1001 Albums Summary

Not my cup of tea at all, but I can see how it's lauded by fans of the genre...

"Oh, this is just great. First Homer Simpson wrecks my pig, then Cypress Hill steals my orchestra, and now Sonic Youth's in my cooler. Get out of there!" Well at least now I get the third part of the quote. Pretty sure Noise Rock is not my thing though...

Barely acceptable as background noise - these 90's rap artists must have been so insecure given all lyrics are talking about their dicks or chicks.

Recognised 'Islands' from the radio but nothing else really resonated. It's clear it's 'first album' material but it doesn't engender the wish to go look for anything else.

Definitely a product of its time that starts strongly (the singles are the standout, as you'd expect), the album loses steam towards the end but is still a good listen.

One-half easy-listening/elevator mood music, one-half soundtrack to a 90s-era PC transport management sim or Game Boy visual novel. Sexy Boy is a classic.

A good listen, as you'd expect from Bowie, although I feel some of the earlier songs are a bit inconsistent compared to the singles and the latter half of the album.

~40 minutes of classic metal glory, plus Planet Caravan. 🤷‍♂️ Enough has been written about War Pigs, Paranoid and Iron Man that there's not much else to add, but don't skip on Electric Funeral, Hand of Doom or Fairies Wear Boots either!

The sort of mid-00's anonymous pop-rock that was ultimately so milquetoast it allowed someone else to lift their best song and effectively make it their own.

Whilst the many talents of Marvin Gaye are fully evident, listening to this album unfortunately just confirms that I simply do not like the majority of his work.

It's good to build out your understanding of artists by listening to works other than their big hits, but ultimately this did to me what other R&B and Soul tend to do - just wash over me, leaving little lasting impression.

Late-model commercial Elvis - the period where the bangers were few and far between, but when they hit, you thought 'yeah, that was a good one. Nothing inherently bad here, but I also spent the listening time doing other things and none of the songs really grabbed me or made me thing 'yeah, that was a good one', which basically sums up

I found some of the more energetic tracks entertaining, especially when they built up a head of steam, but I can't get behind the vocals, which are fairly indistinct and sound like they were recorded using a mic in the next room. Once of those groups that only really gel if you found them at that special time in your life when every artist was the best ever.

If you ever wanted to know what a 60's school dance actually sounded like, I guess this is the album.

Everything is typically weighted towards the Big Three (Jungle, Child and Paradise) but there's more in there if you dig below the surface, even if it's clear why they don't tour them. It's easy to criticise the album for being very samey, but given it's a debute album from a fairly young group (at the time), can you expect much else?

Whilst I *appreciate* Nirvana, I greatly prefer their contemporaries and successors. In Utero, as a sum of it's parts, is way too raw for me - I prefer Nevermind's more mainstream feel - although some of the tracks are very good, specifically Heart-Shaped Box and Very Ape.

Revolution Blues landed! The rest didn't...

I've never listened to a Wailers album (or pretty much any reggae album full stop) but I was blown away by ~40 minutes of pure bangers (8 of which are on the Liked list).

Ray Charles doing what Ray Charles does.

Bruce has always been one of those artists I've always wanted to spend more time listening to than I ever did, which I guess is what this project is for... Born to Run and Night are bangers, but I didn't really find much else stood out. Born in the USA still rates higher for me.

Heart Xmas: the Album, with added ick courtesy of Phil Spector.

Persisted through on the understanding there might be something that would resonate in there. Didn't find it.

My exposure to R.E.M. has been largely confined to the In Time compilation, so having the chance to encounter tracks deemed 'less popular' was fun. A very good, albeit very acoustic (IMO), album. Drive, Monty got a Raw Deal and Ignoreland made it to the Liked list, alongside Man on the Moon, Everybody Hurts and Nightswimming.

Like many others have noted, pre-disco Bee Gees is just 3 guys trying to find a direction. There's some class melodies in there, but it's all very mediocre.

Ethereal and unintelligible in equal measures - an interesting listen and some genuinely good songs towards the end of the album, but not likely one I'd listen to again.

When you encounter perennial popular groups who have been around for decades, there's usually a good reason why the hits remain and everything else is forgotten. Dancing Queen, Money Money Money, Fernando & Knowing Me Knowing You bookended by questionable subjects, cookie cutter dross and a 'title' track that's completely anonymous

A repeating theme throughout the entire project - picking full albums from legacy artists who are well known for specific songs only for most of the album to fall flat. As I've posted on other reviews, there's a reason why good songs hang around and the filler disappears. Yay: Son of a Preacher Man, Windmills of your Mind Nay: Pretty much everything else...

A strange experimental album from a talented group of musicians who seem to have simply been left behind.

Unlistenable noise or high-concept brilliance? Definitely the former...

You can see how this was revolutionary at the time, but looking back, with the knowledge of how manufactured the group was and how much of a phony Lydon has turned out to be, it loses it's edge.

Randy Newman. 1974 Randy Newman, but definitely Randy Newman!

It helps when an album has your favourite song by the group on it, but this is U2 at the rawest and most interesting.

Two decent songs bookend some well produced ambient meandering that seems more like it belongs on a soundtrack or in a jazz lounge.

Once again this project delivers less a 'you *must* listen to this album' and more a 'someone just really liked this song'... Not sure how a collection of predominantly covers makes the cut over some of OR's other work.

This 'decidedly not indie' album had so much airplay of it's middling singles that it's all just water off a duck's back. Sex on Fire stands out because despite being overplayed, it's still fun. The rest of the singles get progressively worse and a lot of the other tracks sound like filler to my uneducated ears... Probably most telling is that all 3 albums by the group have fallen out of the book version of the project.

Decidedly not my type of music.

The 1001 Project continues to expand my musical horizons in multiple ways that make me think "Ok, that happened." Sloth-paced Jazz is another one to add to the list of 'not my thing'.

A scattergun selection of what was good and bad about the Beatles - some faves, some bangers, some blatant examples of 'what the hell were they thinking'...

What did I just listen to?

Another day, another cover album.

TLC are on the radio all the time. They played Glastonbury last year. I don't feel like I needed to listen to this album before I died. One of the filler tracks on the album, titled 'Sexy-Interlude' ends with the line "Pass me some tissue so I can wipe my ass". What you choose to do with this info is up to you...

Only Song 2 really resonates and is probably the only one anyone still cares about.

Inoffensive background swing jazz. Nothing more to say...

Starts strong and then peters out, but this is a great album.

I never really got the band when Hoppípolla went big and listening to their earlier stuff didn't do much for me either.

An album that feels like an eclectic mix - part cover album, part original, mostly ick and a product of its time.

Immigrant Song sets a bar the rest of the album can't quite reach...

Singles are adequate but overplayed, nothing else really resonates.

The vocals were better than the previous album, but it's still just Arcade Fire...

Lake of Fire and other Nirvana Unplugged-adjacent songs aside, there's not a lot here that I feel I can recommend.

Mustaine is a dickhead and the lyrics won't win any awards, but I frequently end up in Megadeth vs Metallica 'debates' with my son and I always win (IMO) because I point to Megadeth songs simply being more enjoyable.

Talking Heads but without all their big songs. Not a whole lot to recommend as a result...

It's like Black Orchid is from a different album, as the album quickly degrades afterwards. Disappointing.

Well I liked Play Dead...

Another day, another 'debut' album full of covers, which was the style at the time.

The album starts with so much energy that by the time it peters out at the end, you don't mind quite so much as you're also exhausted.

When half the songs are already in your Liked Songs playlist, you know you're in for a good time during your mandated listening.

How do you represent that hissing sound angry cats make in text form? Dreck...

Well I guess it's nice to see what Pharell gets up to when he's not working on Despicable Me...

Lots of talent here, but damn, Prince *really* needed to get laid at this point in his career...

Songs are too long, with lots of freestyle riffing which meant there was no consistency. Probably was genuinely wild at the time...

An hour and a quarter of someone's marriage falling apart. Fun.

Not my favourite grudge metal band, but all is good here.

More 'post-rock' random noise.

*Chef Kiss*

Entertaining industrial punk rock.

Not my jam...

The Boss's best album.

Someone else said 'Proto-Tracy Chapman' and I wholeheartedly agree.

The issue with using phrases like 'most commercially successful album' about efforts from the pre-streaming era is you have no real idea if the success is based on the albums quality itself or momentum from earlier efforts. I preferred Talk Talk's earlier synth-led work.

Further confirmation I don't enjoy Afrobeat protest music.

King Louis telling us how much he dislikes women, among other fables...

Didn't like Neil's half, did like Crazy Horse.

The best song on the 'album' - Black Night - unfortunately wasn't actually on it.

The best hip-hop is no hip-hop...

Another addition to the 'popular album made up of covers to make sure the record companies cared' - their original works are much better and less smatlzey, but I guess without the Bacharat, it would have sunk without a trace like their first album.

A two-half concept album where nothing really gels. Sounds about right.

Some good tracks, but mostly self-indulgent toss.

Starts with a punch, loses a bit of steam then finishes with a brilliant Bowie cover. Fantastic album.

Milquetoast dross for middle-class white people.

The album is just a war of attrition and Pantera supply the meat grinder. Many tracks are fine when listened to in isolation but by the middle of the album you often have to check to see if you've restarted by accident.

Just a bit too much of a slog for me to enjoy - sorta like a long monotonous trip on a motorway, I guess.

Starts strong, peters out then the hidden track strikes back hard.