a lot more of falsetto one note kind of stuff, and occasionally shouting one or two steady notes. This has summed up all of my Thom Yorke singing knowledge. 2. I don't care for the very ethereal sounding stuff they go on about. 3. Radiohead proponents are especially pretentious about the impact of the band. I think they have contributed interesting ideas and concepts to the larger music community (this album being released as a pay-what-you-want download was a neat statement on the industry's stance on piracy at the time). I don't mind Radiohead, I really like _some_ of their stuff, but the rabidity of their fans to defend everything they do when it feels like a LOT of it is samey over their work probably also turns me off from them.

Maybe it's the recording equipment of the time, but you can't really capture the spirit of the sound that Muddy Waters seemed to bring. It's got so much heart.

Short. Delightful.

If you had asked me to name albums that definitely would be on this list, I would have names this one pretty quickly. It's so good. Fun to hear originals that became popular samples (Wild Wild West, Gangstas Paradise). "Isn't She Lovely" is just so infectiously joyful. Inject that shit right into my veins.

I generally love Sinatra but this one's a dud.

Different enough to be enjoyable. Kind of weird it's not actually on any streaming so I have to listen to it on YouTube though.

Really liked "Grounds for Divorce"; rest of album is enjoyable and especially good for background/work music.

It's more fun if I imagine them singing "Bye Bye Batman"

This album is a masterpiece.

Yeah. They're pretty good I guess

I assume this was meant to be very tongue in cheek, but it is still bad. "I Can See For Miles" is the only slightly redeeming part, but even that's a bit of a mid Who song.

Interesting sounds, but lyrically not my style.

I like Merle Haggard well enough but I'm not sure what it is about THIS album that needed to be on the list

I like Janelle Monae

I think because it's just been so ubiquitous that people think "Livin' On a Prayer" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" are silly or something. But they really rock. The rest of the album -- it's fine.

I was not familiar with Todd Rundgren's game. You mean the "Bang the Drum" guy actually wrote good music? The thing about this album that I feel like is a bit of a miss is that it's like four separate mini-albums, and Wikipedia tells me they each have their own named sections. Which you don't really get a sense of in the streaming era, which is a shame.

Gives me Tim Burton vibes

How fitting this came up when I had a road trip.

It's no Purple Rain let's just say that. I am not sure why this is considered his better work??? It certainly doesn't hold up the same was as Purple Rain does to modern ear

You know what? I can get behind this very punk AF album especially since each track is like 70 seconds long. Get in, get out. Reminds me a lot of SLC Punk

Some fun folk

It's just boring

Yeah they're pretty good

Can't tell if the owner of this site did a quick update to force a Dolly Parton album to those who haven't seen it yet, or this is supremely coincidental. Either way, I'm grateful that today's album is Dolly Parton -- a day after she's passed away. Dolly is one of my favorite country artists, her music has a wide accessibility and range and she was prolific. It's fun to know she did a collab with other powerhouses Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. RIP to the queen of country.