1001 Albums Summary

Patti Smith makes me feel strong. Incredible lyrics, this fury inside her, she is so fucking cool. The world she paints in Horses is entirely her own, confident, and integrity. Psychedelic, bluesy, but the highlight is her. Her voice is not traditionally great but that's not the point. The point is her delivery, half spoken-word and half singing.

Phenomenal sampling, super super smooth, early trip-hop and DnB emerging.

Life-affirming, big, tight band. I like the boss better when he is a little softer and sadder, but this is full of absolute bangers

Groovy, conscious, stylish, critique. I really like this. I think it can sound a bit same-y and is perhaps not my exact genre but this is masterful

Surprisingly, I love this. Songs are tight, voice is unreal, audience interaction and theme of the record work.

Undeniably tight and well-made songs but do not make me feel. I think genre problem for rockabilly. Great voice and instrumentation

This rocks. I did not expect glam from this period and would have guessed this was made 10 years later if I did not know. Campy, great lyrics, funny, cynical.

Modern classic. Warm and rich production. Great voice and sense of melody and groove, great percussion. Has a sensitivity that reveals throughout, takes a while to open up its heart. Incredibly tastefully made

Ambient, moody, has this referential quality to classic rock but reinterprets it in a tasteful way. Problem is, this album is very same-y. Same progressions and drums, very repetitve. Has one trick and does it well, but it is one trick

I am shocked I like this. Melodic, beautifully constructed, exceptional singing, sensitive, sad. It is a bit dated in terms of lyrical content but hey this is country. It does not make me cringe as badly as I thought it would, but it does somewhat. It is a bit repetitive toward the middle third

On the upside, this has ambition and mood. It also made me significantly less insecure about singing because I can't do Billy Corgan's voice. On the downside, the mixing feels off (voice way down mby because it sucks). Doesn’t hit like genres it draws on, punk, mid-west, grunge- no thanks. Feels derivative

Fun. This whole album rips. Insane debut. Fun interplay of snarling lead vocals and sweet backing vocals. Time capsule to feeling like you’re young and cool in the 70s in London. Simple but effective playing, esp. guitar. Political in a way that hits without being obnoxious

Moody and dark, sounds really really good. Production quality is unreal even without remastering. To me comes across as a bit depressy and slightly self-absorbed, but I got into it more as I listened. Temperamentally this is far from me but I appreciate it

Dark, groovy, super smooth in parts and then howling nihilism. Early experimentation with electronica visible here. This is so bumpy and just cool as fuck. Socially conscious, depressing then moments of brightness. It’s not glossing over anger and struggle

Holy shit this is good. Smooth rap all-time high, bumps along jazz-like and quirky, playful, self-aware. Sick production, warm, right amount of grit. This is above all really fun to listen to (e.g. frog sounds?? <3) . Feels like you are living your best life

Pretensious. Like if a "well actually" college dude downed the canterbury tales and decided to tell everybody he was into jazz. The playing and musicianship is actually reallly good, it is musically dense just not to my taste. Drumming slaps, some beautiful moments

If the beach boys were British and psychedelic. This is glowing warm with youth and life, has this vintage quality and medieval references that work. Soundtrack to youth, autumnal quality

Great guitar riffs when they’re not on the mandolin. Put down the fucking mandolin. The singing in a super heavy American twang and mandolin throws me off though. Don’t care for this. Doesn’t make me feel much; occasional great riffs offset by aside annoyance at singing and mandolin 

George Michael undoubtedly has an amazing voice. Problem is the songwriting is a bit dull and the voice is drenched in so much reverb the audio engineer must have answered yes to how much reverb do you want. Perfectly pleasant but aside some great vocals just lacks lyrics, hooks, something memorable.

It should be illegal to have so many classics on one album. Her voice is astonishing, the instrumentation is tight and groovy and funky. The way she sings is so emotive it makes you want to cry or laugh, it makes me feel strong. Has this explosive energy throughout.

The concept album part of this, about life, is I think really moving. Some really really gorgeous songs (old friends, america). The second side I think isn’t really for me- sounds almost like michael franks brunch music or general folk rock noodling. I like how there you can hear them trying out electronic aspects in first half

She has a cool voice between Lauryn Hill and Nelly Furtado, starts with production more interesting than what I would have thought for early 2000s hip hop but loses steam and is ultimately fine but not great. Some very average 2000s some interesting

This has all that is good about coldplay (politik), and the warning signs of what later went wrong (amsterdam). Here they have a kind of radiohead sound full of emotion, it is edgier than their earlier efforts, and some of the songs aged well. It is simple music but at times works. Nostalgia factor also kicks hard

This comes out the gate storming. The percussion from Moon is unreal, the bass is so tight. I am not sure how I feel about live albums unless they're as good/cohesive/themed as folsom prison. But that being said this absolutely rips. Being in the crowd must have been insane

Anglo-indian beats. I did not expect this. It's groovy, weird, lo-fi, well-produced, uses found sounds I really like, and has some bops. I flows well the whole way through, has great anti-racist lyrics. Surprising good find!Could be leaner and a bit shorter but still good

Plug the 80s straight into my veins! The first track had instrumentation that weirdly reminded me of Jai Paul, the rest was more straightforwardly 80s but just extremely well executed. Then realised that a lot of what i think of as iconically 80s is from this. Detached electro-dance-pop, geat melodic sensitivity, real sense of irony detachment and boredom. Self-aware album. Good!!

Listen… I get they were pioneers of radio rock nu metal, but this is neither good by standards of rap or metal. There are iconic songs on this culturally but they are SO on the nose it's painful. Lyrics are esp painful. Overproduced, too smooth, overblown. Really lacks taste. This does not have to be bad if it was done with more feeling. Sounds like what 11y/o boy thinks is heavy and cool music

Doesn't really do it for me. Does not have the sample talent of public enemy in instrumentation, or the taste and lyrical playfulness they seem to borrow from tribe. Fairly corny, bragging is boring here. Some nice breakbeat production but this didn't grab me. Some MCs better than others

Krautrock energy for the 2010s. This is sonically interesting but not breakthrough for the time and I am not sure why this was on the 1001 albums list over kanye, bon iver. Builds a distinct vibe and flow across the album but nothing particularly stands out. Plays with contrast of whisper vocal with electronic shifting over darker bass instrumentation but I feel others do tht better

Imaginative and confessional songs, interesting lilting singing that plays across shifting acoustics. Has a sense of melancholy, darkness, cutting acerbic humour but also compassion delivered in sing-song format that is unusual and cool. Has a swung feel to the instrumentation. Great guitar by Marr.

Well produced. Beautiful harmonies, creative instrumentation. This bops along. No stand out tracks particularly but very consistent. Definitely darker than other efforts given everybody for divorced just before. It just doesn't do for me that peak abba does

Fun wall of noise- kind of chaotic but with massive bass riffs, frenzy drumming, the whole thing hanging together by a great sense of mischief. The bass has the lead quality of a guitar and h is SHREDDING my god. Chaotic but the whole thing is coherent and also just fun, even if a bit of an assaulkt on the senses. Very mood dependent how this hits

Very pleasant old-timey jazz arrangements that show off his gorgeous voice. Feels like being in a NY lounge and slowly getting drunker and more melancholic on cocktails while watching other people dancing

I may be in the minority but this to me isn't very appealing. Quite same-y, simple songs that all sound the same. Not much variation. Doesn;t really do much. Sounds very hard like you're trying to be cool and make very stylised vintage music out of a private school.

Platonic idea 80s plastic synth yacht rock to the point where I wonder if he actually invented that particular sound... considering he played every instrument on this he probably did. I like this dad rock genre tbh, maybe I am a dad inside really. Great lyrics, a gentle kind of groove, writing isn't exceptional but it is super well executed. Some songs do make me cringe though

Weird, experimental, huge fusion list of influences but somehow does not come together in a way that is particularly pleasing to my ears. It is silly, lyrics are silly, music is silly, and that's fun but it doesn't make me feel much aside from slight annoyance mixed with interest. I am intrigued though, I kind of also like it, and wish pop had the guts to be so weird today

Lush warm instrumentals, sad vocals, delivery is off-guard. Unexpected moments or rock and big folk harmony. This is sad like a rainy day after saying goodbye

Campy, operatic, super 80s from the synths to the female vocals and snares good god. His voice is great. I think this may be too much of a period piece for me to listen to unironically. It is good but not quite for me.

Deserves the hype it gets. Insanely well made and produced, musically DENSE in a good way (mad fusion of genres from shoegaze to folk and electronic bits coming through), lyrically captures something about the alienation and dystopia of britain changing in the 90s. This is impressive but I do think the bends has more of an emotional punch to it

This is weird but really compelling. Sounds like a nightmare that emerges from moments of pleasant dreams. It's super moody, concept heavy, wildly skilled production stitching together a dizzying array of genres. It feels at times detached and then downright menacing, whispering insane shit in your ear. I dont know if you would listen to this for pleasure but it's strong. Guitar tracks on this sound v much like frusciante so points for that too

The funkiest thing that's probaly ever been recorded. This is an absolute joy to listen to. Unbelievable guitar playing. Instrumentation is so tight, lively, inventive and just really really fun. There is so much joy in this and range, from upbeat to slower and more pensive. Wild lyirics. I would genuinely give a kidney to be at a George Clinton gig in the 70s

Opener and closer are so good, the middle isn't quite as strong but it has held up extremely well over time. It still sounds really good, warm, well-mixed, the groove and guitar playing is extremely well chosen. When it's good it absolutely rips

Same confessional flavour of Carole king but does not quite have the same sense of pace, space, and letting songs breathe. She is doing too much I think and the music never really folds out into what it could be. It pushes into showtune in a way I don't like. Mostly pleasant instrumentation but sometimes annoying singing that seems a little precarious

Really really good. Fantastic guitar playing, instrumentation is warm and lush and organic and just sounds cool. The singing is a 70s harmony relic that sometimes adds to the psychedelic hippie feeling that comes out of this, sometimes is a bit annoying. Less enjoyable when leaning country rather than rock, but this is really great esp Neil Young contributions

Classic and sweet riffs, warm and groovy instrumentation that's tight and folky without being a meme (unlike saving england by the pound). Has a sweetness to it and you can just see the mods on little scoots zooming around. Has that trying hard 60s cool about it from this kind of folk rock

Weird AF, sounds like you got halfway through listening to folk and then dropped something psychedelic. Musicianship is a little sloppy and can get a bit too self-consciously concepty. Some of it's not bad some of it is embarassing. The medieval stuff needs to go into the bin.

Exactly what you expect from 1992 indie rock. There are tons of bands and sounds like this. It's annoying. Very similar songs, jangly indie pop and lacking the emotional centre of grunge. Sounds like depressed suburbs teenagers. Best song is a cover which is always a yikes

So much soul, softness, wonderfully created songs that hide this sadness while being deeply cool, beautiful, and warm. Has a delightful analogue sound. Great guitar lines and introduction of proto-punk heaviness. Has some incredible stand-alone singles but the album itself is super cohesive and creates this very particulr image of being cool and young in NY in the 70s

If steely Dan was psychedelic. This rocks. It’s variable, trippy, big vision, phenomenal instrumentation and almost a little punky sometimes. This might be the only prog I actually like so far because it’s more rocky and not medieval and sounds like you’re COOKED levels of high

Excellent. Rich and a lot going on in the soundscapes, off-beat and inventive but super well produced and clear musical skill. Mix of amazing melody, voice, trippy rhythm section, shifting through interchanging beautiful and creepy scenes this brings to mind

I absolutely hate this. Everything in me hates this. I hate the fiddle, I hate the singing, I hate the doodlydoooo songs. I don't think any volume of alcohol could make me like this sea shanty punk irish ballad shit. I can't. Please make it stop. At least they seem to really have fun making this which lifts it above TS and Linkin Park

Doesn't hold much charm for me. Has the same "I can't really play" quality of earlier punk with precarious and annoying vocals. Shoehorning in all sorts of other genres into a noise soup that sounds muddy. I guess it could be campy but it's just so not to my taste. At least they have a female guitarist but even that can't do much to improve this

At first this is so derivative 90s overblown mega period piece indie rock that I cannot stand it. Sounds like a melodramatic and poorly made highschool movie soundtrack inside of the brain of a super hormonal teenager with a lack of taste who thinks they are going through somthing. Booringg and generic. When I listen more I can hear this is british and has hints of oasis in it, but moments where it could be more do not break through.

Super high instrumental skill, smooth, groovy, insane production. Big sweeping survey of the different aspects of being black with both optimism and real darkness. This slaps. The vocals from cleo sol are disarming, both vulnerable.childlike but have this huge gospel quality. Big fusion of different communities from London shows up here

This is her best album by a comfortable margin. At the time this made such a splash and brought back british soul in a big way, but this is blended at times with some stomp-clap 2000s country energy that I forgot was there. Her voice is impressive but also all there is to it as the instrumntaiton is pretty lackluster and boring. Because it;s so voice forward it sounds quite busy vocally. There is something about dynamics missing here. It's fine, I actually know all these songs immdiately, but leaves me a bit meh not feeling much

I hate nu metal. It's so overblown, has the feel of stuff that 14 year old boys think is hard. Hysterical and really annoying vocals. Insane drumming in a good way, everything else seems perfectly engineered for keeping people awake at 2am in detention centres. Just not to my taste at all but it executes its genre well- unfortunately the genre fucking sucks. At least they seem to be genuinely having fun making so this is marginaly better than LP. Mixing is terrible.

Same sample style production as Public Enemy, but does not have the same insight and wittiness in delivery or the interjections of flavour flav that keep it variable. It's landing some heavy messages in old school style, production is good but not quite to the heights as public enemy again. Sounds dated now

Bright, cheerful, very tight instrumentation that brings out a different more pop friendly and early side of southern rock. Short and cute with little licks spicing it up. Sometimes annoying

Warm and surprisingly I like this. I was not sure I would! It is very meticulously made, and somehow the emotion can never really explode out as a result. Some of the tunes do hit, and have aged well with extra reverb late at night for a pleasant vintage feel. but this will never really hit me where I live despite being decent. Imporant in Rock and Roll for a reason but now sounds very tame

Messy, trying to find his sound and clearly at his best on Solisbury hill. When he leans into 'world music' and art pop, he is better. The rest is fine but not particualrly memorable or inventive. It is musically well made but does not really cohere, and the prog elements are really annoying to my ears

Again fuck nu metal, but this is campy and they're actually having a good time. I think I just like Serj Tankian, by association via the love he gets in NZ. This sounds a lot better than the other nu metal here, actually mixed properly, massive blown out guitars,punk heritage is clear. The variety within the album is also notable improvement from other genre offerings

Surprisingly I like this. It has energy, ambition, the songs are punky in their instrumentation but tell a good sweeping story and when they get political are particularly strong.

Beautiful and sounds effortless in its grace. Musically moves and flows, gorgeous moving melody and astonishing instrumentation of a liquid jazz, shines and glows, is wistful and reflective and shines with life's hurt and love. She is caught in between, moving between connections, searching and fuck I feel that. The way she sings over this is stunning, esp with her lower register that really tugs at me. She is at her absolute best

Perplexing. I like this though it sounds like it's been made by several different bands. Needs more listens to get to the bottom but this does rip. The synths sound dated at times, but the beats are huge and bumpy. Has this sweetness to it that is very 80s and ranges from acid house to pop to something that sounds like the Smiths. A lot going on in 50 shades of 80s but genuinely innovative

He shines here, incredible voice, croony and a little cheeky, instrumentation is fun. This makes you want to dance. It feels like he is putting something of himself out there, a little vulnerable and enthusiastic. If you were very cool in the 50s you would have been going out to this

The energy on this is wild. Theatrical, overblown, live energy goes hard. This is such a mess in terms of people not being particularly good at their instruments and the singer all over but it has insane charm and just rips. You can hear them making mistakes but that literally does not matter

The contrast between the soft/whispery vocals and the wall of noise behind it is interesting (overdrive is cranked to 500000 and gets a bit grating), but the content of the songs themselves don't really do it for me or make me feel much. It is cool sounding, songs are simple poppy numbers but the delivery throws you. This is so clearly a precursor to shoegaze. A bit same-y

Beautifully played, warm, intuitive and smooth funky tunes with gospel flavour. This makes my ears really really happy and heart warm, made with real feeling. Great variety of musicla styles and inventiveness in how this is constructed, but it all fits so cohesively with a sense of effortless musicality. An exceptional album but he has made better which is testament to an INSANE career

This absolutely slaps. Incredible guitar, can so clearly see the contribution they made to metal and heavy rock later on. Quality of musicianship is astonishing, recording is excellent (incl remaster), it flows, riffs and grooves are deadly. Vocal performance is unreal, so much control while going nuts. early use of effects and elevtronics is tasteful and psychedelic. Percussion is so tight.

I think I’ve discovered a new hatred alongside nu metal. It’s honky Tonk country rock. This is well made in the sense of production, vocals, instrumentation is simple but well executed. But fuck me this has no taste (esp the fucking harmonica oh my god). Some tasty guitar and nasty slides but buried under so much corny country shit and old school 50s grooves that do nothing for me apart from annoy. Percussion is particularly irritating

Slaps. Some turns carry this, some are mid, but overall smouldering smooth, sensual, well produced, great low voice. It’s heavy on style and more rather than less backs it with substance. So 80s with the sax and keys but in this case it’s aged well. Can be prone to background musicitis, but nonetheless likeable

Annoying and extremely mid britpop, the dude cannot sing, instrumentation is boring and uninspired. This ain't it. Lacks the je ne sais qoi of oasis, the strings in the background suck, the lyrics suck, it's not even good when drunk. Guitar solos also suck, basically pentatonic scale runs

Dark electronic sounds and synths manipulated with pedals, but sounds rather simplistic now. Drumming is so tight it sounds like a machine but isn’t. Has a clear sense of groove but sounds like a lot of other things- kraftwerk and krautrock especially. It’s pretty good- some great songs, but overall a bit same-y.

This is bad. Not interesting, time capsule of britpop sounds drowning in averageness. Playing is mid at best, songwriting bad, singing is shit. Then I found out what a pretentious prick luke haines is and had to downgrade from meh not good to fuck this. To have that much ambition and be so average makes you fucking awful and insufferable to boot. Boo

Her voice is fragile but strong, a little rough, has this unhewn tenderness and vulnerability. These songs have various effects on me- some really work for me, some less. The ones that hit are deeply romantic and yearning, they glow from the inside and lift you out yourself.

Fruityyyyy. This works so well, disco rock let’s go. Campy, fun, some stone cold originals and covers. It’s joyous and clearly is living its best life. Some belly flops but I can forgive them for the glorious gay peaks. In absolute terms the quality isn’t Beethoven but they nail what they are going for. Comfortably numb cover is so strange but also so compelling- bless them

This is bad. Not interesting, time capsule of britpop sounds drowning in averageness. Playing is mid at best, songwriting bad, singing is shit. Then I found out what a pretentious prick luke haines is and had to downgrade from meh not good to fuck this. To have that much ambition and be so average makes you fucking awful and insufferable to boot. Boo

Grunge punk rock goodness. Has the spirit of punk but a melodic sensibility and range across it- this goes so hard. Captures something of the teenager to adult feeling where you are dealing with stuff in yourself while getting older and tryng to keep it together. Slaps. Very very recognisable. Great mix of heavy and light. Love the vocals, love the mixing, love the guitar tone, love the screaming, mix of controlled and wild

Stadium-sized ambition in a debut record probably made in a basement. This has massive bangers, distinctive sound- the playing isn't mythically good but it's greater than the sum of its parts. For the number of bangers alone and fully formed sound it deserves respect

sounds like the sort of music you listen to at a very expensive tapas restaurant where the bill is fucking robbery. It’s not bad in terms of production and playing, very well mixed, smooth, deffo tango made ambient electronic background noise. Not my thing. Fairly obnoxious and seems very pretentious. Gives me the ick as they say. Jazz brunch becomes jazz small plates.

Spector aside, this is a banging Christmas album. Cheerful renderings of classic tunes, lush and big sound. Wonderful mixing and layering of great vocal performances. Darlene love kills it (not as much as Phil though oof, fuck him it’s deeply unfortunate this is very good)

Divorced dad energy strong here. Has some ripping guitar lead and the vocals (though I can’t really do the accent) are kind of excellent once I got over myself about a third of the way in. Playing is quite simple and a bit derivative of other earlier grunge bands, but it’s got a strong vibe that’s very self serious. Annoying somewhat. Big anthem sound, very distinctive. Not to my taste but fair game

Welp, hard to say wtf this is. Sounds like a caveman stumbled into a metal band and started banging shit together- the singing is giving neanderthal, but the playing tbh kind of rips. It's very very noisy esp percussion but not at all messy. I don't hate this but it's also REALLY not my thing. It seems to execute grindcore or whatever the fuck this is rather well, has a sense of fun, I could see getting down to this when extremely smashed

Jesus this is boring. Has the personality of slightly to soggy cereal, saccharine and dull instrumentation, rip off from grunge sound but has the life drained out of it via pop fusion. Does absolutely nothing for me apart from annoy quite seriously. It has immense ability to annoy across its range. Fuck this

Astonishingly good. This is my perfect pop. Huge, creative, romantic, dramatic, beautiful orchestra production and vocals that are campy and operatic. I adore this so much. The opening tracks are an insane start to the album. The vibe is so strong, softness mixed with drama and huge feeling that explodes, the way these songs build is a masterclass. Jig of life sounds like teenage engineering medieval sampler, earth song sounds like LOTR elf ambience.

There is arguably nothing wrong with these songs, how they are written and produced, the guitar playing, the vocals, but I just really really do not like it. I find the music kind of bland as fuck, and the vocals and lyrics pretensions and so fucking annoying. REM is just not for me. This is less annoying than automatic for the people though

Single best thing I think made by a beatle. I love this. Beautiful heartfelt songs, great rough but sweet vocals, exceptionally tasteful guitar playing. Has a feeling of youth and romance and summer of love innocence, but while aware that the world can be dark and hard. He knows all things pass, good and bad, but celebrates life so beautifully. Extended jam quality of the playing is lush and orchestral and beautifully remastered.

Virality in the 60s, short songs with catchy hooks that showcase Elvis as a sex icon and commercial product against very slick backing music and vocals. Funny how this is still the same today. This style of music just doesn’t do it for me. His voice is astonishing, but the doo woppy nature of this and cutesy lyrics just eeeeh. He’s better for me in jazz register or big dramatic ballads/ show pony mode where he goes later. He is not really an album artist.

Lush Funk coming from Motown with so much soul. Yes fucking pleased Lush warm live orchestration that’s especially strong on funk leaning stuff and it GROOOVES. Insane vocals and loving period 70s super wide audio panning and production. Adore this. Second half is not as strong as it goes more back to Motown.

Absolutely rips. Insane percussion, trashy fun, shreddy and power riffs, changing beats and trippy time signatures in opener. Great sense of melancholy, menace that acknowledges it's a bit campy, great vocals. So fucking fun to listen to, clearly made with fun and love, great skillful playing. Orion is nuts

Hate at first listen. The songs are super annoying fusion of musical theatre type rock pop that really try to be punk and really annoying vocals and stupid knee-deep lyrics that are so pretensions I want to throw up. Some hasn’t aged well. Guitars sound good on occasion and it’s well mixed but that can’t save this.

Joyyyy Holy shit pop disco perfection. So many bangers, insane warm quality to recording that’s immaculately made. Genius is at work in these songs, songwriting is so fucking neat and satisfying, outstanding complex vocals and amazing interplay of bass with synths. Fun, makes you want to dance and feel so young and full of a sparkling cheeky kind of life. Insane hearing dancing queen in context, and what a fucking quality context it is. Just let go and enjoy this. If you don’t like this you’re pretentious or don’t have a pulse

With all due respect what the fuck is this. Some strange campy spoken word marxist poetry (that is a bit clunky an overbearing in translation from german) across strange melodies performed by some kind of big band?? This just mainly elicits confusion, I do appreciate they tried here but I do not think it's working. The genre is not for me, the over-the-head lack of lyrical grace isn't for me. There are better socialist genres out there

So much energy and a wonderful warm, soulful, energetic and smooth performance. It's super cohesive adn I like how you can hear the audience noise, this is clearly super meaningful for them. Songs are delivered with love and passion and instrumentation is tight. I agains truggle with live albums but this is a ripping performance

Locked in groove right here, tight, has a way of delivering absolutely searing commentary without sounding obnoxious and keeping a certain brightness in life. The recording quality sadly is not that good, the live versions of these songs really show them off at their best, but still slaps

Fine. I don;t think this is landmark in the history of rap though it took grime commercial (even in UK context surely massive black rapper breaout would go to stormzy)? Smooth production, fine beats, flows are ok, content is not particularly hard hitting or memorable. meh. I just also care zero for grime

GROOVYYY my god, early disco and R&B blending into smooth and exceptionally made grooves with phenomenal rhythm guitar and vocals. Fun, makes you happy. Killer base lines. I adore this kind of genre. Songs flow into one another for a clear and distinctive vibe and listening experience, not too long, it's meant to be hypnotic

Kind of pirate shanty rock? I have no idea why this has to be heard before I die.. not doing much for me, the musicianship is very average, lyrics, average, vocals sounding a little alcoholic and average- its ranging from fine/ignorable in small parts to really annoying rapidly as you go on. In short, pass. Hard damn pass

How have I not heard of this. This is hypnotic and meditative and a little weird, comes in and out of ambient into psychedelia. Layered guitars that come in and out of spase but perfectly balanced compositions. Great use of ambient and spacey synths that definitely pay homage to the band name. Lord an YOu Hear Me is gorgeous. You can gear the velvt underground in here quite distinctly

Like a campier black sabbath that taps into the same heritage but more pop. This is campy and fun, trashy and great percussion. Glory days of hair metal begin here! It’s fun, maybe a bit simple but they invented this formula so full credit

A bit samey, but at the beginning the album has some amazing songs. This sadness and compassion to it at the beginning shifts to life-affirming stories in the second half of snapshots of life. Snapshot storytelling

I thought I would hate this. I don't. It's sad, quiet, slow, and pretty ethereal. The sound is warm, organic, and somehow emotive and sometimes gives you chills. It feels like a movie soundtrack. The way it brings out blues into folk is cinematic and does not usually give me the ick like this genre does- I think it;s the fact it is slow and the vocal quality

Grew on me as it went on. Didn’t fit well with walking alone at night, a bit basic retrospectively but I see how this feeds into dnb and jungle as precursor. Samples are weird and uncanny a bit creepy, beats are schizophrenic and the whole effect is unsettling. It’s well done, clearly builds on kraftwerk’s qualities

Delightful, smooth, fun, exudes warmth and goodness listening to this. it makes your mood brighter. The saxophone is delightfully crafted and plays and twines around very warm and lush live bossa nova. It's maybe not groundbreaking but I think it invented this genre inlarge part and brings me such joy

smooth, stylish, silky production, flows that show the US how it’s done. I think the fact this is in French covers over some of the lyrics problems I can have with hip hop, but judging by the advanced grammar in song titles that wouldn’t be the case anyway. This genre doesn’t do much for me though

this is undoubtedly made with skill and parts of it are fun, but parts are also intensely pretentious. It’s less egregious to me that other prog, but it just doesn’t move me. I think the singing takes me out, as do the unnecessary music theory dalliances

Starts so annoying. Annoying lyrics, annoying rhythm, annoying guitar. I really don’t enjoy this. It feels like a pastiche of references to bands that are a lot better and the parts are greater than the sum. As it goes on it marginally improves but it’s not memorable nor original now of particular musical quality

this is beautiful, cool, sophisticated late night music. It brings out something calm and shining, a little detached, like you’re watching yourself in a dream. I adore this. It dreams and hurts and floats. Very self-consciously cool.

Boppy folk tunes. This is not really my genre or taste but I appreciate this for what it is- well-crafted sweet songs with a touch of darkness from a gentler time. Great guitar playing, this feels real- he makes mistakes is sometimes a touch off, but that;s human. Wholesome

The playing on this is sublime, recording quality is warm and has this genuine feel, I actually also enjoy the vocals and the way they play with the guitar, and effects on the guitar really pushing what it can sound like. It is long but the whole thing is such a vibe to me

I do not really know how to judge this. To me this is a collection of very long fusion-y tunes that are the right sort of nice dischordant to feel thoroughly cool enjoying this. The introduction of electric elements is really cool and a step for the genre, but I don't know how to judge this, needs more listens

Gorgeous tropical psychedelic rock and latin grooves. I adore this, his voice is clear, brings in a soulfulness and warm analogue fuzz- this makes you feel good, takes you to being cool and young on the beach in Rio in the 70s, some tasty guitar licks going on

This is platonic ideal of 80s production. I struggle with the mad tropes in this- the punchy snares, the keyboard, the MJ-style vocals, the cheesy lyrics. This is doing things to soul I do not like. The vocals are really good and I can't help but thinking if this was a different genre it would be so much better

James Blakey vocals that waver and foreshadow the indie sad boys that come about 10 years later. Definitely gothic organy and echoy feeling. I don't know if i like this but it's definitely something. The production is actually really ambient and has a warmth to it. Like a remixed rufus wainwright

This absolutely slaps. Grooves, moves, plays with sound that twines around each other. It can wash over you, or it can grab you in an incredibly interesting listen. Made with a real sense of joy, you feel like you are cool in a dingily lit club listening to this in the best way possible

Has some big sounding riffs that really rock mixed with some kind of pastoral hobbit rock energy. Has some mad ambition. Banging percussion. I actually weirdly rate the flute and medieval touches here, which come off as fun and campy and not too self-serious. Fun!!

Outstanding. Euphoria, incredible soundscapes, syrup dreams. This is so ecstatic, so sad, it just really makes me FEEL. Few records can do that like this. Sounds like transcending. The fact the lyrics are kind of incomprehensible is perfect.

Fine music, but the lyrics send me in a bad way (pencil skirt wtf wtf). Not as annoying as most britpop but this is not that memorable to me. Has some vintage percussion styling that I don't like (too busy). Where this really falls down is the lyrics though- sometimes they are misogynistic and kinda nasty and just crude, so obsessed with sex it makes me want to take a fucking shower and not in a good way. Kinda gross

Straight out of your older brother's garage who has got a bunch of drum pads (so sharp they will burst your ears) and is cooking up drum and bass. This is clearly a big precursor to a lot of dnb we hear now from song structure to beats and flows. Some of this slaps, when it leans into great vocals, and more of a gospel/jazz/fusion direction and the clinical and quite sharp beats meet warm vocals and dreamy synths. Not exactly to my taste but I do rate this as siginficantly refining the genre. It is a bit too long, needs cutting, but has some absolute classic tracks

This sounds more vintage than it actually is- has something like the smiths mixed with the pogues (but in a good way), a simplicity to it. This is fine. It's not particularly outstanding or offensive, there she goes carries this hard. Jangliness is pleasant enough

I forget how country they can get, and it doesn't do it for me. This does have an incessant groove and a well-executed simplicity of translating parts of blues and country back to the UK context, but this is not their best for me by a mile. There are few stand out songs

Fuck this is good. Effortlessly way too cool, smooth, angry in an intelligent and simmering way. The beats and production are absolutely insanely well-made in their simplicity and ability to showcase very incisive rap. Individual members are damn talented but together something emerges that is absolutely on fire. Lauryn hill lifts this to a spacious, cool, laid back place that sets the bar for cool in the 90s

Space ambience and early synths into a truly wonderful pre-eno sense of ambience, strings, size and grandeur and something driving behind it. This is more like a suite rather than an album that pioneers the first use of that now classic synth sound. This slaps.

What in the country hip hop is this. It is fun and the bass lines are diabolically boppy but the shine wears off fast. This is immature and the fusion of blues rock and hip hop I think isn;t the best flavour of the month, year, or ever tbh. On the upshot some guitar work on this is great but it's somehow lost in the wrong genre- this is like a ghetto version of really bad country rap rock

This does little for me compared to their later work. The gorillaz do have some bangers but they are not on this- it's largely just the more boring parts of rock and rap together, whcih is a shame because when it is greater than the sum of its parts it slaps. Has moments of brightness but they get better later on at refining these out of the genre fusion.

Again I am shocked by a country album. This is lovingly rendered, sensitive, beautiful, full of feeling- a little old-timey in moments, but also has a real inner life and sense of humour. I like this a great deal, Dolly is a legend and a wonderful songwriter. What the fuck happened to country after this

Warm california sound with lovely harmonies that stand up. Some of these have aged a bit meh but where they are good they remain timeless. Sometimes it feels almost too controlled and smooth, but when it bursts out in real feeling it's great. It's good at lacadaiscal lamenting. This is pretty much platonic ideal of soft rock

My god this surprised me. He has an astonishing voice that shines across a significant variety of song styles. The content is perhaps a bit sappy but it's less overblown and more back to his roots. Some absolutely fantastic bass on this on certain tracks. This can sit pleasantly in the background or you can dance. Very veteran crooner

Beautiful and just crazy ambitious. Mixes soft psychedelic rock with orchestral arrangements driven by gorgeous brass. This is so tight. It is a little space age, but somehow not cheesy. This does not reallly know what to be- funk? psychedelic? rock? jazz? This is played so damn well though, and that makes up for a but of lack of coherence

This is smooth and for lack of a better word 'nice'. That isn't a bad thing. It's not exactly breaking ground or pushing any envelopes, but it is calming and has some gentle soul. Does not really make me feel very much beyond vaguely pleasant

Straight hate. The dinky percussion, the plinky guitars, the yodel-y singing, the stupid ass lyrics,the chugging nature of this. I really am just allergic. When the slide guitar hits with ambition I want to rip my ears off. It is no better when he goes more country rock or whatever the fuck italian restaurant remix vibes come in around halfway through. STOP. At least this album is short

Straight fire, I think this underrated for the maturity, subtlety of the compositions. Maybe not as consistent as some others but so so strong. This has some unbelievably tight playing, massive riffs, variety, god-like vocals. This has such variety on it that ranges from straight power to remarkable sensitivity. They know both restraint and letting go

This is delightful. Euro party 90s synths, fun, groovy. Probably somehting that makes most sense if you can imagine the parties at which this was played. I can, so this slightly cheesy, corny, floating, happy, boppy thing works for me.

Funky, heavy, groovy, very cool sense of melody. has almost a punk quality. The use of chopped up train sound at the beginning is fantastic. This is artistic. Also has a glam and camp quality. Bass and rhythm guitar are outstanding. Takes some time to warm up to further but it’s fucking impressive

I am admittedly a sucker for this ripping kind of tuareg guitar music- but this is not I think as significant a tinariwen? Either way does not really matter, this is unbelievably exciting and good blues. Damn. Musicianship great, vocals great, message and defiance against totalitarianism and the bravery of making this? Great.

Smooth, very tropical, brings to mind a very distinctive vibe and point in time. Has a vintage quality that feels instantly familiar. Somewhat prone to being background music though, could have a bit more meatiness somehow?

Music does not have to be complex to rip. This really gets going in the second half with a good-natured, classic, young kind of punk that brings the fun of being a teenager back. This is for the the platonic ideal of this sound fro the 90s and contains some absolute bangers (when I come around). Is consistent, fun, I like ho buried the vocals are behind a nasty guitar

Smooth, calm, downtempo. The interplay of beats and a gorgeous voice, a sense of yearning, is lovely. This is platonic ideal of this genre for me, alongside Air, Groove Armada or Massive Attack. The electronic version to sade

This is for live at montreux version. I am unsure how to judge this- I don’t know anything about tango or what would make this distinctive or new. It is interesting in the sense of mastery of niche instruments and live performance skill. I enjoyed it in that sense but it didn’t grab me.

This is really good. 80 synthy goodness works for this very well. THE BASSLINES take notes ears. The vocals are smooth and fantastic, mixed in slick and richly layered soundscape that creates a very strong ambient feel with a hint of darkness. I couls tell this is scottish (that is a testament to the development of my ears!). Has echoes of the blue nile in the way it is ambient and sad somehow. Very cohesive record

Listen, this is immortally fun, slaps so hard, the riffs are absolutely unreal. IT IS SO FUN. The vocals are wild, the grooves are stronggg, the whole thing is campy in exactly the right way. Does it have subtlety? Not really, but if your basic formula is this fucking good don;t mess with it further.

Has more rocky billy joel energy if it was satire, pastiche, definitely dated, concept album about the American South. Unfortunate use of slurs that's absolutely not cool if made today, but they make sense in the context of a satirical taking the piss album about racists from the period. I get the point he is making, but it's good to acknowledge that while it may have entertained non-southerners or progressive southerners at the time it's not the way to address these problems today. Music is easy rocky pop with orchestral touches, has a southern-flavoured slowness and references to it

This opens ripping with old-school R&B with a swing-blues flavour. Has energy that makes you dance, lush orchestration, fabulous vocals that have a gospel-rock edge. Clearly has references to country especially in rhytm and song structure, so this claim to be advancing it is actually backed up. And well. Sonebody said this is white music made black, like reverse elvis- which I think is a really good analogy. This slaps.

This is inventive, his voice is excellent but it is dense and a bit incomprehensible at times- lacks the clarity of a bowie executed concept for example. Has a couple of strong tunes, sounds pretty coherent, but something is missing here. As prog goes this is more my style with the strings and psychedelia, but still not entirely compelling

I really did not care for this when it began, but then it improved to my ears. When it's mid, it's forgettable 90s rock. When it is better, it has quite poetic lyrics with a sadness that is deeply relatable against quite basic but well-supportive rock tracks. The playing is clearly live, which I appreciate. Overall, not super moving but ok

Fun punk, I way prefer this to the strokes. As a compilation album this doesn't quite make sense for the 1001 albums list, but as a collection of their musical oevre it's a good showcase. Ripping lines, a sense of fun, punky energy, garage energy in a good way. Not blowing anything out of the water, but decent

Admittedly this kind of music is not to my taste- his singing combined with the mandolin and ladida fiddle has something of the pogues that triggers me. However, the lyrics are actually excellent- embracing something about time passing, endlessness, being larger than oneself. Some gorgeous harmonies, when it leans more psychedelic it does something for me. There are moments of outstanding beauty on here, unexpectedly. Has some really gorgeous and sensitive, soulful guitar work

This has a sweetness and playfulness to it, something wholesome and old school, this sounds like people playing and genuinely having a great time together making music. Has some phenomenally fun beats and loops that must have been painstakingly made before modern tech was possible. SO fun

Cool, detached, airy, this is really cool and slips past you. It is I think not as strong as some of their other ones but strongly ambient and slightly unsettling for what this is meant to be as a film soundtrack.

God I struggle with this. I just cannot at all do his voice. it grates, it pains but fucking hell some of songs are really good and have this luminous poetic quality. SOme are awful. Three chords, harmonica blasting into the mic, dude cannot sing, my ears bleed. This leaves me somewhat torn. In the end I think I can find other people who have this quallity who just make way better music

Cool, almost lazy dreamy trip hop but very deliverately constructed downtwmpo hip hop beats with fun insturments flitting in and out. Has tape warmth, very listenable, effortless quality. This is like a massive attack portishead genre mashup somewhere between the two

Holy fuck I get why this is so loved. This is incredible. It is deeply sad, glowing electronic beams like an aurora punching through deep movements of bass and a slightly discordant voice that captures something about the beautiful and strange suffering of life. This is a bit of an our of body experience, looking down at yourself when you are either really high, orgasming, or near death experience. Moves between something incredibly smooth and shoegaze heaviness, choral wquality all at once.

These vocals are horrific, this is like a milk toast nirvana. In general this does very little for me. Sounds like generic 2000s rock that is neither sufficiently grunge or shoegaze, some unfortunate in between. It's not godawful in net but just not doing much for me

R&B/soul/jazz flavoured swung instrumentals and piano ballads, between jazzy and rappy fast talking, and all of this does not much for me. I think it is just too much vocals, singing, words for me. The instrumentation is nice, it has a warm analogue quality. The first cut is terrible, the tracks after get better. She is angry, she is feeling, she is hurt, but something about this just doesn;t really land

This really is not as bad as I thought it would be. Very 2000s spanish flavoured pop, has some wild vocals on it, She is clearly talented, maybe a little restraint is lacking but it is low key iconic for the combo of looks and tunes. Overall fine. Some iconic songs from the time.

People in 1971 must have fainted when this came out. This glows with warmth and some fuckin great guitars, really energetic percussion and fun singing. Music does not have to be complicated to be good. This just slaps outright and makes me happy. Has surprising soul and sadness and a good touch of sap. Dirty and indulgent

When you are in the right mood, this is fun, If you are in the wrong mood annoying as fuck. Has an analogue warmth and lovely overblown soeaker quality on percussion, reals ense of fun and cheek in the lyrics, mad eclectic collection of different genres all mashed together with a real sense of fun. All the genres are executed fucking well. This slaps

Has some nasty guitar and bass lines, great vocals. Weirdly smooth while being hardcore, which gives it somewhat of a teflon quality where it sort of enjoyably slips by. This is good but does not quite grab me. The head speaks louder than the heart here

Oh yeah, this slaps like a disco elevator. Prefigures the 80s before we hit the 80s in terms of synths, guitars, vocal production- marrying up lush background production and strings with the rise of electronic music. This is smooth and cool and infectiously groothsome