This is cool. Who knew Pixies 3rd best album isn’t even by Pixies
Funky. Enjoyed revisiting this after not hearing it for over a decade. Didn’t need to be so long
Easy to see why this is a classic. I’m not personally into the whole glam/classic rock thing but this is undeniably catchy
Some albums are so good they change your taste in music.
Some albums are so good you remember where you were when you first heard them. (The good old days the good old days)
Some albums are so good that, the world around you disappears and it feels like you’re in a movie.
Some reviews are so cringeworthy and full of hyperbole that you wish you’d just written “5 Stars”.
5 reasons I dislike Morrissey:
- That silly ‘oooo I’m a spooky Ghoul’ howl he occasionally does
- That even more silly Cookie Monster voice he does
- The fact he is capable of writing amazing lyrics but occasionally ruins some of Marr’s best work with nonsense like ‘Girlfriend in a Coma’ (or ‘Some Girls are Bigger Than Others’ etc etc)
-His god awful political opinions
-Just his overall personality.
Thankfully not even Morrissey can stop this album being great.
Good songs individually but the vocal delivery and production style mean trying to listen to this in one sitting is akin to chugging a 2 litre bottle of Coke.
Me: “eurgh this is all so very cabaret”
Also me: “she’s a killer queeeeeeen”
Why did no one tell me Rush was Led Zeppelin with jet packs… but like not quite as good some how
I think I watched these at a school battle of the bands once.
Of all the albums i've ever heard this is definitely one of them.
Enjoyed this but no reason for it to be 56 minutes. Remove a bunch of the ‘inserts’ and the weak tracks on the 2nd half and this would gain a star.
A personal favourite.
Best paired with a dark room, a 3rd glass of your chosen spirit and sense of fear & dread having watched the 10 o’clock news.
Bowie x Eno x Fripp.
Perfection
The only redeeming feature of this album is the artwork which clearly depicts my face when someone adds spoken word excerpts about nuclear war to hotel elevator muzak.
I’m confused.
I spent the last 20 years thinking I hate prog. Now I apparently like Rush and Yes?
The first 4 minutes is like a terrible fever dream but enjoyed everything after that
One of the best bands in the world with a collection of some of their best songs (and a couple of less good ones)
Deducting one star just because it’s not quite the cohesive masterpiece of OK Computer, Kid A or In Rainbows.
Still incredible.
28 minutes means you can listen to it twice. I did and enjoyed it both times.
Pairing notes: beanbag, winter sweater, ability to zone out and do fuck all for an hour.
Enjoyed it but took a couple of listens to appreciate
Didn’t want to give instant 5 stars because it’s Bob.
Don’t think twice… it’s alright.
You know how every Beatles album has some stupid songs but you forgive them because there’s also a stack of genuine masterpieces there….
Take the White Album… 6 stupid tracks (Wild Honey Pie anyone?), 24 bangers.
Every Queen album does that too. The difference is that their ratio is 50:50. For every Bohemian Rhapsody you have ‘I’m in love with my car’
I’m going to average it out and give half marks.
Ordered this Elliott Smith album from Temu. Decent quality for the money but will buy from a reputable record store next time
(I actually quite enjoyed this)
Never even heard of The Saints. Fun little punk album. I liked it.
The generator gave me this album on a very glum and rainy Monday morning in the UK. Put this on at 7am.
By 9am I was on a Teams call wearing a denim jacket and bandana, drinking a Budweiser and preaching to colleagues about the 2nd amendment.
Listened to this twice all the way through.
First was the original 1987 release. I honestly thought it was a set of good songs completely ruined by the overly compressed outdated production.
Second time was the 2020 remaster which thankfully fixes these issues and brings some dynamics and space to breathe.
You know that song we did earlier… do it again but this time set the synth to the ‘trumpet’ setting,
A pleasant listen but not an interesting one.
Sounds like if James Bond was on hold to IT.
Why release one incredible album when you can release two.
Abattoir Blues - Intense
Lyre of Orpheus - Reflective & melodic.
I can’t even pick a favourite
I ignored Amy Winehouse in the 00s. I thought I was edgy and she was too ubiquitous to be cool. I’ve since come to really like Back to Black…the production, the hooks, the sadness in the lyrics, the vocal delivery, that 60s R&B aesthetic.
Frank doesn’t have any of the things I like in B2B but I still didn’t hate it
What in the smokemachinehairspraypowerstance-hell is this album doing on this list. Get in the bin.
Also included in my upcoming book ‘1 album to hear before you die’
I love Pixies. Not sure you could class this as ‘an album you must hear before you die’ when Surfer Rosa, Doolittle and Bossanova exist.
A couple of songs like Abstract Plain and Headache are Pixies standard songs but there’s definitely a fair bit of filler here.
With a bit of quality control this could have been a great 13-song album instead of a middling 22-song one
Track 1 - Super Furry Animals B-side
Track 2 - Toddler goes nuts on GarageBand
Track 3 - Don’t let a lack of melody, structure or timing get in the way of making songs. Why does this sound like Brian Eno??
Track 4 - Syd Barrat has a psychotic episode while a cat sits on a synth
Track 5 - Another Super Furry Animals B-side
Track 6 - Big Band Jazz ensemble do ketamine. Track should have been titled ‘Regretamine’
Track 7 - A wild Brian Eno appears...Again. (Edit: oh shit this was meant to be a joke but turns out it is actually Eno.)
Track 8 - Fell ashleep to this one.
Track 9 - Still shleeping
Track 10 - Woke up to a knees up cockney version of Bob Dylan. Very confused had to check I hadn’t accidentally pressed shuffle
Track 11 - Trumpets in a haunted crypt
Tl;dr - This was fucking weird.
I bought NME religiously from 2002-2005. Every week another must-hear indie guitar band was on the cover… The Strokes, Libertines, The Hives, The Vines, White Stripes, Interpol, Muse, The Coral, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, King of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian, Bloc Party…
Arctic Monkeys were the top of the rollercoaster just before the decline towards landfill indie …Fratellis, Pigeon Detectives, Wombats, Scouting for Girls, The Kooks
Jesus Christ did it fall off quickly.
I wasn’t sure which side of the line this album would fall 20 years on since I first heard it. Glad to say it still holds up.
At last… music for the masses to enjoy. Can’t wait to bang this on at the work Christmas do and see my colleagues’ smiling faces.
The reason I love Pink Floyd is that they didn’t do anything by halves.
Feeling jaded and like an industry pawn?
Write an entire concept album about it.
Want to include a tribute to your old band mate?
Make it 25 minutes long, bookend the album with it and make it the best goddamn song ever written.
Need album art to match the theme?
Set a dude on fire.
Brilliant.
Surgeon’s son New Yorker cosplays as a cowboy.
Imagine Bob Dylan didn’t bother with politics, poetry and storytelling and instead sang songs about bed bugs and weevils.
The cocaine song had something to it. Sounds like it should be over the closing credits of a Coen brothers movie. The rest was unbearable.
[long-time Neil Young fanboy perspective]
Thank you generator! Not my absolute favourite but this is gateway Neil where my addiction began. There’s so much to like here.
‘Think I’ll pack it in and buy a pick-up.’ Really sets the tone.
Ben Keith’s pedal steel.
Heart of Gold and Old Man are earworms (even my 3 year old sings along to those)
Alabama. You can actually hear the barn where it was recorded. Side note: Google the ‘Needs More Barn!’ story with Graham Nash if you don’t know it.
The transition between ‘The Needle & The Damage Done’ into ‘Words’.
The usual criticism against this album is Young’s most misunderstood song ‘A Man Needs A Maid’.
Often written off as sexist when the real meaning is condemning one-sided relationships. It only made sense to me when I heard the 1971 Massey Hall version, stripped of the orchestra. With the lyric variation ‘a man feels afraid’ and a bridge that would later become Heart of Gold. These songs make much more sense considered together ‘To give a love, you gotta live a love / To live a love, you gotta be "part of” / … I wanna live, I wanna give… / when will I see you again’.
Music for people who list DIY in their hobbies.
2nd album by CCR and have enjoyed them both.
Marking this one down slightly (vs Green River) because i could have done without 25% of the album being taken up with ‘Graveyard Train’ plodding along but getting nowhere.
Liked the other 6 songs. Can see myself coming back to this.
This was fun. Very melodic.
Can’t believe a clothes brand made such a good album
This came out 32 years ago. I haven’t heard it in 20 years. Somehow makes more sense in 2025 with Soccer Mommy, boygenius, Snail Mail, Wednesday etc.
Crazy, messy, imperfect, fun.
CSN-Y.
Like if Beatles made an album without John Lennon. Still Great.
I once accidentally saw the Killers live when they appeared unannounced for a ‘secret set’ on a smaller stage at Glastonbury
They played the first 5 songs from this album. Everyone danced and sang along. Then they fucked off. I wish they did the same in the studio because the second half of this album is absolute shite.
Kept my interest throughout but wasn’t as instantly rewarding as any Talking Heads or solo Eno records I’ve heard. Definitely worthy of further listening.
Re-review 2 months later.
I keep coming back to this album. I’m upgrading it to a 4.
Still demanding justice for Portishead though….
2007 Interview excerpt from Mark Saunders who produced this record:
"Tricky entered the studio with 'a great idea for a loop', incorporating samples from Isaac Hayes' 'Ike's Rap II'. We did the whole track ('Hell Is Around The Corner') and Tricky then did his usual thing, calling the manager and telling her, 'This is fantastic! You've got to come and listen to the next single!' At that time we were working at my own Loveshack studio, and the manager was just up the road, so she came in and she stood in the doorway as he played it to her, and I saw her jaw drop. She said, 'Tricky, I can't believe you did that.' Tricky went, 'What? What are you talking about?' I could see he was starting to smirk, he knew what she was talking about. She said, 'You know Portishead have used this,' and he said, 'No, I had no idea!' He was laughing, and it turned out that she'd given him a cassette of some rough mixes off the Portishead album.”
Sixteen Saltines is awesome. Not much else worth coming back to for me.
I don’t hate this album I just think it doesn’t belong anywhere near a ‘must hear’ list. By comparison, White Blood Cells and Elephant definitely do. Hoping Jack’s latest ‘No Name’ album also makes the next edition of this book. Just about every track on that one is better than anything here.
I’ve never really ‘got’ James Brown but this album really captures the live energy well.
Pre-streaming days, I downloaded the entire Bunnymen discography. Think I listened through exactly once then decided Ocean Rain was the one, bought that on CD and deleted the rest. For some reason I never bothered going back to the others so glad this came up.
This was good. Definitely still not /as/ good as Ocean Rain though.
Not really fair to assess this one since decent music wasn’t invented til 1959.
The thing I loved about White Stripes was how much they pissed off the Metalheads in school:
‘jAcK cAnT sInG’
‘iTs JuSt TeH pEnTaToNiC sCaLe’
‘mEg CaNt EvEn PlAy TeH dRuMs’
‘tHeY dOnT eVeN hAvE a BaSsIsT lMaO’
All these things are true. It doesn’t stop them being the ultimate ‘better-than-the-sum-of-their-parts’ band.
So STFU and go back to listening to dragonforce and wanking over orcs, Dan.
First impressions when today’s pick appeared:
Seriously? the uptown girl guy?… bleurghhhhh
After listening: why have I slept on this?? Just great McCartney-esque pop songs. It isn’t cool in any way but this is now my go to answer for ‘guilty pleasure’.
Really enjoyed every song here. Highlights Scenes from an Italian restaurant, Vienna
Is it controversial to call Nile Rodgers a one trick pony?
I’m going to. It is a fun trick though.
Musical equivalent of a vodka red bull.
Not the kind of thing i could play on repeat but feel like i’ll always enjoy it whenever I do.
Cynically, I see reusing the “Heroes” artwork as a marketing gimmick rather than an artistic statement with any depth. Something that gets people talking about this album in the same breath as Bowie’s best work.
If it is then it worked - it got the album in this book. Take Bowie’s face and name off this and it’s hard to imagine anyone describing this as ‘must hear before you die’.
A couple of decent songs. Many forgettable ones.
Initial review: First listen, won’t be the last. 4 stars.
24 hours later: I was right, i have listened to this 3 more times. This is addictive.
It’s like the album I always wanted Ariel Pink to release. With the added bonus of not being by him.
I’m upgrading this to 5.
Roy Orbison sings Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads.
Day 59
This isn’t the worst album I’ve had so far but it is easily the most pointless.
This exercise is proving that there are actually not 1001 albums that you ‘must hear’. There’s probably 4 or 5 Stones albums that fit that descriptor better than this one. I’m convinced the author got to 900 odd albums then just threw in an extra couple by any big name artists.
Absolutely nothing here that isn’t done better elsewhere.
People: ‘Blur or Oasis?’
Me: ‘Gorillaz.’
They say don't judge an album by its cover. In this case you can. Both are fucking insane.
There’s a run of songs I actually really like in the middle here (Our Love Was, I Can See For Miles, Can’t Reach You) interspersed with batshit psychedelic adverts for no good reason.
This album was a big deal to me once.
Then I turned 15.
3 stars for the sense of nostalgia.
Talking Heads = Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
These guys = Watered Down Supermarket-brand Cordial
Come, Dua Lipa with the peppermint pig
The chalupa’s in the ‘frigerator
Fuck a doorknob, California
Buttermilk pancakes in my eyes
Stepped on a toad, broke a Navajo code
Now it’s time to reiterate California
I got a thumbtack on my nutsack
Pi’s 3.1415
Tickle my bum with a mannequin thumb
On a bongo drum in California
Snuffleupagus atе my asparagus
Supernova toilet clog
Carjacked a nun on the 101
Gotta have some fun in California
There’s a sunspot on my kumquat
Nancy Reagan bit my dog
Listening to this made me feel something.
That something often felt like being poked in the eye but I’ll take that over the feeling of nothingness from a dozen other albums the generator has given me.
Does this album belong on this list? Definitely. Every music nerd should listen to Trout Mask Replica before they die.
Does that make it a good album? Absolutely not.
My wedding first dance song appears on this album.
Hard to be rational about this one.
6 stars out of 5.
I bought Mudhoney’s Superfuzz Big Muff as a teen. Loved it and listened to it on repeat. For some reason never got round to buying any other Mudhoney albums and I long ditched the flannel and ripped jeans by the time streaming was a thing.
Was excited to listen to this for the first time. But it was pretty dull.
I liked Pokin Around mostly because it sounded like Bob Dylan playing harmonica over a Dinosaur Jr track. Nothing else to come back for and the flannel shirts are staying firmly in the attic.
Straddling the line between hella catchy and hella cheesy
I have never bothered with Bob Marley or reggae in general.
That changes today.
Strings. Pianos. Poetry. What’s not to like?
‘Macbeth’ seems like it’s from a different album altogether and is the only skip for me.
Thanks, Generator. I hadn’t listened to this in a whole day.
If you don’t like the band by the band the band you should be banned.
c.2002 I listened to a pirate copy of International Superhits on my CD Walkman so much that it must have put a dent in the world’s supply of AA batteries.
2years later American Idiot was out. All the boys in school wore eyeliner and gelled their hair in spikes.
I steered clear of Green Day ever since.
Expected to hate revisiting this. But I didn’t. Not groundbreaking but fun pop music deserving of its place on this list.
Drums: 4/4 mid tempo back beat.
Piano & guitar: 12 bar blues.
Bass: take it for a walk
Horns: obnoxiously loud
Vocalist: men sing about women; women sing about men.
Backing vocalist: call and response everything.
There, I saved you listening to anything from the 50s.
Important album for me growing up.
I’ll probably still listen to this when I’m 70 and my grandchildren will wonder why Grandad is screaming.
Second Bob Marley album in a week. And another great record. I’m officially a convert.
People: ‘Blur or Oasis?’
Me: ‘Suede.’
Had this on in the background all day.
Started to believe I’m in Sim City and none of this is real.
I have a tough time rating 80s synth stuff because it’s really not my style.
Looking back at my previous scores for inspiration…
Depeche Mode got 4. Decent. Enjoyed that more.
Teardrop Explodes got 2. Pants. Enjoyed this more.
I guess that makes this a 3?? That feels generous but I’m going with it and reserve the right to downgrade later.
Rightly overshadowed by Mezzanine which is incredible (and bizarrely missing from this list).
Might be a step down but Protection is a great album in its own right….
Except for the weird live Light My Fire cover at the end which I hated.
My favourite 1001 album discovery so far.
One of those bands I’d heard of but never listened to.
21 songs with an average length of 1min40. You’d think that means it’s frenetic or full of half baked ideas but it isn’t. Every song is just about long enough to feel complete but never a second more.
Snarling and aggressive but still accessible and catchy. This is what pop punk should be.
Almost every song on this album sounds familiar. Which is either a sign of brilliant songwriting or how often Wire have been ripped off. Maybe a bit of both.
One of my weirdest concert experiences was seeing NiN in 2007. During Head Like a Hole I somehow found myself in a circle pit and got absolutely freight-trained in the chest by a gigantic sweaty bear of a man, easily three times my size.
The same dude then scooped me up off the ground, said he was very sorry, hugged me and… didn’t… let… go.
I slow danced with this bear for a full 5 minutes while Trent Reznor closed the show with Hurt.
Not sure if I felt comforted or violated. Basically the same experience coming back to this album.
Superunknown if you just kept the 9 best songs.
Let Me Drown
Fell on black days
Super unknown
Black hole Sun
Spoonman
Limo wreck
The day I tried to live
4th of July
Like suicide
Running time: 46:20
This version gets 5 stars easily.
Sometimes less is more.
Second Massive Attack album in 5 days.
If Protection for 4 stars this has to get 5.
Makes me want to drink caipirinhas on a beach.
Take Me Out is a modern classic. Matinee is good. The rest of the album varied between tolerable and outright annoying.
I’ve come to terms with it…
The way I rate music is irrational.
So much of how I feel about albums is tied to where I was when I first heard it.
2008 was awesome. So is this album.
I grew up where The Coral grew up so have a slight issue of being massively over exposed to them. Still regularly name dropped by my brother’s mates 20+ years later, seemingly unaware the rest of the world has moved on.
“ey lad gerron this rite. Bin chattin to James Skelly / Bill Ryder-Jones. Says he’ll produce me new EP if I go round is gaff this Satdy.”
“Is it yeah? Sound tha ya know.”
“Is rite. Giz a go on that lemo there lad”
Occasionally, I listen to the first 4 tracks from this album then put something else on.
Today, for the first time in years, I listened to all 15 tracks.
Next time, I’ll listen to the first 4 tracks from this album then put something else on.
Off to play Fifa 11 now.
Former SY addict. 15 years sober.
I’m not about to relapse just because the 1001 album generator threw EVOL at me.
Sure, I did search the attic for my old Kim Gordon posters.
And maybe I bought my Washing Machine T-shirt and Corporate Ghost DVD down while I was there.
And fine, I might’ve tuned my Jazzmaster to F#F#F#F#EB and hit it with drumsticks.
And okay, I did scribble “Sonic Life” on my forearm in biro.
…But that absolutely does not mean I’m relapsing.
*switches on every kitchen appliance, closes eyes and starts reciting Allen Ginsberg poems*
I kind of hate AI but it is good for some things. I now understand that cool jazz and modal jazz is the sweet spot for me.
Jazz sub genres as LEGO (according to AI)
Swing is like building from one LEGO set with clear instructions, placing each brick in a regular rhythm.
Bebop also uses one set, but you build super fast with tiny pieces, switching pieces constantly while still following the plan.
Hard bop still uses one set, but the bricks are heavier, brighter. Like building the same model but with duplo.
Cool jazz uses one set and builds slowly and smoothly, following instructions but keeping everything relaxed and clean.
Modal jazz uses one big baseplate and a single set. Instead of lots of steps, it gives you one big area to explore freely, making your own shapes from the set.
Free jazz dumps all LEGO sets together and ignores instructions completely, letting you build anything in any direction.
The answer to my new favourite pop trivia question…
Which band has 3 members who share a surname but none of them are related?
Andy Taylor (Guitar)
Roger Taylor (Drums)
John Taylor (Bass)
They can have a star for each of the Taylors.
Enjoyed it though it’s not something I’ll come back to.
There’s 2 and a half songs I really enjoyed on this (Everything Must Go, No Surface All Feeling, the chorus of A Design For Life).
Everything else I found just a bit dull
For a long time I wasn’t a fan of Bruce Springsteen.
All the stars+stripes wearing, chest-beating, stadium anthems… eurgh.
Then I heard Nebraska. Stripped back. One man and an acoustic guitar telling sad stories. This is the Bruce album for Bob Dylan/Leonard Cohen/Neil Young fans.
Over time, I’ve come to really like many other Springsteen albums and was lucky enough to see him live with the E Street Band this year. Now I absolutely am a fan…. It just took his least Stadium-anthem album to make me see the light.
I liked this but theres at least 5 Wilco albums I like more.
A good album? Yes.
Must hear before you die? Only California Stars.
