Despite being very familiar with the singles from this album, I had never listened to it before. Definitely an iconic album that catapulted Blondie's fame, and listening to the album really highlighted the influence that this record had on rock and pop music at that time. They are so genre-defying - elements of straight-up rock, punk, art rock, doo wop are all in there. And Debby Harry is just amazing - love her voice and the range of tones she can access. I found myself really enjoying the middle of the album - Fade Away and Radiate really made an impression on me and I love its weirdness, and I really enjoyed 11:59, Will Anything Happen, and Sunday Girl.
I'm not sure there were any real hidden gems on the album, however - lots of enjoyable songs that definitely establish a clear sound and musical outlook, but nothing that made me sit up in my chair. I also thought the last two tracks were real throwaways. I wasn't crazy about the song order, either; I've seen reviews that feel quite the opposite, so I may be alone on that! But for example I found Heart of Glass strangely buried - it has such a strong, pulsing opening, I thought it would have made much more sense as the opening track of side 2.
I give an overall 4 recognizing it as a truly iconic and influential album and the overall quality of the music.
My personal rating is a 3. Enjoyable album that I'd listen to again, but not one I'd likely go to again on my own.
Obviously an iconic album - one I had as a kid, and haven't listened to beginning to end in a very long time. I really appreciate the degree of experimentation going on here and the musicianship and production are just incredible. It is so over the top and that's part of what I love about it - there is nothing subtle here, lol. It's a really cohesive album - I thought Beautiful Ones and Computer Blue were just ok and sounded particularly dated to my 2025 ears, but those low points for me aside the album has a great flow and a clear outlook.
I took the time to listen to this album twice, and that really paid off. Although I'm a huge fan of jazz, I had not heard Hugh Masekela's music before - so this album suggestion revealed a big gap in my knowledge and experience and introduced me to some amazing music. The music is just masterful. My first listen I liked it, but was unsure - and it is clear that was just me digesting something new. The second listen really captured me fully. There is something simultaneously calming and invigorating about this album, an aspect that became clearer to me when I listened on headphones and was able to pick up the extraordinary texture and detail in the music. This is music that is great for contemplation, great on a long walk or something where you can just be inside your own head.
The final track, Ingoo Pow-Pow (Children's Song) is also worth mentioning. It is completely different from the rest of the album, more explicitly connecting traditional South African music with jazz. I loved this track on many levels, including the ways it uses jazz in a non-western musical form. Go ahead and try and figure out the time signature ;)
I love so much of Stevie Wonder's music and I know this is regarded as an iconic album - but this album just didn't do it for me. Higher Ground and Living for the City blow me away every time I hear them, and I really enjoyed Golden Lady which I didn't know before. But I found the rest of the album incredibly uneven, and some of it just isn't to my taste. I found the lyricism lacking in many of the songs, as well as the quality of his vocals. And many of the songs just felt corny to me - occasionally even showtune-y. Overall just not my cup of tea.
Generally speaking, I enjoyed the music on the album. It almost felt like I was listening to 2000s alternative radio - I got a Strokes song, The Killers, a David Bowie song thrown in, a little Fat Boy Slim, is that Talking Heads song? I'd enjoy hearing songs from this album on the radio or as part of a mix. A whole album of it, however, did end up feeling a bit much. The music within each song is quite repetitive, and so...many...sixteenth notes. By the end it sort of felt like I'd spent an hour in a club. I don't mean to be too critical - the songs were fun, it just wasn't the best album-listening experience.
Really cool album - great songwriting, incredibly ambient music, somehow felt old and new at the same time. This was a completely new album for me and so glad to listen to it. It is slower than what I more typically listen to, and after a while it did fade a bit into the background for me. That's just an element of personal taste. Beautiful music with an incredible vibe.
Had this been made a single album rather than a double album, this would likely be regarded as a perfect record. As it is, there’s unevenness to the production and a handful of songs that I could really do without (the 14 minute merman song is a remarkable time capsule and very much a parody of itself - although it’s also obvious they are completely and utters serious in their performances!) This keeps it from a 5 star rating from me. However the better parts of the album are truly sublime. Some of the best rock music ever is on the album for sure.
The music on this album is adjacent to a good bit of punk, hardcore, and metal that I really enjoy. For the record, though, I wouldn’t say I enjoy listening to this album. There are a handful of songs I enjoy - like She’s Hit, Kiss Me Black, 6” Gold Blade. But most of it I don’t enjoy listening to.
I probably like it more as an art piece than as an album of music.
The album made me think a lot - made me think about music and what commentary they were making, and where it fits in the spectrum of music before and after. I love the absolute rejection of standard expectations of popular music. It’s taking aspects of the punk ethos to its logical extreme. And it also clearly informs a lot of hard core and harder core metal (vs hair metal) that comes later.
I am also drawn to the darkness of the lyrics. 6” Gold Blade felt like a modern, post punk Murder Ballad.
Definitely more of an interesting thing to experience.
First half of the album was frankly boring for me. I appreciate the ambient quality of it, but overall I found it musically uninteresting.
I like Notget and from that point of the album on I found it all much more interesting. But overall the album was a bit of a navel gaze for me.
Eh. This fades into the background for me almost immediately. I just can’t connect with music like this. Not for me.
I’m really surprised by the negativity in the reviews. This isn’t my cup of tea personally, but the top review says they can’t understand how anyone could have an emotional reaction to this music? Let’s be serious.
This is outstanding pop music. Plenty of hooks, well produced, and Adele’s powerful voice has plenty of personality. Plus I’m always a sucker for an artist who made it from the bottom to the top - and Adele’s is the ultimate such story.
I will almost certainly not listen to this album ever again. But I can enjoy the pop hooks, appreciate the vocals and the very personal songwriting, and admire the enormous impact this album had.
I’m not going to review this album. This collection features possibly the greatest American voice singing the collection of possibly the greatest American songwriter, produced by a legendary producer at the highest level of care and quality available at that time. That’s why this collection is here. If you appreciate music, you should be aware of this and listen to it. Is that not the point of this list?
The whiny reviews are frankly embarrassing. Who cares that it is a compilation. This collection is a monstrous musical achievement, including as a way to ensure that Gershwin’s genius was fully captured.
You don’t have to listen to all 3 hours (or 4 if you listen to the revamped versions). You can listen to 20 minutes and understand what’s there. Stop complaining.
I'm not that far into listening to the albums, but of all the albums I've been given this is the one I have the hardest time understanding why it is essential to listen to. It seems like good synth pop, but it is pretty unremarkable. I appreciate that they brought forward the sounds of the 80s into 2010 pop, and maybe that's the simple reason they are here - this album as an archetype of that particular moment in music.
Completely listenable, but altogether pretty just...fine.
The monstrous hits from this album are fun, and culturally omnipresent. But the album is actually a drag. AC/DC has a very clear formula for their music...and boy do they stick with it. I don't think there's a different drum beat across the 42 minutes of music on this album, nor is there a double hit on the bass drum. This is just straightforward, uninventive rock music. And it is pretty much a double-entendre concept album, as a friend of mine put it.
I recognize the cultural impact of this album, and respect the hooks and riffs that drove it to selling millions of copies. But this album is formulaic and conventional, and tiresome in its adolescent obsession with sexual innuendo - oftentimes in problematic ways.
I have never cared for Joni Mitchell's singing style - tone or phrasing - and her music typically is not a style I generally like. In that context, this album surprised me. I did like a lot of the music on this album - it's inventive and interesting, and diverse across the album. I enjoyed listening to it well beyond my expectations, and Jungle Line is actually a song I'd say I enjoyed! I still can't click with her vocals and lyrical style, and I won't listen to this album again. But certainly glad this project got me to listen to it this once.
Hmmm. I really enjoy listening to this album, have to be honest. They're just great musicians and that's on display here. I don't disagree with the criticisms of Keidis' vocals and lyrics. That's really nothing new, and is just part of their sound; the vapidity of it is wearing, though, and it is tedious to listen to a then-nearly 40 year old man continue to make sophomoric and questionable sexual innuendo. But there's a great range of music on this album, and I didn't find it bland nor did I find the non-hits to be filler. Great rock music all the way around. I'd probably give it a 3.5 if I could give half stars.
Appreciate the minimalism on a certain level and this album has a vibe, for sure. If an album could be two awkward people in their early twenties trying to hang out and get to know each other, this would be it. Don't want to be too harsh, but the minimalism was a bit too minimalist at times - some songs feel like ideas that never got fully fleshed out; I would lose track of when a song began and ended, and quite a bit sounds the same. But I appreciate the homegrown nature of this album and there are a few songs on here that are exceptional.
I had this album as a kid when it first came out - really loved it, remembered it as a fun album that was a big part of the musical story of that time. And I haven't listened to it since. My sense of Cyndi Lauper has also evolved significantly over time. In the moment (and in the eyes of a kid/early teen) she seemed fun and whacky, and a bit shticky. As time has gone on, however, I really came to understand Cyndi Lauper's deeper talent and artistry - I mean, she won a Tony for the music for Kinky Boots! She's had a remarkably consistent career with so many highlights - I've come to deeply respect her as a person and artist.
In this context, it was so fantastic to revisit this album. I don't want to go overboard - it is a pop album, not a musical masterpiece per se. But I do think it is a pop masterpiece. Lauper - through her music and her self presentation - vaulted pop and new wave aesthetics into the mainstream. The music on the album is varied and interesting, with tons of personality and a good chunk of subversion (how can you not admire a top 5 hit about the joys of masturbation!) The vocals on Time After Time - which is a remarkably well composed pop ballad - are phenomenal, showing off Lauper's pure singing talent. The album perfectly captures the music of the time, but I found it completely and utterly listenable 42 years later. Lauper deserves all the flowers for carving out an incredibly successful career while being her authentic, iconoclastic self and this album captures that perfectly. And all that context aside, its just a fun listen.
This album surprised me - and not in a good way. I have so much love and respect for The Temptations, and love Motown, R&B, and Funk music. And this album fell really flat for me. There is terrific musicianship on this album, and the production (apart from the first song) is terrific. I've tried to put my finger on why it didn't work for me, and the best I can come up with is that it feels like they aren't fully into it...it feels forced. I think Papa Was A Rollin Stone is phenomenal - it pushes the envelope and is so impressive. But apart from that, this felt like a forced effort to keep The Temptations relevant.
Funky Music Sho Nuff might have been a great piece, but they made the odd choice to make it seem like a live number. The less said about Run Charlie Run the better, but the Temptations didn't want to do it and it shows. The lyrics throughout the album are uninspired.
Being harsh, the funk sounds like it is watered down for Grandma and Grandpa, and their more traditional R&B/soul efforts are lyrically corny and musically well done but unoriginal. I just can't help but think about what else was available now - Ohio Players "Pleasure" came out this same year! Think of the music groups like Sly and the Family Stone and The Meters had already been putting out for several years.
This is a nice album from The Temptations, with a great anchor song. But I just can't see this album as something exceptional.
Glad I was introduced to this and challenged to listen to avant garde jazz. It’s difficult to listen to and I don’t particularly care for it. I found myself marveling at the speed at which they are capable of playing, and the moments of sense that emerge in the music. A fatal flaw for me is the double drums which very often created an overwhelming wall of static. I could not perceive any individual drum hits - it was just interference. Maybe that was the goal and or maybe I just don’t understand that. And maybe that’s the point. Maybe that’s better live. I dunno.
Just a phenomal live album. Phil Lynott was such a great front man, and the whole band is clearly just keyed in together and going all out for the full performance. So much energy comes through. Awesome call out at the end to Huey Lewis who was their harmonica player!
For starters, this is just beautiful music. There's a certain sparseness that I loved, and such understated control over the music by everyone involved. I had mixed feelings about the mess ups - the improv on willow weep for me was fun, but it didn't work for me in the last number. And it strangely lacked more of a live music energy. A harsher view might be that there was just a determination to make an album at Mister Kelly's, so they went and did it - and it is great because of the extraordinary abilities of everyone involved, but they weren't excited to be performing in front of a live audience...they had a job to take care of. Maybe too harsh, and that only dampened the experience slightly for me.
Generally speaking, I dislike country music. I tried very hard to go into this album with an open mind, and I know Waylon Jennings is a legend. Try as I might, however, this just doesn't work for me. The story telling was unconvincing, in part because the lyrics seem simple and obvious, and each song felt like just the same story told just a little bit differently. It feels like a lot of cosplaying about some imagined past (or present) reality. And while the music is good, it's not notable in any way...not something a long list of good musicians could produce. A harsh review that undoubtedly speaks to my general dislike of the genre. If one likes the genre, I can see liking this album a lot for sure. Even then, I'm not convinced this is in the top 1001 one needs to here. As ever, glad I gave something a try I never would have listened to on my own.
Overall a great listen. While there is definitely something to the criticism of the being a lack of cohesion to the songs on the album, I'd argue there's a cohesive vibe to this album. It's a bit all over the place in one sense, but really it's a great exploration of so many shades of American blues music. And each song on its own shows of the phenomenal musical connection they all have with each other. Overall, its a great rock and roll album.
I do not, however, quite get why this album is considered their very best or regarded as one of the all time great albums. There's too much inconsistency in the quality of the songs themselves (there's a solid handful of songs on here that are no better than stock in trade/paint by numbers blues songs) and there isn't much I'd consider musically inventive.
Also, not sure why there's so much excitement about Keith Richards being given the chance to sing lead on a song. He's a TERRIBLE singer lol.
Reasonably enjoyable listen. I appreciated the ambient alt-pop sound. Nothing notably inventive and the Wikipedia entry should just be ignored (I read a great review here from someone who did the forensics and unearthed that the praise being referred to came from a sell piece on the album - so it’s just promotional fluff).
25 albums in I am moving away from the notion that these 1001 albums are in some way the greatest of all time, as the “listen to before you die” might suggest. Instead it’s more of a compilation of albums that one might select to give a comprehensive sampling of popular music over the last 70 or so years. Otherwise I can’t justify or understand the inclusion of an album like this (or a few others I’ve heard even this early on). Im glad I listened to it - it’s something I would have never otherwise tried and it did expose me to another corner of the music world.
Brilliant and culture changing. The hits are phenomenal songs, I actually enjoy the second side of the album even more.
Have to confess my bias upfront - this was a favorite album of mine when it came out, and this was the second concert I went to. So I have a real soft spot for this album.
That being said, I do genuinely believe this is a phenomenal album - superbly crafted pop rock, completely captures its time without by and large feeling dated, impeccably produced with exceptional attention to detail (which unfortunately became something of a hurdle for Orzabal going forward), on the cutting edge at the time in use of technology, and very interesting in terms of the range of genres and musical ideas explored (for a pop album).
I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could, and will let my soft spot elevate it to a 5.
Dont be a hater. Tito Puente was the Mambo King! Top flight musicians playing phenomenal Latin Jazz. Just have fun with it.
Nostalgic to listen to. Hits lack depth but are super fun. The rest is mostly filler and I just don’t need to hear 40 year olds and their corny lyrics about sex. Not sorry to listen to it again and I appreciate the significance of the ways this relaunched Aerosmith.
This was such a huge hit when it came out, and the hit songs on here are pretty fun - not worth thinking about too hard, definitely not worth paying attention to the lyrics too closely, but fun pop rock hits. But for me time was not kind to this album. The vapidity of the hits is made tolerable by their catchiness and fun factor. The vapidity of the rest of the album...not so tolerable. A lot of the songs felt like filler - some of them sounded like rough drafts of the hits. And I don't really know what happened to them musically. Boring guitar solos. Uninspired melodies. And Frank Beard sounds like a beginning drummer. I know he is capable of much more...but apparently he was just their drum machine on this album.
I didn't come into this expected to be so disappointed - I thought it would be a fun and nostalgic ride. And I suppose it was for 3 songs. But as an album experience, this is a dud.
The Band has been a mystery for me for years. I don’t quite see why they are singled out by some as so profoundly influential, as a band that “changed the vocabulary of rock and roll” and other such praise. And I still don’t.
But Im glad I listened to this album carefully. I came away much more excited by the music than I expected to be. There is some phenomenal musicianship here, especially the bass and keyboards, and they play so well together. There’s more country flavor than suits me, but I still get the quality of the music. But the vocals. They’re just awful. Consistently bad. And for a band that has a reputation for evocative storytelling songs, the lyrics aren’t all that good. Sometimes downright bad. This really drags down their music for me.
Brilliant album. Lots of great reviews here already that explain well why this album is beautiful in its own right as well as why it was so profoundly influential.
Im still waiting for a negative review that actually makes sense (apart from those that simply note it’s just not their type of music).
I’ve never really been able to get into reggae, so I’m glad this project got me to listen to Burning Spear. Love the political lyrics and the music is great. Still not my thing but I see how great an example of the genre this is.
Im generally not a fan of American folk and folk-oriented rock so I’ve always been just ok on CSN. Listening to a full album was interesting. The harmonizing, which is their signature, seemed forced at times. Hits and misses across the album. Stephen Stills is a great musician and I appreciated more exposure to that. A better experience than I expected overall, tbh, but still not my bag personally.
I've never listened to this album and I was excited, thinking this might end up a hidden gem. Alas, in the end I can't get past Kevin Rowland's weak vocals - I like plenty of music with folks who don't technically sing well, but I couldn't even get with Rowland's poor phrasing and the character of his voice just grated on me. There's tremendous musical potential here, and I like a number of the songs - particularly Keep It and There There My Dear. And I can see how the album would make more of an impact in its time. But in the end the vocals really did me in.
Love it. Weird, endearing and charming, genre busting, fun. Curt's singing is terrible, there's no question about that - and I'm not sure how much of the bad singing is on purpose or not. But for whatever reason it works well enough (and sometimes wonderfully). It's also easy to see why Kurt Cobain played three of their songs on Unplugged and credited them as a strong influence - their stamp is all over Nirvana's music, and the Seattle scene in general. I loved this the first time through, and it just grows on me with every listen. Lots of musically interesting work on here. Overall the album is a DIY triumph.
Such a great album. Totally captures the time period it comes, and yet doesn't sound dated. In fact, Beck's output predicted the future of music a lot better than most of what was coming out in the mid-90s, imo. This album is also a reminder of one of the best aspects of the 90s - it was a a period when such an incredibly eclectic mix of music got mainstream attention. This album is weird, and so was the 90s, and that's what we love about it.
Some of the negative reviews surprise me (but to each their own, of course!) I love the ridiculous variety of songs on this album - I don't find it haphazard, disorganized, nonsensical. It's crazy and weird in certain ways, but also every song is fully composed. And the range of genres and sounds Beck draws from makes total sense to me. Maybe it is that we are essentially the same age? His frame of reference is completely familiar for me, and when I listen to Beck I've always felt like he was connecting a lot of the dots of my musical life and figuring out where it should go next. The music also captures LA in the late 80s/90s extremely well - the sounds and musical techniques on this album were all over LA for sure.
I’ll go right down the middle with this one! Really enjoyable listen overall. Solid rock and roll music, some definite clunkers to go along with some high points. And overall really listenable. I’ll probably never listen to it again, but very glad to be exposed to this.
I like a good bit of the music, but generally found myself disliking the vocals and lyrics most of the time. And even the music had highs and very low lows. So a really uneven experience. I’d give it a 2.5 if I could.
Terrific soul jazz. I wish the songs themselves were a bit more interesting and offered a better showcase for the musicians. That being said, their playing around the standard blues structures is exceptional, and they succeed in creating an amazing vibe. I found the album smooth and engaging, a relaxing listen. I would not call this a challenging or interesting listen, per se, but really enjoyable.
What makes this album all the more impressive is that Liam Howlett recorded this in his home studio. The balance of loudness with clarity of sound is extraordinary. It should be admired for that alone. But beyond that, it is just a brilliant piece of techno, aggro dance music. It captures a time jn a lot of ways. That includes the first track - which I skip every time. The lyric/title is gratuitous and their dismissal of the problematic nature of it doesn’t fly for me. Every other track is impressive to me.
I can see why this would be appealing. But it just isn’t to me at all. Maybe it would be fine as background cafe music where I could still hear the conversation at my table. Full disclosure, country and American folk are my least favorite genres. But even with that context, I found this fairly soulless and uninteresting. Neither music nor vocals nor lyrics provoked much mental or emotional response from me. It seems profoundly forgettable.
This album is fine. I've never been much of a fan of New Order, and I completely get why others do. I'm more tolerant of wonky vocals in genres that are more in my wheelhouse and would likely be more forgiving if this album had been part of my repertoire when I was 15-27. But as a middle aged listener, the shitty vocals were distracting; the songs where the vocals stayed in his comfortable range were by far my favorites. The album captures the time perfectly from a sound standpoint, so it was fun to listen on that level. But the mediocre vocals and the uneven quality of music and songs across the album really brought the listening experience down.
I have never really enjoyed listening to Dylan. I have softened as I’ve gotten older, and I am glad this project forced my hand and made me listen to this album. subterranean and Maggie are great songs that I really enjoy listening to. A full album of Dylan is still a lot for me, and the more acoustic songs on this album were a bit or a grind for me - they became formulaic for me after a while. And I’ll never really be able to get fully on board with his voice. Nonetheless i fully comprehend his impact and appreciate how much love there is for this album. Im giving it a 3, which frankly shows a lot of growth in my part :)
Ray Charles bringing amazing blues sensibilities to big band and ballads - what’s not to love. The first half of the album is more to my personal taste but overall some outstanding music.
First two songs seemed mildly interesting but ultimately forgettable. From there things got more memorable, but in the wrong way. Anyone listening to music in the 1980s would recognize how derivative this music is, so I can’t even give credit for inventiveness. This is really mediocre stuff overall. I’ve been able to see why nearly every album I’ve gotten is on this list. This one is a mystery to me.
I consider myself a fan of David Bowie's music, based on his hits/popular songs - but I've never listened to a full album. I suspect my expectations going in were too high based on his reputation (including his prominence on 1001 albums) - but this was a disappointment. Excellent musicianship, well produced, totally solid songs. But also a bit...ho hum. Perhaps the album had a bigger impact in its time because of the ways Bowie was adopting personae and with this album being the formal introduction of the Thin White Duke. But that has no impact on me now, frankly (or if it does, it is negative...given that the character was a fascist). So standing on its own musically, it was a nice listen but nothing I'd ever find remarkable.
Not always my personal style - too show tuney for me. But excellent musicianship, culturally iconic, and the best songs are fantastic. There are low points - Jamaican Jerk-off is an inexplicable embarrassment.
Calm and pleasing samba/bossa nova music here. Fits a certain vibe and setting - great listen on a walk, or some other solitary activity. Music did not blow me away, nor is it innovative in any way - just a good version of what it is. Not clear why it is on this list, but glad to have listened to it.
I have a lot of admiration for Adele. Her music has had such a profound impact on so many people and she's immensely talented, and she came by her success honestly. I had small children in the Adele era and her music was omnipresent at that time - so I have a lot of positive memories attached to her music, especially the album "21". I had forgotten that this album dwelled so much (and so monolithically) on her heartbreaks and the massive life transitions she was experiencing. I suspect this album spoke (and still speaks) to a lot of people, but it wasn't written for me; which of course is totally fine, but I can't really connect with it. I think it is fair to say this album accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish and does it reasonably well. Personal preferences aside, I think it is also fair to critique the album for being too one-note - more musical risk taking, and more translation of her personal experiences into more universal themes would have been lovely. Lyrically its all too literal, and after a while the music just gets so dreary and monotonous. I wish the strong personal experiences she wanted to work through and express had led to more artistry and creativity, frankly.
I really enjoyed this more than I expected - it was a fun listen. I think my wife put it best when she said “yeah it’s fun - but they aren’t as good as any of the bands they are trying to sound like.” A lot of reviews here are a bit over the top. This is NOT Pet Sounds or Let It Bleed or anything by the Beatles. But it is fun, committed psychedelic pop rock. I’d give it a 3.5 if I could but I’m in a good mood so I’ll go 4.
Loved this beginning to end.
I generally enjoy Tom Waits' music. From listening to this album, I've learned I'm not a fan of his spoken word. The re-creation of a jazz club in the studio was a novel approach, and he pulls it off well in terms of mimicking the vibe and feel of the setting. I just thought the banter before the songs was overlong and frankly boring; maybe if I had lived in 1970s Los Angeles I would have enjoyed/appreciated the banter and references more, but by and large it felt like cosplaying rather than any authentic connection with the audience and environment. The more they were playing music, the more I enjoyed the album. And the bass player deserves massive credit - the playing is great, and anchors the music which was otherwise all too fleeting. I admire the concept of the album, the mood and vibe, and a good bit of the music. But overall I don't see myself being drawn back to listen to this.
Why is this here? This album feels like a bunch of people playing with studio tricks to see what they sound like, and turning 80s ideas into late 90s dance music. The first two songs are...dreadful. We finally get some rhythmic variety but really all but one song ("Sometimes") are cut-and-paste jobs repeated for a few minutes. Apparently in 2015 this was ranked 97th on a list of top 100 dance albums of all time. Even THAT shouldn't be enough to get onto this 1001 albums list. It's not good, it's not groundbreaking, it's not even a good representation of the genre. I save one star ratings for albums that are really failures. It's not this band's fault they were unreasonably elevated to this list, and outside the context of this list I can see finding the album a bit of highly dated fun. But honestly this was a crap listen.
Such a great album! This was Stevie Wonder's 15th album...he was 22 years old when he released it. Unbelievable - he's a true genius. Really enjoyed the exceptional musicianship throughout and the cutting edge use of keyboards and synthesizers. The funkier, up tempo songs are more to my personal taste but I even appreciated the slower songs - composition and musicianship throughout the album are just so excellent.
I would generally consider myself a fan of Rush - I love their better known songs and admire their extraordinary musicianship. This is an interesting album - one I was definitely aware of but had never listened to. It really shows the band as a work in progress and where they’d end up. I do not however think they had really found their footing yet, as popular as this album was/is. It had a tendency to be ponderous and just feels a little tight - like their trying to hard. “Lessons” was by far my favorite track - they seem most confident here, snd this one really predicts their future - conventional rock song structures on the surface that offer them the opportunity to dive fully into their exquisite musicianship. Glad I listened to this.
Beautiful album with extraordinary playing. There’s a funny reverse pretension among a lot of folks who don’t like jazz - there’s this need to bring it down, claiming its talentless drivel. No, this is not what your insurance company uses for hold music. No, you could not play this yourself if you knew how to play trumpet. These are in fact world class musicians and this is exceptional music. You do not have to like it, and given the experimental nature of it you can find the experiment to be a failure. But why are you even bothering to listen to 1001 albums if you are inclined to demean something that just isn’t for you?
Not to my taste, but encountering albums like this is exactly why im taking on this project. The album is a real time capsule - it captures (and played its own key role in) the popularity of the Wild West in the 50s and 60s. Great storytelling and well executed music. For my own taste though, Im really not a fan of cowboy cosplaying and the mythologization that this represents. And Marty Robbins also recorded a lot of music branding folks who were politically different from him as dirty communists - yay McCarthyism! But I still do appreciate the cultural importance of this album - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of it.
Blues doesn't get much better than this. I've never been able to fully get into the blues because the repetitive nature of the songs gets to be a little too much for me, and that was part of my experience with this album. But Muddy Waters is obviously at the top of the mountain for the Blues and it was great to experience his music this way. The energy and conviction are incredible. The album is also mixed extremely well - perfectly balanced, every instrument comes through clearly, the whole album sounds amazing.
Solid album of 90s alt rock and glad to be exposed to something that was big in the UK but essentially unknown in the US. Music is good - I found the singers voice not very good however. Thin voice, limited range, and missed quite a few notes.
Fabulous album of pop/r and b. Quincy Jones is a genius producer and it shows on this album. Song composition is up and down - this isn’t Thriller. But the high points are super high.
Fabulous album of pop/r and b. Quincy Jones is a genius producer and it shows on this album. Song composition is up and down - this isn’t Thriller. But the high points are super high.
Well I did this project to hear new music and on that level Im glad I listened to this. That and the fact that this is a well produced album is about all I can say in its favor. Singer wants the to be Dylan in the WORST way and the songs overall are just trying too hard to be…something. This music had its moment I imagine but it really doesn’t bear remembering.
Well I did this project to hear new music and on that level Im glad I listened to this. That and the fact that this is a well produced album is about all I can say in its favor. Singer wants the to be Dylan in the WORST way and the songs overall are just trying too hard to be…something. This music had its moment I imagine but it really doesn’t bear remembering.
Having started college in 1990, the music of this decade is the soundtrack of my young adult life. I was very aware of (and like) the singles from this album, but at that time I was MUCH more focused on music coming out of the US and had never listened to the album. I can't believe I've been missing out for the last 30+ years. I think the album is amazing. There's a good bit of weirdness and some musical experimentation (that probably breadrumbs Damon Albarn's musical future), I love the ways it captures 90s British life (Blur turns out to be the Kinks to Oasis' Beatles!), and there's always a great alt pop sensibility throughout. Fantastic listen - one I'll actually go back to.
Album started slow for me - more like smooth jazz. But it really picked up at the song Nawa and I loved it from there.
I'm not a fan of country whatsoever, so I am not really in position to make declarations about what is and isn't historically important. I take it this album is viewed as a landmark or milestone in country - I'll have to accept that. But what I will assert is that an album's historical importance can be noted while also acknowledging it isn't worth listening to anymore. That's how I feel about this album. Musically monotonous, with cliche at best storytelling. Solid mandolin playing - I'll give it that. Their voices are, frankly, terrible in tone; they deserve credit for their well done close harmonies. The music never once serves the story they are telling. They basically play the same music regardless of what the song is about, the same music whether it’s a murder ballads or a song glorifying the south. Knoxville Girl is a travesty - and it was a country music hit (and, to be fair, has been performed by many other artists). The origins of this song is a murder ballad written back in the 17th century, but the Knoxville Girl version loses a lot of the psychological gravity of a typical murder ballad and is just a shallow and awful telling of domestic violence and murder. Here on this album it is sung with the same dry and formulaic approach as, well, every other song on the album. I am all for honoring the Appalachian folk tradition. I will choose to believe this is not the best of it, or even a mediocre version of it. This album's presence on this list is nothing more than fetishization of a genre - the music here does not hold up in any way shape or form to today.
There’s some great music on this album, brought down by David Byrnes moaning and rambling.
Brilliant album. PE was one of my absolute favorite artists in high school and college, and the music remains as powerful today as ever. Would give 4.5 stars if I could.
Im a fan of Elvis Costello and even Id say 7 albums of his on this list is overrepresentation. This album is fine. There’s some good music here, some clunkers, and it’s too long. Too unremarkable to be on this list.
This album was fine - I’d say I was neutral positive on it. When their songs are fully fleshed out, they are brilliant. Too often they aren’t. There’s a lot of interesting and compelling music here overall.
Some interesting music - I did enjoy the post punk elements here. I really don’t care for Julian Cope’s singing voice, however.
What...on...Earth. I am nearly 100 albums in and listening to an album a day has absolutely made me more curious and open to new and different music. And this just isn't good. They are capable musicians and I can understand why someone would enjoy this. But speaking more critically, it is highly derivative and unoriginal musically, and the lyrics are really uncompelling to me as well. This is not a terrible album, per se. In the context of 1001 albums to listen to, I frankly think it is terrible.
Loved listening to this. Great music all around.
I enjoyed the music. There’s some good stuff here, if a bit uneven. Siouxsie and the Banshees doesn’t hold much interest to me, though, because they were part of the UK punk scene that sought fit to embrace Nazi imagery to be “provocative”. They wore Nazi armbands, and wrote the lyric “too many Jews for my liking”. The excuses ranged from saying it’s meant to be “high camp, not death camp” to claiming they weren’t aware of how bad Nazis were, to “the Nazi outfits just looked so cool”, to “we never meant it to be supporting fascism”. Im not making any of that up. Meanwhile this type of behavior invited neo-Nazism to invade punk music. Thankfully there was a strongly anti fascist cohort in punk - including The Clash - who somehow, someway knew that Nazism was bad (imagine that). I am inspired by punks who take a critical eye to the world and work to break apart systems that don’t work and cause harm. Im not too interested in people who think the point of punk is just to annoy people who are older than them, and think cosplaying as Nazis is the way to do it. Whatever qualities their music may possess, there’s too much good music out there for me to care about their bullshit.
I didn’t like this album much at all. It sort of reminded me of Styx jn that it features a lead singer trying waaaaaay too hard and ultimately sounding to my ears like nothing more than a cornball showtune artist. But in this case mix in lyrics about gang rape and gonorrhea.
Absolute masterpiece. Good argument this is the best metal album of all time, and no argument that is the best thrash metal album of all time.
Hip hop has long been one of my favorite genres of music, and I can remember the first time I heard Snoop Dogg so clearly when The Chronic first came out. He was a revelation, and he has had an indelible impact on hip hop for sure. I've always struggled with his solo stuff, however. It doesnt come close to having the weight of the work he did on Dre's albums. The non-stop "b$tches and hoes" and violence and drug use actually gets cartoonish and corny (and it's so lazy and so offensive...surely he and those around him could have done better). So while I respect the impact he had at hip hop and respect his otherworldly flow, a full album was a lot and left me feeling pretty ho-hum at best. Too bad he sold out, too - that was a real bummer as well.
I was lucky enough to be in college when Nirvana hit the world and the 90s alternative scene erupted. Sonic Youth was an intimidating presence for me - the band that people ahead of the curve already knew and loved. The band whose music played in the record store and you were afraid to ask who it was. It was only
Much later that I started to listen to Sonic Youth - benefitting from the access to music provided by streaming services, this was mostly in the form of random songs. This is the first time I’ve listened to them in album format and I wasn’t disappointed. Just enough melodic pop elements to help me feel anchored through the experimental aspects.
I bought this album on CD when it first came out and listened to it frequently. At the time it was fresh and exciting - this level of production hadn't really hit the mainstream that much. I wonder if a new listener - especially someone younger - hears this and thinks "big deal - its club music". But this album elevated into the mainstream what was largely ONLY heard in a small number of clubs and was on a technological cutting edge. It was a cool time, and a cool album.
I was 20 when this album came out, but while I know a couple of songs from radio play I had never listened to the album as a whole. I really enjoyed it! I likely won't revisit this, but I was glad to experience a full Sugar album.
The critical reviews here are a bit hilarious, especially those criticizing this for being "generic 90s alternative" and that they are trying to hard to sound like the Pixies or Nirvana. Bob Mould's first band, Husker Du, was a HUGE influence on the 90s alternative scene - Pixies and Nirvana both cite HD as a massive influence, a band THEY were trying to sound like. So while I agree this album has something of a generic 90s sound...it is necessarily generic because Bob Mould is actually an originator of this sound lol. So cut the band some slack!
Maybe this is good for what it is? But I hate what it is. This was torture for me. 2* is the best I can do to transcend my biases.
