Very 90s. Pop grunge. Feel like I have heard parts of it before, but maybe it's the feeling that none of it stood out. I think I enjoyed "Your Lucky Day In Hell". Album felt like a rom-com soundtrack. 2/5 But "That Look You Give That Guy" is 5/5, which I know I've heard before. Though it's from another album, it just played after this one finished.
2 all-time classic songs on this album. I wonder if the band could be considered a one-album wonder? So good though!
A unique album experience. Far from my favourite of Bowie's but it holds a special spot. I thought about this work when dad passed. The experimentalism and longevity of Bowie — who created this work while dying — this really is like a time capsule or message from beyond. 4/5
It's where it all began! Before this album, I'd never heard anyone rock so much and decided I needed to play guitar like Jimi. 5/5, even nostalgia aside. It's like an album of Jimi jamming.
It's basically what I expect from The Cure. I understand the impact on the genre, but it's just not for me. The entire album felt like I could easily find anything to distract me that would be more interesting. 1/5 is harsh, but if there ever was going to be a 1 on this journey then it's surely something like this.
Getting The Cure two days in a row was something. Certainly cured me from the desire to kick back and relax with an album listen. I gave up on the 3rd track. It's never going to be my vibe. Repetitive effects, samey-samey vocals, and not a singular moment of inspiration on the guitar or drums. Goths apparently do not riff. I read the wiki and went back to listen to Lovesong as the most popular track. Yes, it's a bit of a jam. It's not boring like the rest of the mood, someone add synth tracks, and it's very pop-y. It's also the shortest track in this album, like 25% shorter than the other tracks on average. So you can imagine rest of the album is a pure slog. On the very next track, I gave up again.
This album contains some nostalgia. It features their 2 most famous hits, and I basically had never really listened to anything else of theirs. There is some technical wizardry, I guess. But it's very one-dimensional, and there's no depth in the lyrics or tone. 2/5
Great punk rock. A lot of fun rhythms, beats, and effects. "Gotta Get Away" is truly great. 3.5 / 5
45 minutes of jazz heaven.
I lost my original notes. It was truly the first artist I'd never heard of before. 10th album review.
This was heavy rock, kind of fun but not my thing. It felt like the kind of series intro or scene transition music that you'd hear in a Bourdain documentary.
Great work. I was hungover this day, so very happy to see this album instead of something like The Cure (still can't get over the 2-day streak of that). AI helped me plan the full Irish breakfast for the lads and Portishead got me into the groove to execute.
This was pretty fun. Easy listening. I realized why the name Shuggie Otis was familiar once I reached "Strawberry Letter 23". It's groovy, and exactly the kind of music I'd expect to hear during a foot/car chase of a 70s innercity cop show.
Is this thing on? For the first 15 seconds I thought my headphones were broken. Well, I didn't recognize the band name and honestly, though I have bit of homer bias for these Weegies, Tinseltown is fun new wave, synth pop. However, if I understand correctly, that track basically gained their access to create the album as a "showpiece" for a recording studio. In comparison to that track, the rest of the album feels like listening to a Dyson advert. Comprised entirely of attempts to capture and demonstrate the audio qualities of the equipment — when a song is dynamic it feels like an audio engineer was watching a bouncing meter with a reassuringly crisp thumbs up to the band. In that context, I'm surprised it's on the 1001 albums and I'd love to have been proven wrong.
Masterpiece. Bluesy, jazzy, funky, folky, and rocking a voice like a peated single malt. I remember when I started learning guitar that dad gave me this album as his favourite work. I appreciated it then and so much more now, and today I read about the wonderful artist's background. This is life and it's a joyful experience.
Nice and folky. A great poet accompanied by a steady timbre — it's an album experience that puts me beside a fireplace in a pub after a hike in the rainy, rolling hills.
It's okay. I believe it's famous because of a horror film. I also know the name as a pioneer of studio music. But it's just okay. The album is like 40+ minutes of a loop pedal street musician trying various sounds to get a crowd to stick, until they eventually leave.
2nd artist in this journey where I'm confident I'd never heard anything from them before. This may be pretty harsh — it feels like a really talented cover band decided to release an album based on their group playlist of top 40 from the previous 4 decades. It felt like they watched Austin Powers before walking into the studio and wanted to capture that in sound, along with some reggae and ska tones. A few of the songs were fun, but it felt disjointed as an album listening experience — like hitting shuffle on some genre-spanning indie playlist — and that made me think of an album like Picaresque. That album from The Decemberists came a few years after this while successfully combining broad influences into a cohesive storytelling journey that I could listen to on repeat.
Very good rock ballads, but Tiny Dancer and Madman Across The Water are two tracks that stand far above the rest of the album in my opinion. Levon has some good parts to revisit as a track, too.
I never realized this was the debut album for Tribe. That's insanely impressive, it's such a great album experience. This is the hip hop that I asked all my friends to listen to in school, along with De La Soul, and it's even more to enjoy over 2 decades later.
Joni has about 3 songs that I love, but none are on this album. I didn't find anything that really resonated with me from this album experience. The instrumentation was lively folk and the poetry was pretty crisp, but it didn't feel cohesive and there was so much noise to digest without much harmony — this killed any easy-listening factor for me, while not being technically impressive enough to catch my attention.
Fairly sure I've heard some of these tracks before. It's like jazz meditation — interesting but I couldn't really listen through the album in one sitting. Maybe I needed a few drinks. 3/5
When a band has vocals like this it usually sets a depressing tone (still not over my 2-day streak of The Cure), but The Smiths bring an upbeat rhythm in every song that is catchy and lends an extra spring in your bounce. Hugely influential post punk work — just listen to those basslines and guitar strums. 3.5/5
Dirty rap over clean beats. Great flow in an impressive debut album that channeled their anger, but there's a lot of toxicity. Music is a shared experience and the lyrics can be cathartic, but sometimes it creates greater division, anger, or harm — this album rides the line too much, in my opinion.
Strong hippie vibes. Can't say I enjoyed the album. Bits of it were nice — like Cowboy Movie as a track or some random progressions in other tracks — but that doesn't make a great album. The album experience feels like a comedy coming-of-age film soundtrack. I think the collaboration was the highlight rather than the music and inspiration itself. If you look at the albums released in 1970-1972 there is an incredible amount of psychedelic rock that blows this out of the water. I could barely finish the album because there's only so much "dee dum, deedle dee dum da" non-lexical vocables and harmonizing between soft voices that I can endure before I realize there has been zero oomph from anyone for a few minutes. I went back to Cowboy Movie after the last track, and even that managed to feel like an 8-minute slog instead of a redemption. 2.5 / 5 if I'm feeling generous.
Good pop harmonies, and I guess even the acoustic guitar combined with other rock instruments was quite influential back in the day. Also, though I get it was 1960, I'm glad for the album experience in general that song endings have come a long way from "just fade out and call it a day".
I can't really say I enjoyed any of the songs by modern standards, or even with a retrospective into what their contemporaries were already creating. The lyrics are your generic pop band trash (this transcends decades), and this duo were in the charts in place of monumental artists like Ray Charles, Muddy Waters, and Dave Brubeck.
There's an electric guitar in that studio but it's barely being used. The most dynamic song on the album might be "Lucille", which is a cover along with
"Baby What You Want Me To Do". It seems their writer/producer asked the duo to sing some blues hits but they met the ceiling of their vocal and artistic range — far away beneath the originals. Listen to Jimmy Reed hit the soul and groove of that track in the same year, through the vocals and guitar, then give credit for the influence his work had on every musician who followed. I'm shocked to discover none of his albums, not even "I'm Jimmy Reed", found a place in the 1001 albums... yet it's got room for watered down pop and a lot of other random junk. 2.5/5
Incredible album. "Since I've Been Loving You" is the band's magnum opus in my opinion — Page's dynamic wizardry in a duel with Plant's supernatural vocals, gospel-like organ and bass from Jones carry us through the track while Bonham's beat leads us down the steps into the underworld. You can taste the whisky and smoke while your heart is being ripped from your chest.
The band was completely unafraid of invention and each explored their deep bag of tricks for this album. Starting from the rock anthem "Immigrant Song" all the way until the Celtic folk magic of "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp", it's just jam after jam.
YES. So glad to see The Mars Volta made the list. This album is cinema. It's a high-energy jam out experience unlike anything else. There are lyrics and progressions that are so visceral. Cedric has a great rock voice, and Omar is a technical fiend on the guitar. Can listen all day.
I'm not here to review showmanship. Elvis is basically the king of karaoke. The problem I have with this album is it's almost entirely covers, or at least the tracks that are musically interesting. There's little to say about it that others haven't already said, and it's a 2.5/5 for me.
Some nice progressions and layering. But it felt pretty average overall, not that interesting.
Not sure if I'd ever heard of Nick Drake. Nice folk and surprisingly jazzy, I was impressed that I enjoyed it that much. Easy listening.
I had never heard of these guys before. It has some nice grooving rock. This comparison is obvious, but it's like if the raw energy of Mick Jagger wasn't fronting The Rolling Stones — then you get Flamin' Groovies.
The album isn't bad, but it's missing a real spark or any catalyst to make it stand out. There are tracks that sound like Led Zeppelin sans the talents of Plant, Page, Jones, or Bonham. There are riffs that feel inspired by Jimi while lacking the soul. Then there's a track that is like an Elvis impersonation.
Unfortunately, I got the impression of an excellent cover band. 2.5 or 3
So funky, so good. Great memories of my dad with this jam.
This is the music of progress and change, and it's so groovy! I'm shocked by the low average rating here.
Surprised this album genre is defined just as "pop". It has more but I can't put my thumb on it. Lorde is a good artist, and I got an Enya vibe from parts of this album. Track inspirations seemed to come from Prince, David Bowie, and Kate Bush.
I can't imagine listening to a track from this album on the radio, but the entire album is an easy-listening experience that could fit a road trip. 3.5/5
Clean instrumentation and beats, syncing a lot of cinematic inspiration and interesting lyrics in their debut sound. It's a really fun album and "Clint Eastwood" is a hall of fame track.
However, this album has about 15 minutes of filler, in my opinion, and this knocks the experience down to 4.5/5
So... this is a truly excellent album. Full of inspiration, jams, and an iconic sound of the 80s. From the imagery in his lyrics, to the synth blending everything together. It's a time machine. But this album also opens the door for experiencing world music, and gaining appreciation for the various artistic influences. You listen to work like this, and you immediately understand what it defined for artists who followed.
We need more like him, with his values and top-notch innovation. Peter Gabriel for PM!
Did you know: Sledgehammer is a funky bass jam about Peter Gabriel's penis.
Do I really have to review this when I had to skip multiple tracks? Let me put it this way — I enjoy country so if you're going to pitch this album as "country music" that's going to frame my expectations.
I appreciate Kacey Musgraves is authentic, as in she was raised yodeling and isn't just some karaoke artist who transitioned to country because her face could sell records in America.
I liked the 1st track, and got a headache on the 2nd track. Call me a hater, but auto-tune doesn't belong in a country song. I skimmed the rest of the album and started writing this review — funnily enough, the YT algorithm queued "Stonecutters" by DOPE LEMON once the album was done. I'd never heard them before. It was immediately and immeasurably more enjoyable than the album experience. Oh, then it queued "Merry Go 'Round" by Kacey, it was okay.
Back to the album — bland lyrics, beats, and instrumentation. Bottom-shelf Americana. It's extremely telling that the entire album has a music video (yes, filmed with a "golden hour" lighting aesthetic because eyes > ears).
This album is "when xmas shopping comes round, we need an artist for the market of gruff men with pop-girl daughters" and it sucks for the average listener (i.e. people seeking musical inspiration before they die).
It's an insult to feature this album while some truly great modern works of Americana/country are absent. I will list some tracks by recent artists I recommend, some of them incorporate similar cross-genre styles. So in order to repair the bad rep this genre has earned due to cookie-cutter artists who've forgotten its root and soul, please give these a go:
Brace For Impact - Sturgill Simpson (country GOAT)
24 Frames - Jason Isbell (genius lyricist)
Hurtin' (On The Bottle) - Margo Price (that voice...)
Tennessee Whiskey - Chris Stapleton (soulful)
Feathered Indians - Tyler Childers (beautiful, earthy sound)
Note that all of these tracks and their respective albums came out before "Golden Hour", so passing over them is truly crazy work. Even when Kacey Musgraves shows her take on "just country", the sound is bland and uninspired — think Hallmark film, TV advert, or MTV.
Bonus, thanks to YT algorithm reminding me these artists also exist while I finished up this review:
Tennessee River Runs Low - The Secret Sisters (country harmonies)
Jolene - Ray Lamontagne (this song is so gorgeous)
Never heard of this artist before, and was surprised they scored 3 albums across 2 years in this list! I guess I'll eventually learn why?
First thing that came to my mind while listening — this is like if "Pinball Wizard" by The Who was 40 minutes long. Strangely, that's kind of my jam?!
It reminds me of dad putting on some strange prog rock while we're road tripping, and I try to make sense of the sounds bombarding the cabin.
This album's problem is excess. The "Yes, and..." of improv is taken to its extreme, while nobody in the creative process thought "No, but..." and it should be renamed "The Yes, And Album".
When we have a nice instrumental groove, it has a few too many guitar solos jumping into the ether, but they rarely feature anything magical or even a call-and-response jam... Sometimes, the groove abruptly cuts into something else entirely until we find our way back to the preexisting groove, which has become miasma. That is to say, it's a disconcerting album experience.
The artists encourage each other, "I like that, keep on layering!" and that goes on for what feels like forever. I just needed somebody in the band who has listened to Santana to take influence from him — why play many notes when few notes are better.
It's between 2.5 and 3.5 — I think I'm generous today because I had to endure Golden Shower by Kacey Musgraves yesterday.
I consider R.E.M. one of "my bands" because their sound captures something that I love and that nobody else has. However, the album experience is a little bit lacking in my opinion — it can be enjoyed, but I couldn't listen to it frequently.
With that out of the way, "The One I Love" is one of my favourite tracks ever and many of the progressions in this album are jams. Interesting rhythms, instruments, and lyrics. The band mixes up the tempo then hit a cool groove, meanwhile the great voice of Stipe is waxing poetic and sometimes belts out lyrics. Calm and anger exist simultaneously, and I dig it.
Real classic reggae. The concept here is that you feel a little sad, feel a little happy, and find a melancholic groove. Ultimately, you remember to chill and be hopeful.
Fun rhythms and beats support clean vocals, giving us experiences to think about whether we want to relax, to move a little, or get out for a stroll/drive. Peter Tosh was a fine musician.
4.5/5
PJ Harvey is an artist name I'd never heard of and that, unfortunately, slips away as if it were a clothing label or department store brand. Easily allusive and forgettable, but thankfully the music isn't that — the sound is accessible yet memorable.
As soon as I heard the voice, I wondered "Oh, maybe it's the woman on the album cover?" — a surprisingly raw and grungy sound when contrasted with the first impression that picture gives!
My next impression was that she sounds like Nick Cave. I don't think I've managed to exist at both ends of the "surprised spectrum" as much as when I read they were partners... Have you ever noticed couples who look like twins or siblings, and it feels super weird?
A few of these tracks are interesting. I like her voice, musical talent, and easy-to-grasp lyrics. I'm reminded of Feist — an artist I adore to my core — but I think this teeters too much on things I didn't enjoy: repetitive grunge mood, trying too hard to be haunting, and boring melodies.
Suddenly, the unmistakable voice of Thom Yorke! They sound good together on the track, but it feels wasted on a relatively boring few minutes. When I realized he was also on an earlier track, I wondered how they managed to waste his talent even more on that one. That's almost 8 minutes of Thom Yorke where I somehow didn't think "wow, this guy fucking gets it" and I feel like I must've missed something.
Alanis Morissette also comes to mind in a good way and so, based on the timeline, I must give credit to Harvey for paving the way for artists like Morissette and Feist. However, this album experience is falling short for my ears.
It hasn't kept my attention for the whole 40 minutes. It redeems itself quite a lot with the final track but the middle of the album was truly "mid" — and I didn't enjoy the wailing. I can understand why some people could love and be inspired by this work, though... just not me. 3.5
Let me put it this way — baiano/baianês probably carries the most sing-song quality of all Portuguese dialects, much like the accent English spoken in Wales.
I believe this is why Astrud Gilberto — born in Salvador to a mother from Bahia — has a voice that is so distinctive in every single language she sings. It's truly another instrument in the jazz ensemble; soothing, percussive, and natural all at the same time.
Put this album on while cooking or having a BBQ, and you'll find everybody starts shaking their hips and smiling. However, I don't like the parade song, which should maybe be at the end like a 'bonus track'. Also, nobody wants to hear kids singing so cut that track, please. The entire album could've used a touch of attention towards flow, but I guess this was early days for albums as an experience.
It's also the first of my 1001AYMHBYD journey featuring tracks that aren't in English and I'm glad to welcome that — I look forward to rediscovering a lot of world gems like this, and finding new ones.
This is far from the best singer or musician to come out of Brazil — it's neither peak samba nor peak bossa nova — but it's a warm introduction, and I'm hoping to see the more impressive artists along the way. I'm already shocked Seu Jorge doesn't seem to be on here! Also, not Brazilian, but I recommend everyone listen to the wonderful voice of Cesária Évora.
Had it on while cooking, partner asked me what this album was — so I replied full of newfound, upbeat rhythm: "THE INCREDIBLE JIMMY SMITH BACK AT THE CHICKEN SHACK!"
It may the best thing I've ever said, so 5/5 for that alone.
Very cool jazz, makes you want to put on your shades and click along.
5/5 for the music and album experience.
Great artists. A witty and poetic approach to reality through hip hop, an enjoyable alternative to wannabe gangsters.
Fantastic sampling and flow, which make a great album experience that transports you with the group.
Didn't need to take us to De La Orgee, though — we could purge that track from every platform.
Highly original, groundbreaking, and positive. But hasn't aged as well as Tribe. 4.5/5
I believe this work was also a huge influence for two of the greatest hip hop albums of all time, which shockingly are missing in 1001AYMHBYD:
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star
Black on Both Sides
Great artist, pretty good album. A lot of lyrical imagery and inspiration, unafraid of layering innovative sounds and synth.
The album experience is pretty coherent — but I just don't enjoy all of the tracks, though I find some of them are brilliant.
4.5/5
I love some of their tracks, especially some live performances, and my gamer handle is even from Wu-Tang. But, for me, the album experience itself isn't peak hip-hop.
I can jam to a lot of this, tune out some of it, and think about how inspiration this group was. Especially the sampling! But it's a 3.5/5.
Surprised by the release year on this album. It sounded like 80s hip-hop, but with contemporary references. Nice flow and beats, to be honest. But there wasn't much beyond that, I couldn't enjoy the sketches in the album experience, and he was in fact misogynistic.
The music is good as far as kind of country hard rock goes. Maybe they could've used their talents to tell people that racism and reckless driving are bad, mmmmkay?
The 2020 reviewer who said "Back half is phenomenal" is absolutely correct. I was debating my feelings about this. I love their sound, I love a couple of tracks very much, and I felt like something was off. The front half is kind of meh, but the back half really is inspired. All together, I go 4.5/5
Don't really believe a compilation album should count. It's pretty good, 2.5
I was intrigued by a hip hop artist I'd never heard of making this list (considering how little diversity the list really seems to have once you get out of the mainstream US/UK market artists), and the jazz samples at the start had me pretty excited.
But I did not like the way they swung. The feminist part of me died multiple times on the first two tracks. Then they got into an extremely uninspired refrain that never seemed to end. So I gave up.
Absolutely inspirational and fun, featuring pure genius by Stevie Wonder. This is a perfectly coherent and repeatable album experience. Irresistible urge to sing along to "Living For The City" and "Higher Ground" every time, what amazing tracks.
Never heard of this group, but I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed this British folk, and in some tracks near the end could hear the American influence. A good 3.5
Not the worst thing ever. Bits were pretty tolerable, in a technical sense. But I can't listen to this singing without thinking about Creed doing the voice to death.
I don't mind it, but he doesn't really do anything. It's just mellow and boring, and you'd forget there was supposed to be a musician making a recording. It's not really an album experience, more just listen to someone being sad in the hope that part of it connects to you.
It it weren't for Mellon Collie, this would probably be a 5. It definitely is one of the finest alt-rock albums ever, and it feels their sound is maturing here.
I forgot that "Silverfuck" existed and that it rocks so hard, and thankfully this experience has reminded me.
It's a 4.5 that I may revisit into a 5!
Oh, The Verve have more than 1 song? Just joking, I know they have 2 songs...
Well, I honestly think the 3 hit tracks are great and I was disappointed to find out the rest of the catalogue is extremely samey-samey, and the comparison with Oasis is accurate. Some brilliant songs but the rest is incredibly dull.
I wouldn't describe this as an album experience, and especially not a "must listen before you die".
A low 2.5
It's not a "must hear" album experience if you start wondering when it'll be over and you're only on track 10 of 21. I doubt the author loves all 21 tracks, or even half of them.
An extremely uninspired process of just recording everything with no trace of a cutting table. They needed to pick 8 tracks we could love and go with that. It felt like many tracks ended on a lazy fade out, which is complete BS in 1972.
Maybe 20% of this album had moments of grooves, riffs, or progressions that got me bobbing my head. The rest of it had me struggling to either feel focused or hyped, and dying to switch back to an album Innervisions by Stevie Wonder so I could feel something.
It's firmly a 2/5 experience, which I didn't need to hear before dying. I submitted this review after 15 tracks, because I couldn't forgive this effort even if the final 6 tracks are incredible.
A high 2.5 for me. Nothing really stood out, but I didn't hate it either. It absolutely wasn't what I expected when I saw "Bossanova" as the album name, but it was pretty much what I expected once I realized it was the Pixies.
