1001 Albums Summary

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

Dull

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 nice listen. More style over substance but I enjoyed it anyway

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.

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

Old cheese

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.

Enjoyed having something different from the usual 80s synt pop/90s Brit pop. This list needs more like this.

I’m away this weekend. I listened to this before sunrise, whilst drinking a coffee, watching ducks swim on a calm lake. I’m very glad I got this as my album of the day and not thrash metal or something.

The Smiths but without all the good bits. Like a Christmas dinner but it’s only sprouts.

The band The Beatles could have been

Albums where the title also works as a review: Superfly.

No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of.

Pre-listening reaction: Like everyone else in Europe I am subject to an overwhelming amount of ABBA. The music is ok. Just ok. But I end up fucking hating it for the overexposure and wonder why such utter 5/10ness is revered by an entire continent. It baffles me… Why have they sold eleventy billion albums? Why are they played in every shop/ sports event/ advert/ wedding/ birthday party/ works do. Just fuck off you boring bunch of c… Looking at this tracklist none of the usual ‘thank you for the music’ / ‘money money money’ shite is here. Expect I’ll still hate it all the same. Post-listening: Well this wasn’t nearly as horrible as I expected…I even found myself enjoying it at times. Still a bang average 3/5 but I’ve had many worse albums so far.

Im not a classic rock radio guy. I’m more Portishead/Radiohead than Motörhead/Machine Head. In spite of that, this was unexpectedly great Had me headbanging and air guitaring round my kitchen like I was Jack Black.

The phrase ‘ahead of its time’ was made for this.

Sounds like if A Hard Days Night-era Beatles covered Dylan. What’s not to like?

Cold rainy Monday in December and I get this. Glory to Generator Jesus. These lyrics should be studied in schools.

Expect this album to be dropped in the next edition of the books. It’s not bad but so many albums that sound just like this between 2008-2013 and I can think of a few more deserving of a place.

Hey ChatGPT, make a Father John Misty album but change the lyrics so it sounds like it’s written by a teenager. Do yourself a favour and go listen to Mahashmashana instead.

Like discovering a secret Beatles/Zombies/early Floyd album. Really liked this one.

2000s Coldplay = eating grilled chicken breast and unseasoned potatoes. 2010-2020s Coldplay = eating dog turd covered in glitter. (I don’t mind this but can’t understand why anyone would choose to listen to it when The Bends exists)

It’s amazing that a man who has spent so much of his life in proximity of Neil Young could never learn a thing or two about writing good songs. So. Very. Bland.

Review written by my 3 year old son: 3yo: “This music makes me feel like spaghetti… like this…” *flails arms around* Me: “Oh, and do you like it?” 3yo: “No. It’s very rubbish”

A classic

The 2nd album I ever bought with my own money. Rockafella Skank was on Fifa 99 and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It’s still a banger. Right Here Right Now and Praise You also great The rest is hot garbage. I’m giving a generous 2 just because I like those three songs.

Psychedelic Rock x Country Rock…. 2 genres I like separately somehow not living up to the sum of their parts. Still enjoyed it though.

Enjoyed it but pretty far below the benchmark set by ATCQ. Maybe that’s an unfair comparison.

I listened to this whilst walking through a very sleepy middle-class English neighbourhood. I got to the corner shop just as ‘Deeez Nuuuts’ came on. Had to pause it briefly to help an old lady when her Brichon Frise’s lead got tangled round the wheel of her granny cart. I got the last loaf of my favourite seeded farmhouse bread. I think it’s made locally. I’m pretty gangster myself, actually.

I remember not rating this at all when it came out. It’s much better than I remember. Still not a ‘must hear’ by any stretch but I enjoyed it.

Today is the shortest day of the year. The sun is barely arsed to shine today. This is the perfect soundtrack.

Potentially controversial opinion: This is a middling effort far below top tier Pink Floyd Eras of Pink Floyd ranked: 1. 1971-77 The good stuff (5 stars all round) 2. 1967-68 Barrett’s ‘Garden gnome on LSD’ era **3. 1979-83 Waters-dominating ‘Cokey opera’ era** 4. 1969-70 ‘Hipsters pretend this isn’t shit’ era 5. 1987- ‘Old man Gilmour bought a houseboat’ era It’s certainly not a bad album and is 100% deserving of being called ‘must hear’ for the concept. It’s just not deserving of the iconic reputation it carries.

Oh man… it’s just a peak era Bowie album I’ve never listened to before. Excellent.

Pretty freaky Bowie

Music equivalent of roast turkey dinner. Perfect for this time of year but that doesn’t mean it’s actually good and you’d be sectioned if you considered it in July.

Fun pop - very ‘of its time’.

The first truly great album by my all time favourite artist. Neil wrote Cinnamon Girl, Down By The River and Cowgirl in the Sand in a single day whilst suffering from a fever. He did more for music in one afternoon than most artists achieve in their lifetime… and we’re lucky enough to have another 50+ years of the crazy bastard. The easiest of 5 stars.

My wife’s favourite band is The National. My daughter’s favourite singer is Taylor Swift. Imagine how pleased I was to pull this on the day we had a long drive. Finally, something we can all get behind and enjoy together as a family. Except we didn’t. This was so damn boring I had to open the windows in December to keep us awake.

The digs at McCartney on this are ridiculous… “the only thing you done was Yesterday” Wo John, lad…don’t disrespect the frog song like that.

Raw like sushi. Aged like milk.

Double albums are normally the result of poor quality control. Artists so far up theirown arse they can’t recognise which songs are the duds and should be cut. Ironically, this album is made up of songs which Lennon, McCartney and Martin deemed not to make the cut for Beatles records. The result is an album better than most of the actual Beatles records. John needed Paul Paul needed John George just needed himself

They actually wrote my review for me in the lyrics of ‘Pearls Cafe’… “It's all a load of bollocks” Yes it is.

Glad to get this. I now have a benchmark for bang average.

ARGH IM SO ANGSTY AND OPPRESSED. IT MAKES ME WANT TO WEAR A LEATHER JACKET, EYELINER AND SKULL JEWELLERY AND SHOUT ABOUT IT ON THE JOOLS HOLLAND SHOW.

Thought this was the coolest album ever when I first heard it. Must have listened 100 times more over the years and still feel the same way. If I ever open a smokey underground cocktail bar expect this to be on heavy rotation.

You really need whosampled.com open to appreciate the complexity of this record. Sonic Lego. Absolutely a must-hear.

Like listening to someone have sex whilst trapped in the casino level from Sonic The Hedgehog 2. I’m here for it.

A modern classic. Almost 20 years old is still modern right?

Don’t hear this one mentioned much compared to ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen’ or ‘Songs Love & Hate’. The first half is every bit as good as those but kind of fizzles out in the second half.

Smoother than a buttered dolphin wearing silk pyjamas. Fucking hell did I actually just write that.

2 original songs padded out with a bunch of covers played on a really annoying fairground organ. Even the artwork smacks of ‘fuck it, that’ll do. Just release it’. Don’t understand why this is so highly rated.

There’s good Indian music. This isn’t it.

Haven’t listened to this in a couple of years and my god is it good. Won’t go that long before the next listen. Dark. In the absolute best way.

Side A: Dull. Only thing keeping me awake is horrible production. Side B: Excellent 2min50 single. Album version inexplicably dragged out to 17 uninteresting minutes. Bart Simpson did it better.

Jangly guitars with plenty of chorus, airy synths, reverb drenched vocals, heartfelt lyrics. I know this kind of music isn’t “cool” but I’m a sucker for this kind of thing.

True or false: Every song in the world was actually originally written by Carole King.

Sounds more like putting your entire music library on shuffle than an actual album. Sometimes you get a McCartney-esque 5* star ballad. Sometimes the lime is in the coconut.

Imagine hearing this and Daft Punk’s Discovery then picking this one as the ‘must hear before you die’ album. Give your head a wobble, Robert Dimery.

Third Byrds album on the list and my favourite so far. Feels like a blend of the poppy sound from Mr Tambourine Man (4 stars) mixed with the psychedelia from Fifth Dimension (3 stars).

I know these guys are cancelled now but their first 3 albums are still great. Not quite as good as Funeral but what is.

5% Beck 5% Flaming Lips 5% Radiohead 5% Elbow 5% Blur 5% Super Furry Animals 70% tap water (room temperature) 30% of things I like… out of 5 stars so erm… 2 stars I guess?

I have a migraine today and I didn’t fucking need this.

The morning this came out, I entered £40 into the ‘pay what you want’ box to get the boxset. Many of these songs had been on live bootlegs over the previous year so expectations were high. I downloaded the mp3s, loaded them onto my iPod and got on the bus to uni. I remember that journey so clearly. It’s weird how great music does that… turns mundane days into lasting memories.

Goin back to Houston Do the hot dog dance Goin back to Houston To get me some pants. Genius.

I went through a brief SFA obsession a few years ago listening to their entire discography. I came to a conclusion which music nerds never like to say out loud: “Their best album is the greatest hits” That is a 5 star album every day.

Didn’t hate it. Didn’t love it.

Track 1 - Cloud Nine Excellent start. Love a bit of Motown. Early contender for 4-5 stars. Track 2 - I Heard It Through The Grapevine Bold choice for a cover. Let’s have a listen then…. Soiled it. Soiled it. Soiled it. Soiled it. Soiled it. Soiled it. Soiled it. Soiled it.

Not my usual thing but totally get why it’s on the list.

What in the BigFishLittleFishCardboardBox-hell is this album doing on this list. Get in the bin.

Warszawa.

Ranking on Greatest Albums Ever lists: Paste #1 Yahoo Music Blog #1 Rolling Stone Magazine #4 Apple Music #6 VH1 #7 Telegraph #19 1001albums user ranking #20 It’s great. There’s no denying that. But… is it a smidgeon overrated?

People say there’s a fine line between genius and insanity. It isn’t true. This album proves there is no line.

I tend to think of New Order as a singles band but this holds up. Still not sure I’d choose it over Substance but enjoyed it.

Musically, 5 stars. -1 mark for the preachy God/Jesus bits

So many reviews call this album “quintessentially English”, “charming”, “gleefully nostalgic” JFC PEOPLE - THEY’RE BEING SARCASTIC. IT’S SATIRE. (It is, isn’t it? I think? Maybe?) ‘God save little shops, china cups and virginity’ OF COURSE IT’S SATIRE. Beware weaponised nostalgia. Politicians lie. If you think it’s shit now, the ‘good old days’ were worse. Except for the music. That was definitely better.

Tracks 1-3: ‘Cruise ship in an Austin Powers film’ vibe. Track 4: ‘Parade’. Hard to put into words how bad this was...glad it’s over. Back on the cruise but at least I won’t hear a song this bad for a long time. Tracks 5-10: …. Track 11: How wrong was I. Some how even worse than track 4. Mostly 2 star but the bad songs are so bad it drags the whole album down.

This album is 35 minutes long. On Spotify, Dion’s next album from a year later is appended to the end making one continuous 1 hr 20 album. Some sadist approved that. Fuck that guy, fuck Phil Spector and fuck Dion too.

Johnny Rotten’s right. The monarchy can get in the bin. He can follow them.

One of my top 10 albums of all time. 12 incredible songs. Each 5 stars individually. Put together as an album elevates it to something else entirely.

Bowie fronts Joy Division. Not an instant 4-5 star but can see myself growing to really like this one. Will come back to it.

You know when you get a really nice wine? That first glass really hits the spot. Janis Joplin’s voice is like that. Listening to a full album = necking a Bordeaux.

Underrated album. 9-10 great songs It’s just (huh huh) let down (huh huh) by also having a handful of mediocre skippable tracks which Radiohead’s other albums don’t have.

Prince must have been so disappointed when he actually went to a party in 1999 and people put this bullshit on.

Too much going on to be relaxing Not enough going on to be interesting

This is completely new to me and really not what I thought The Pretenders sounded like coming in only knowing Brass in Pocket and that Christmas song. Feels kind of Blondie-ish Started a bit meh but (possibly because it was Friday night when I was listening and the rum kicked in…) the album seemed to get better the further I got through it.

There’s a lot of Americans on this site who seem to label everything with a guitar and from the UK as ‘Britpop’. As a result I will be labelling this particular squeezy-cheese-in-a-can as ‘Freedom Pop’.

Not my thing. Unique. interesting. technically brilliant. Completely deserving of being on the list. Just not for me personally. Scoring on the basis that I found it interesting to listen to and am glad I’ve heard it. Even though I probably won’t come back.

I remember a friend playing AiC at me when we were 15. Decided I didn’t like them and avoided them since. Big mistake. 17 year old me would have loved this. Making up for it a couple of decades later though.

I don’t absolutely hate this. I absolutely nothing this. Just boring. Except for ‘The Bucket’ which is a still pretty great.

Soulful, jazzy, political, Wouldn’t say I was blown away on first listen but I’ll definitely come back and listen to this again

Ahh, finally the author of this book gets an electronic music pick right. Well done, Dimery.

Indie x Electronica x Indian influence. All the ingredients to be something I love. First song was great, second is a classic. Then just fell away completely and was mostly dull. Even the Beatles cover manages to be uninteresting… the Punjabi translation is cool but musically it’s almost a note for note recreation instead of making it theirown. Feel like this sound could be so much better executed.

Pre listening thoughts: Eurgh.. Röyksopp… creators of TV ad music. Post listening thoughts: Oh.. Röyksopp… creators of the worlds best TV ad music.

Music for people who think goatees are cool.

Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Lying In Bed

I felt myself getting dumber listening to this.

Felt exactly like listening to a 74 minute soundtrack. Three vocal songs save this from 1 star (Theme, Soulsville, Do your Thing)

Can’t imagine actively choosing to put this on but enjoyed it when it was. Worthy inclusion on the ‘must hear’ list for the influence on The Beatles alone.

All my favourite singers couldn't sing

I’ve listened to so much MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee and Wednesday in the last year… feel like this influenced them all. Enjoyed it.

Saw Van live last year. He was terrible. This record isn’t.

If you ever went to Widnes, you’d write a song about how desperate you are to go home too. Probably wouldn’t be as good though. -1 star for taking the piss out of Dylan

First became aware of this album when Beck picked it as the third album to cover for his Record Club in 2009. This, after covering VU&Nico and Songs of Leonard Cohen. I didn’t get it then. I don’t get it now

A werewolf, a vampire and a zombie go surfing.

2nd Bob Dylan album in a week. And the best 2 albums by some margin. Might abandon this whole thing and just listen to 1001 Bob Dylan albums instead.

Can only imagine how great it must have been to actually be there. Classic songs performed with such intensity that they’re almost a completely different thing entirely. The only downside is that after hearing this it’s hard to go back to the studio recordings.

My dad played this album every Sunday evening for about 10 years when I was growing up. This now triggers an anxiety response where I feel like I’m going to school in the morning. 1 star for being the first album on the list to make me feel physically sick.

The beginning of the demise of a once decent band.

The old rock n roll stuff just isn’t for me

Used to listen to Bikini Kill a fair bit. This is different but just as cool

“Yeah so I drank a bottle of gin and battered my girlfriend. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect whilst in jail and listen... I’m not saying I definitely won’t do it any again but I’ll at least leave a little gap before i do” - Ray Price on ‘Sittin & Thinkin’, 1963.

The first 6 songs are arguably the best ‘Sad Dad’ songs ever written. They’re easily 5 star. The back half is a drag at times but on the strength of those first 6 I can’t give lower than 4 stars.

The most accessible Joni album. This is the one that made me buy physical copies of her entire discography a couple of years ago… completely unaware how experimental she got.

12 of the best songs ever written (+Yellow Submarine & Dr Robert)

Kanye before he discovered Nitrous Oxide and Swastikas.

Sounds like a support act at every gig I’ve been to. Pairing notes: best enjoyed standing up whilst drinking beer out of a plastic cup. Be sure to politely but unenthusiastically clap after each song and wait for some better music to come on.

The Mott the Hoople album prior to this one has two excellent songs. Written by Lou Reed and David Bowie respectively. On this one they make the fatal mistake of writing theirown material in the style of the people who made them famous but without a shred of the talent.

I’m sorry but nobody *must* hear 72 minutes of a man 25 year past his prime going through the motions, churning out watered-down cliché-filled versions of his old songs.

Music for people who wear dragon pendant necklaces and have tribal tattoos.

Sounds like the stupid shit everyone used to do on the Yamaha keyboards in school…. ‘DJ! DJ! *elephant noise*’

Never listened to an album by The Police. Mainly because Every Breath You Take and Roxanne just never did it for me. Glad I’ve now listened to this. I can see why it’s iconic even if it’s not something I’d actively seek out.

Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind

Lyrically this record has not aged well. Thankfully, Brian Wilson’s melodies are timeless.

I’m very much a ‘separate the art from the artist’ person. Here you don’t need to. They’re both shit.

I gave Stankonia 5 stars. At 1 hr 13 minutes it’s a lot. But it’s worth the investment of your time. This is a full hour longer. Its highs are not as high. Its lows are lower. And did I mention it’s a full hour longer. You do not need to hear this before you die.

When I’m not listening to MJ, I think he’s overrated. When I’m listening to MJ, I remember why he’s rated.

Somehow never listened to this and thought it was great. Will be coming back and every chance this is a 5 star in the future

One of these I’ll give less than 5 stars for a Bob Dylan album…. Not today though.

The hip hop picks in this book are consistently great.

Ha. Good one, Generator. I know what day it is. This is an April fools joke right?

You’ve heard one Chic song you’ve heard them all. Great song though.

Pink Moon is a regular for me. I should really listen to Nick Drakes 2 other albums more because they’re equally brilliant. Three 5-star albums by the age of 23. What a legacy from such a tragically short life.

Very psychedelic, very cool.

Perfect for anyone who thinks the music in the local garden centre is too edgy.

There’s parts of this I really liked and parts that were too much for me. About double the length it needs to be so probably won’t come back to this vs. other jazz albums I’ve enjoyed

This is a weird one. I enjoyed it. And It’s completely deserving of being on this list for how unique it is. Yet I’m just not blown away by it at all. It felt almost…unfinished?

Not my thing at all but i totally get why it’s on the list. I imagine this is some people’s favourite album of all time… just not mine.

More 90s than a tamagotchi in Blockbuster

Dark, Slow And Sludgy Riffs for days. Kind of badass. My kind of metal. ~ Review in haiku

Love the Zep. This is nowhere near their best album but it’s still 4 stars.

I was 16 when this came out and loved White Stripes. De Stijl, White Blood Cells & Elephant were all 10/10 to me. I taped the first radio play of Blue Orchid off the Zane Lowe show and must have listened back to it a hundred times before the album came out. It might be one of their best songs ever. I was psyched. Then I bought the album and found out 10 of the 13 songs here are utter shit and skippable. 1 star for making me relive teenage disappointment.

Waiiiiit… you mean Alvvays are a cover band?

They should hang this in the Louvre Down the back, but who cares - Still the Louvre

Never heard this before. Instantly see why it’s a classic.

About as authentically Indian as a Bombay Bad Boy Pot Noodle. And just like a pot noodle, I imagine I would like this more after several beers.

Never really ‘got’ Elton John. But I sure as shit ‘get’ Tiny Dancer.

Boring

Never bothered with Cat Stevens until seeing him support Neil Young last summer. Great performer. Great set of songs

Synths in a haunted house with a very whiney ghoul. 2 ok songs: Gloomy Sunday was low tier Bowie. Feel like Party Fears Two would be a good song with any other singer. The rest of this is utter shit. A very generous 2. And they can thank me for it

Pagan Pixie Prog. Kinda weird,

One of my go-to albums when it gets dark. Night drive? Perfect Night walk through town? Perfect Night train? Perfect Night cap before bed? Perfect

Basically Foo Fighters if Foo Fighters weren’t shit.

I ignored Hendrix for so many years basically because the metal-leaning guitar-wanker types in school all liked him. I still remember the first time I actually listened to this album and was blown away by it. Very psychedelic very cool.

Edit: I ended up getting two Iron Maiden albums in a row. Downgrading this one because it’s not as good as the other

Ok, I get it. I can see why this is on the list. I can even see why people who love this band and get tattoos of them. It’s just not for me. At all. 3 stars for being culturally significant and for being glad I listened to it.

U2 are a strange band. Overrated by the masses. Severely underrated by most internet-dwelling music nerds. The reality is probably somewhere in the middle.

Had this on repeat the summer after it came out and not at all since. This took me right back.

Imagine this soundtracked the BBC’s office parties in the 80s. Musically, it’s a bop. Lyrically it makes me feel queasy. I’m going to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and assume the lyrics are from the perspective of characters rather than Ian being an absolute creep.

Weird pick to put this on the list and not Homogenic or Post. But still…. Even an average Bjork album is better than most music not by Bjork.

Imperfect debut by a great band. They get better than this but you can hear the formula was there.

Ahhh. Music is so just situation dependent. I got this on a rainy miserable Sunday when I felt rubbish. On a different day I’m sure this could be something I love but right now I have a headache and want to go back to bed. This was far too chipper and annoyed me. When it ended I listened to The Microphones and Songs:Ohia. I’ll be back to re-score when the sun is shining.

Pretty great not much else to say

5 great songs, 12 skips.

One of my personal top 10 of all time

Love the energy, love the songwriting, love the guitars. -1 for the vocal style which gets a bit annoying at times. This is the kind of music I wanted to make growing up.

Chuck D just has the most badass voice. This one not quite as It Takes a Nation of Millions but still essential listening for anyone who likes hip hop

Always thought I don’t like Elvis. Cruise ship karaoke in a jumpsuit. This one wasn’t the cheese fest I was expecting. Likely won’t be back but I enjoyed it.

Situations where I’ve thought South Asian music was good: A) In India, where it was part of the cultural experience B) In a curryhouse, and who doesn’t love a curry C) Listening to The Beatles, and therefore not actually listening to South Asian music at all. Strip these things away and this kind of music does nothing for me.

Can’t explain it but it’s such a human sounding album

I really didn’t expect to like this as much as I did… chilled out great story telling. 3.5 stars and not sure which way to round.

I didn’t get Sister Scissors back when they were everywhere… I still don’t get them now. Should probably be a 2 star (I don’t mind the first 2 tracks) but the Comfortably Numb cover is so offensive I’m deducting a star.

Don’t know anything outside of Come On Eileen which is a wedding classic for a reason. I actually really enjoyed this. Was close to giving 4 stars a few songs on the back half started to drag.

What genre is this album? Yes.

22 years ago a friend’s older brother gave me 4 CDs on the same day. Sonic Youth’s Dirty, Slint’s Spiderland, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless and Mogwai’s Happy Songs for Happy People. Ben - thanks for changing my worldview. I should really message you. It’s been a while.

The guy who manufactured Sex Pistols and opened a bondage shop with Vivienne Westwood steals music from 4 continents and creates a disjointed mixtape. I’d score this a strong ‘whattheactualfuck’ out of five.

Third Stevie Wonder album and third time I’m giving 4 stars. Consistently great

Almost so dark it’s hard to listen to in one sitting. When it finished I listened to Elliott Smith to cheer myself up. Deserving of being on the list for sure but I don’t know how many times I’ll choose to put this on.

‘British music critic Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times described it as "the Sgt. Pepper of folk." ‘ British music critic Derek Jewell needs hearing aids.

Day 271 and I’m feeling jaded with this. You don’t need to hear 6 Elvis Costello albums before you die. You should probably listen to 1 or 2 tops. 1 star for being a pointless inclusion on the list.

First time listening to this and thought it was great. Will be back for more

Terrible person. Great album.

No idea how you even go from Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi and Future Days to this nonsense.

Dusty in Memphis is one of the best albums I’ve had on this list so far. Every song is expertly arranged, great individually but seems to work even better as an album. By comparison, this album is utterly pointless. Zero cohesion. A bunch of generic covers where just about every song here has a better version by someone else. (The Shirelles, The Supremes, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick.) 1 star for being another pointless inclusion that felt like filler to get to 1001.

Should be mandatory listening for anyone who starts talking about Oasis whenever Manchester is mentioned. Amazing how well this has aged for an album nearly 40 years old.

Prejudice-free assessment: 1 over the top ballad but I kind of liked it 2 bop 3 boring ballad 4 boring ballad 5 ballad but marginally more interesting 6 this was ok 7 boring ballad 8 dishwater 9 music from the Streets of Rage beach level 10 pointless reprise

The 8th best selling album ever in the UK. The first ‘big’ album to be recorded digitally for the CD market Initially panned by critics but went on to won a bunch of awards. For cultural significance alone it’s worthy of a place on the list. Enjoyable but also wildly overrated.

It’s Joni Mitchell

Influence of both David Bowie and Talking Heads is obvious. I love both so it makes sense that I enjoyed this too though I’d struggle to recall any of the songs as particular stand outs as soon as it ended….

I enjoyed this without being blown away. Feel as though I like the aesthetic and the production more than songs at times but it’s a pleasant listen either way. Enjoyed it enough that it made me go back and relisten to Felt Mountain. Two very different albums but similar in quality. Ended up rescoring that to 3 stars too.

First day back in work after 10 days of annual leave. This made it easier. Funky.

One of my brothers favourite albums growing up, The first 3 songs are straight up bangers. Yes blatant Dinosaur Jr and Pixies rip offs but I love both of those bands too so that’s ok. Unfortunately in the following 9 songs only ‘Kung Fu’ and ‘Oh Yeah’ reaches the same level of catchiness. Should have been an awesome 5 song EP instead of a 50 minute long slog of an album. Sorry Gazz

Wow this isn’t really my usual kind of jazz at all but it was a lot of fun and caught me in just the right mood to enjoy it

Turns out these aren’t 1 hit wonders at all. At least 5 or 6 hit wonders. Not sure id call it a ‘must hear’ but I look forward to catching The Cardigans play at 2pm on the 3rd stage of some festival at some point in the future.

As a teen, like many teens before me and since, I got into Nirvana in a big way. I always gravitated to MTV Unplugged more than any studio album. In 2005 (2 years after Elliott’s death), I used to post on nerdy music forums like ateaseweb and sonic youths message board. Some person whose name I’ll never know suggested Elliott Smith to me on the basis I liked MTV unplugged. I can’t really explain the effect it had on me at that point in my life and I can’t listen to this (or any other of his albums) rationally since. Always 5 stars whenever I come back and I suspect it always will be.

Aka ‘The Best of The Beatles’

Every time I’ve had anything proggy I roll my eyes and instantly go in wondering whether the cringe fest will be a 1 or 2 star album…. Then I actually listen to it and half the time end up really enjoying it. This is the perfect example. Hugely over the top but I actually really enjoyed it.

The thing with concept albums is you need to buy into the concept. For me; this story is fucking stupid and dragging it out to a double LP just sort of angered me.

Man yells loudly in French over poorly recorded orchestra.

Forget the Velvet Underground. All your favourite artists’ favourite artist is actually Big Star. -First exposure was Elliott Smith’s cover of Thirteen. -Second was Yo La Tengo’s cover of Take Care -Third is Jeff Buckley’s cover of Kanga Roo. Exactly the kind of thing that deserves to be on this list.

Quite enjoyed having this on in the background whilst working but I don’t ‘get’ what makes Thelonious Monk one of the all time greats. Maybe I’m not cultured enough.

My wife is from Manchester so of course I am forced to listen to this regularly against my will. After the best part of 2 decades I have developed Stockholm syndrome. I now find myself enjoying it and singing along in a faux Manc accent. Mayyyybehhh Am a rock n roll staaaaah. Or mayybehh someone could call the police and free me from the basement I’m tied up in and being subject to Oasis every day. How I long to see the Sunsheeyyyyyyne

Nice to have something a bit different on this list

The two songs you already know are good. The rest exists on a scale from dull to awful

The ultimate low-energy, can’t-be-arsed album. -Hungover? Best album -Jet lag? Best album -Bed-ridden with the flu? Best album -Can’t be fucked with anything because it’s a cold Sunday evening in late November, it’s raining sideways, you have work in the morning and haven’t ironed a shirt, your dog is sick, your wife left you for your childhood friend, you just dropped your last piece of toast butter-side-down on your new chinos, your phone is at 2% with no charger in sight, Antiques Roadshow is on the tv but you can’t find the remote so you’ll probably just keep watching it to see how much this Victorian chamber pot is worth? Best album, probably.

Don’t think I’d ever listened to Tom Petty before this. On the other hand, it’s equally possible I’ve heard every song he’s ever done and instantly forgotten them all. New sub-genre created: ‘forget-me-rock’

Didn’t realise Tom Hanks made an album while he was stuck on that island. Lovely touch to dedicate it to Wilson too.

Not a massive blues guitar fan but actually quite enjoyed this. Probably won’t come back but glad to have listened.

This list has really got me back into classic hip hop in a big way

2 hours of a genre I do not relate to not being from the US. I should hate this. But I don’t. At all. Quite the opposite. Added to library and will 100% listen again.

Never heard before. Liked it. Will listen again

Classic.