1001 Albums Summary

Though I’m not a huge New Order fan, the opening track alone predicts the sound of rave culture. It's an interesting listen that earns an automatic two stars purely for its place in pop history. Add 2 more for All the Way and we get a 4 star rating.

Drawn in strictly by the cover art, this was my introduction to Pink Floyd, and the music instantly blew me away. There simply isn't a single bad track on this album

While I prefer Doolittle, this album lays the blueprint. You can hear their massively influential 'loud-quiet-loud' dynamic taking shape beneath the punk noise and pop hooks, and Kim Deal nearly steals the show with 'Gigantic'.

A phenomenal debut that helped launch the entire Madchester scene. I love that they leaned into the rockier side of that era's sound, and the historical ripple effects from their legendary Spike Island concert will be felt on albums to come later I'm sure!

Oh. My. God. I’ve heard about The War On Drugs, but never actually heard The War On Drugs before. I am so glad this came up on here. A fantastic album from start to finish.

What can you say? It’s The Eagles. You either love em, or hate em.

This album restored my faith in hip-hop when the genre was feeling bloated. Every track is a sample-heavy stroke of genius. Do yourself a favor and check out the deluxe edition—especially Cut Chemist’s remix of 'The Number Song'

Maybe it’s genius and I’m just too lowbrow to get it, but I found these songs incredibly boring. Getting through this album felt like a chore. Not for me.

I’m stealing parts of to reviews cause they explain this album better then anything I old ever say. You remember that kid from your floor freshman year with the guitar? This is what he makes when he’s in his 40’s, after a trip to India in which he thinks he’s found some life-changing revelation while talking to the first yogi he can find. He’s not deep, he’s not insightful, and he’s certainly ignorant. Oh and he paid for the trip to India with the money from the divorce settlement. This music would be at home in a Starbucks Putumayo collection cd. One star for basic musical competence. Zero stars for the songs, arrangements, production, and lack of taste.

The album where U2 truly became U2. The first four songs are bonafide hits—making it a five-star record on their own—and the rest of the album absolutely holds its own. An amazing start-to-finish effort.

Wow! Johnny Winter brought out the absolute best in Muddy and the band here. It's blues at its finest, and the inclusion of a revamped 'Mannish Boy' makes it an instant classic.

I avoided Steely Dan for years because I dislike jazz-rock, but this album is great. It features 'Dirty Work,' a song that instantly reminds me of childhood family road trips. For the nostalgia alone, it gets five stars.

This album is exactly what amazing sex sounds like. Maxwell is probably an honorary uncle to dozens of kids because of this record—I know I've definitely used it as the soundtrack to a date or two!

Is it as scary as it was back in the 70’s? No. Can you feel the venom that was being thrown at contemporary society? Most definitely. So full of punk rock energy that it’s bursting at the seams. It’s not often that you can say you listened to history changing. You can with this record. And that’s what makes it essential.

I started listening to Kendrick after the Super Bowl announcement, and wow. It’s new-school hip-hop, but with just enough old-school flavor to keep an older listener like me hooked. A phenomenal album.

Ugh. Just ugh. Bad blues based rock that’s been done a lot better before & since.

Was there a better or more prolific hip hop band in the 90’s then the Wu Tang Clan? 9 members & every one of them put out an individual album! Method Man may get all the commercial play, but the Gza/Genius proved his name with this masterpiece.

Hailed as the DJ to the coolest dance party that you weren’t invited to, LCD Soundsystem were another band that I heard of, but never actually heard. So I was excited to hear this album. And it is good, it really is. If I’m miraculously at the party & wouldn’t be mad at the music I was hearing. But, it feels like there’s something missing, something I can’t quite explain. All I know is, I listened to it once, if it was on somewhere else I’d listen to it again, but I’m not going to seek it out anytime soon.

Everyone goes through a Pink Floyd phase; I ended up loving them. The Wall is an incredibly ambitious concept album, made even better by the fact that it birthed so many massive singles.

Ever see a painting and think that it does nothing for you & then someone tells you it’s only because you don’t understand the technique & where the artist was coming from & all these other things. So you go &!find out everything & then look at it again and…it still does nothing for you? For years I couldn’t stand the argument, that “If you just knew the theory behind Modal Jazz, it would be so much better” So I finally went & found out about modal jazz and…I still can’t stand jazz. And that’s the problem, to me you shouldn’t need to understand music theory, or the history of music, or anything else to listen & decide whether you like something or not. Just my opinion. Anyway, is John Coltrane one hell of a saxophonist? Yep, are all these guys technically superior to everyone else in this list of albums? Yep. Do I personally think it’s any good? Nope.

I couldn't get into this at all. I wanted to with it's subversion of the authoritarian dictatorship that was happening in Brazil at the time. But I just couldn't. Too bad as I think it probably is a very important record.

A classic by the last true great Hip Hop artist. Hip Hop went down hill (fast!) after this. I could listen to this album over & over. To use one of 50’s lines: I love this album like a fat kid love cake!

One of the few albums that I can give a 5 star rating to because of 1 song. Yes, Love Her Madly is on here, yes Riders on the Storm cones close. But both of those pale in comparison to the dark menacing beauty that is LA Woman. The Doors were never better than on that one song. Combined with the oter hits, they reached their full potential on tbis album.

Singer /Songwriters seemed to be a dime a dozen in the 70’s. And, quite frankly, I can’t stand most of them. It’s just some whiny dude whining about how lonely & depressed he is cause he can’t get laid. Boo hoo. And to top it all off I can’t stand Nick Drake’s voice. The instrumentals were nice though.

I wasn’t expecting much. But came out of it pleasantly surprised. A very good folk rock record. And the title track is now added to my favourites.

Like almost every teenager, I discovered Bob Marley right around the time my friends started smoking dope. While I didn’t partake in the extracurriculars, I was absolutely thrilled by what I was hearing through the speakers. Reggae is a great genre in its own right, but it was Marley's undeniable pop sensibilities that elevated his music and made his songs truly incredible. A brilliant introduction to an unforgettable sound.

Everything about this album is perfect, from the Nudie suits to the cover of 'Do Right Woman.' This is exactly what real country rock—or as Gram Parsons called it, 'Cosmic American Music'—should sound like.

Classic Rock at its finest. Overblown guitar solos that seem to take 10 minutes, lyrics about Cars, Girls & Excess. Perfect. And of course the chords that every beginner guitarist learns in Smoke on the Water. Absolute must listen.

The best way I can sum up this album is to say that Air is the perfect name for this band as that’s what the music sounds like. Like the soundtrack to an old 70’s Romance film. Very good background music or to chill out with when the party’s winding down.

When I first heard about Violent Femmes it was in comparison to They Might be Giants & Ween. Two bands that I did not like (I’ve since softened on Ween though). So I never listened for a long time. What a mistake! So awesome & all acoustic too.

If I could give this a 10 out of 5 stars I would. And if you don’t get why, then I have to say you probably don’t like Rock N Roll!

I’m not a big fan of Van the Man. But I must admit, Moondance is a really good album. One of those ones you can put on & just chill out to.

Metallica truly put the 'h' in thrash metal. My 18-year-old self gave this a 5/5 and played it on repeat. My 51-year-old self loves 'One' but can't keep up with thrash anymore and gives it a 3/5. I'll split the difference and give it a solid 4.

Before this record, my exposure to Nick Cave was pretty much limited to 'Red Right Hand' and a handful of other tracks. But this album proved to be an outstanding way to dive deeper into his work. It beautifully showcases his incredible range—delivering everything from sprawling, epic tracks and concise pop tunes to poignant love letters and, of course, his signature meditations on death and loss. It was such a compelling listen that it immediately inspired me to go back and explore his entire back catalogue. A masterful introduction.

I dunno. I assume this has some historical significance, like it was the precursor to the rave culture in Britain. But every song sounds exactly the same to me & because of that every one bleeds into the other. Boring, boring, boring.

Typical British 60’s Folk Rock. Pretentious & boring.

I love this album, sometimes that's hard to say. With six of its nine tracks becoming massive radio singles—and the title track serving as a cultural event all its own—it stands as the absolute finest example of pure pop perfection. It is the undeniable reason he was crowned the King of Pop. I know there is a dark shadow hanging over his legacy with everything that came to light later on. My personal way of navigating it is to separate the art from the artist, reminding myself that those events came after this era. I completely understand why some people refuse to make that compromise, but I grew up with these songs. It's simply too difficult to turn off that lifelong connection and stop enjoying the music.

Being told an album is an eccentric artist's 'most accessible' is usually a red flag, and Here Come the Warm Jets proves it. Eno’s unconventional methods might inspire greatness in bands like U2, but left entirely to his own devices, his music is just weird

Nebraska is Springsteen's raw, unflinching vision of the dark underbelly of America. The album is populated by desperate characters who are anti-heroes at their absolute best, and full-blown criminals and murderers at their worst. It is an absolutely brilliant and deeply haunting stripped-down masterpiece.

I want to like jazz. I really do. I’ve had the genre explained to me and been told exactly what to listen for, but I just can't seem to connect with it. Sometimes I feel like maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough to appreciate the form, because to my ears, it often sounds like every musician on stage is playing a completely different song at the exact same time. I fully recognize and respect that the players are technically super proficient, but despite acknowledging their undeniable talent, I just can't get into it. A respectful, but firm, pass.

The first metal album I ever heard, and proof that British metal has a sound entirely its own. Between the overblown vocals, over-the-top guitar solos, and lyrics straight out of a B-level horror movie, I absolutely love it. Plus, you just can't beat Eddie!

I mean, it’s Black Fucking Sabbath! What else really needs to be said? If you don’t like this, there is a very good chance you simply don't like rock 'n' roll. An absolute, uncompromising essential.

Imagine the absolute best of 60s blue-eyed soul and girl-group pop flawlessly brought into the 2000s. Mark Ronson's masterful production truly sets this album apart, but it’s that unforgettable voice that makes the record so iconic—it simply wouldn't be a classic without it. Everything about Amy Winehouse, right down to her signature look, managed to be perfectly retro yet entirely modern at the same time. It is a genuine tragedy that her demons won out in the end; I would have loved to hear what she had to offer us next.

I really tried listening to Solid Air, and I genuinely tried to like it. But in the end, it just sounds like yet another folk singer from the UK doing his typical folky thing. It completely fails to stand out and is, quite frankly, boring beyond belief. A hard pass.

The Pixies' massive influence on '90s alternative music truly starts right here with Doolittle. They managed to take everything that worked on Surfer Rosa, fill it in with vibrant color, and make it far more accessible—all without compromising their signature sound. It is a masterclass in the 'loud-soft-loud' dynamic, flawlessly layering hard, abrasive guitars over what is essentially bubblegum pop. Just listen to 'Here Comes Your Man'; it has such a classic pop sensibility that you'll swear you've heard it a hundred times before. Black Francis clearly had more weird hooks and incredibly catchy melodies than he knew what to do with, resulting in a perfect, massively influential record.

While Talking Timbuktu features Ry Cooder as a guest musician, unfortunately—for me, at least—that is about all it has going for it. I'll be the first to admit that I'm just not really into 'world music,' which is probably the main reason this album just didn't grab my attention. Despite Cooder's involvement, it simply wasn't a match for my personal taste.

More World music that admittedly I don't really get, so probably shouldn't even judge. Not my cup of tea.

Bowie mix? Iggy mix? The latest remaster? It's wild how much debate surrounds how this record should sound, but the real testament to its greatness is that no matter which version you put on, it still completely fucking rocks. (For the record, I went with the remastered Iggy mix.)

The singles are outstanding, especially "Message in a Bottle" and it's not that the rest of the album is bad, just not quite to that caliber. So I wouldn't go & listen to this one again & instead I'd reach for the greatest hits.

The originals are getting better & the energy is there for sure. Beatlemania is only a few years away at this point. The songs may not be challenging, but really what's wrong with a pop record? Absolutely nothing.

I get it. A whimsical & nostalgic look back at an England that never really was. Ray Davies songwriting is on point. But I just can't get into this album. It'sso whimsical it becomes a turn-off.

This album would be a classic for the first four tracks alone! Not much I can say really. A stone cold classic that should be in everyone's collection.

Personally, I think Thriller is better. But you can hear how Quincy Jones & Michael Jackson were already starting to get away from disco/r&b & embrace pop. Something they would perfect a few years later.

2 monster songs here. But 2 great songs don't make a great record.

The voice is there, the songs are there. What's not there yet is the pop hooks. But you can hear what's coming.

I can see why this is regarded with such high esteem. Thevsax solo alone is worth a listen! But for me, the album was too long.