5/10 - I am not a huge jazz person, but even amongst the jazz I have listened to, this album does not stand out. Nothing on this album made me say, “I can get into this” or “maybe jazz is for me”.
7.5/10 - A good album and one of The Stones better albums. A few great songs and a good amount of good songs. Good mix of fun songs and songs that require deeper attention and reflection.
7.5/10 - There is something inherent to humanity that loves a good story. It’s the reason why men like Homer are remembered millennia later. The story telling on songs like Utah Carol, They’re Hanging Me Tonight, The Master Call and Big Iron make this an album worth coming back to again.
6/10 - I get it. I can see and hear the influence of future bands that I like, I just never find myself wanting to relisten to anything other than Debaser.
8/10 - Really incredible first album with a lesser second album. In its totality it’s a 8/10 but the first album was a 10/10. A few good songs on the back half of the project, but with this many songs, there wasn’t a way for this album to be all hits and no misses. My 3rd or 4th favorite Beatles album, but in most other bands catalog this would be their pinnacle. The Beatles were just that good.
6/10 - I was honestly let down by this album. Many Stones fans cite this as their favorite album, but to me it falls a bit flat. This album suffers what most double albums suffers in that there is too many meh songs for every great song. This could have been more with less.
5/10 - I would like to re listen to this on a weekend where I have more time to examine the lyrics. On first listen, there isn’t much to bring me back.
5.5/10 - A few good songs but not an album I would find myself wanting to listen to again. A lot of the songs on the album bleed into each other in a monotonous kind of way.
5.5/10 - The album has passion and energy in spades. Louis brings a lot of energy, but it’s too much energy for a full album. The instrumentation is good, but it’s very similar sounds for the entirety of the album and that sound is not something I find myself wanting to go back to regularly.
8/10 - Somehow reminds me of Portishead meets Tribe. Cool sound with some great songs. Feels like it was ahead of its time or at the beginning of the chill hop/Lo Fi scene.
5/10 - This reminded me of a British Hall & Oates meets Prog Rock length songs. This was not for me.
6.75/10- There were a handful of interesting songs that I really liked, but also a handful of very flat songs. The album ended with more of a lull that probably could have been cut. I think this is a 4/5 if we trimmed it down to 40 minutes or so.
5/10 - this is a hard album to rate since I haven’t seen Shaft. I imagine this album is on the low for the cultural significance of being the first black composed movie album to win an Oscar.
5/10 - Gorillaz seems to be one of those bands where I find a few songs on each album that I like, but never enough to want to own the album.
5/10 - Definitely an 80s album. Sounds a bit dated but not necessarily a bad thing if you really like he 80s. Feels like a Sting album meets a Michael Bolton ballad album. Not a huge fan but nothing egregious. Just very middling.
3/10 - I remember hearing Aerosmith for the first time in Middle School and thinking “these guys kind of suck”. My music taste has evolved over the years but it’s nice to know my gut reaction to these guys was correct. They do kinda suck personally and professionally, respectfully.
7/10- This is the 5th Bowie album I have listened to extensively and I could either place it at 3 or 4. Blackstar is in a league of its own, closely followed by Ziggy. Low is solidly entrenched at 5. Depending on the day and the mood, I could put this slightly ahead of or slightly behind Station to Station.
5/10 - A Christmas album that’s probably as good as a Christmas album can be.
9/10 - This is a Top 30 album for me. Love the songwriting, the music, the vocals. One skip in my opinion.
5.5/10 - The Who is one of those bands that I always expect more from. I feel like The Who are talked about as if they are in this top echelon of musicians, but I always feel a bit let down. This album was longer than necessary but did have some good songs.
5/10 - A few good songs but overall not an album I see myself going back to. I felt very neutral about this album.
7/10 - Good garage rock album. Consistent throughout.
7.5/10 - I found myself really liking this album. It’s not entirely cohesive in sound, and there are a few bad/off/weird songs, but it was an interesting and unexpected album. Solsbury Hill is the obvious standout but elsewhere there are good songs too. I would be happy to receive this album on vinyl.
4/10 - This album sounds like wood paneled basements, tucked in T-Shirts, light wash jeans, and songs people try and play around a campfire.
9.5/10 - A masterpiece that is definitely an album you should listen to before you die.
3.5/10 - I thought Rod Stewart was a crooner/lady rock/ballad musician but that was not quite the vibe I got from this album. It felt to me like a Family Dollar Rolling Stones in a lot of places. The album started on what might be my least favorite song on the album.
7.5/10 - It was nice to be able to understand what Bob was saying since he is such a great songwriter. I think some versions of these songs were better here, but some were better on the originals. A cool take on some classics.
7.5/10 - I really like this album and while I can see why people might not prefer this style, I think it’s something different that is done really well. I also love the irony that lifted trucks will blast CCR even though the political leanings of the group I certainly not lifted trucks.
6.5/10 - Jazz is still hard for me to enjoy, but I thought this was on the more enjoyable end of the spectrum.
6.5/10 - I enjoyed this album more than I expected. There are a few really great songs, a few misses, and a few overplayed songs. Overall a much better album than their later stuff.
5.5/10 - This is the album I have had to listen to the most times to come up with a ranking. The start is so strong that it left me with a sense of doubt about my feelings on the rest of the album. After multiple multiple reviews I feel assured that this album starts really high and drops quite quickly afterwards.
7.5/10- Great Album. These are the types of albums I was hoping for throughout this program. This is an album I never would have found otherwise, but am excited to have in the arsenal.
4/10 - There isn’t anything bad on the album, but there isn’t anything to come back to. I feel like there were a multitude of similar albums from that time period that would have been much more important to put on this list.
7/10- I assume I, II, IV, and maybe Physical Graffiti will appear throughout this journey, but it feels odd getting III before all the others. Overall it’s a good album and this album has some great songs. I don’t love Plant and I feel like this album is heavy on it.
5/10 - I liked the overall garage sound and imagine it was influential for other bands at the time, but a majority of the songs were covers that didn’t really need a garage version.
7.5/10 - Good album but I can only listen to this style for so long.
5/10- The influence and the Adidas aura are not enough to make me come back to any of the songs. Salute on laying the foundation and making hip hop relevant and mainstream.
10/10 - I try to avoid giving ratings that are too highly inflated by “influence” or “creating a genre” if the album doesn’t hold up years later. This album holds up 50 years later. This album has one of the best album openings of all time and immediately creates an atmosphere for the rest of the album. This is a no skip album that is a 5 star album. Bonus stars for influence and creating a genre.
6.5/10 - Not a genre or style that I have a lot of experience in. A fine album but not one I would revisit often.
5/10- Nice voice, kind of slow album, all covers.
3/10 - Someone who likes country can probably tell me why it’s important and iconic, but it’s not for me.
5/10 - I preferred Brutal Youth.
7/10 - I was pleasantly surprised. I knew all of the main Bob Marley songs but these songs had more depth, soul, and meaning than I was anticipating. I would pick this album up once or twice a year.
4.5/10 - This feels like an album for the radio. You have two songs that standout, but everything sounds the same. I feel like I started and ended in the same place; like driving around a cul de sac for an hour.
4/10 - I found his to be generally boring and I don’t love Neil Young’s voice.
8/10 - Good early punk rock album. Love the sax on the back half the album. For an album from 1970 I can see how influential and important it was. I feel like 68-70 is where we have this explosion of genres and good music.
7.5/10 - A really strong psych rock record. He is one of the earliest in the genre and there is a good reason he is still the poster child for it.
5.5/10 - She has a great voice. She oozes charm and charisma. She made a fun live album. This was probably awesome in 1957 or if you love jazz.
4/10 - I thought the first song was the most interesting song and it went downhill from there.
6/10 - Light 3. Not an album I’ll listen to again, but overall alright. Not very high or low on anything here but better than a 2.
4.5/10 - Maybe we will get other U2 albums, but I’m confused why this one was picked. Nothing egregious but very standard. Not impressed.
7/10 - I really wrestled between giving this a 3 or a 4. I really like this album. The album opens with a banger, moves to a good second song, and a surprising third (especially for 1967). It’s a really strong album and one I would love to own. My reason for giving it a 3 and not a 4 are that the album lulls in the middle for 2 songs and the best song on the album is a Bob Dylan cover. It’s a good album, but it lives as a strong 3 and not a light 4.
6.5/10 - It’s not contrarian. There is a run of songs from The Great Gig in the Sky through Any Colour You Like that’s really excellent. I just don’t love any other song on this. It’s not the best album of all time. It’s not even their best album.
9.5/10 - Big fan. I like having Nico on some songs and having Lou on some songs. Interesting topics, sounds, and arrangements. Heroin and I’ll Be Your Mirror are probably my two favorite on the album.
7.5/10 - Good album. Reminds me of The Cure in a few songs which is high praise. Hard to believe this band came out of Joy Division.
3/10 - He has a good voice but I did not like the album. It felt like a production company saw the success of Thriller/MJ and Purple Rain/Prince and tried to recreate it in a forced way. The album felt like a Disney remake of good albums.
6.5/10 - is this rating blinded by nostalgia? Possibly. Was KOL my favorite band in late middle school early high school? Absolutely. Did 17 age like milk? Oh God it did.
8.5/10 - This is a great album as are all of the first 5 (or 6) albums by Sabbath are. This album does have the worst song by Sabbath so it can’t be a 5 but a strong 4 is still a really good album.
7.5/10 - I have always felt odd about IM because I hate their branding, but I thought this was a very good album. I thought they showed good ability to thrash and also to slow it down with more melodic songs. This is an album I would listen to multiple times a year.
5/10 - I don’t get jazz. Maybe I’ll come around with exposure or maybe I don’t appreciate the difficulty because I haven’t played an instrument.
Maybe I am like those people who never played soccer and don’t understand that a 1-0 game can be incredibly exciting or don’t get why the entire Juventus stadium stood and applauded when R7 nailed that bicycle kick. Might be a me thing.
6.5/10 - If I hadn’t heard Stevie Wonder and SITKOL I think this could be rated higher. I can see why some people might not like it, but I think it has a good sound and is a fun album to groove to. I think it sounds too similar to SITKOL to the point that I would never pick this album up again because it doesn’t differentiate itself from or surpass the original work.
9/10 - I love this album. It’s unique, it was politically risky, and it’s Paul Simon evolving. I think it’s a great album that hasn’t been emulated. A great album you can put on and listen through.
4/10 - This album is a 4/10 because of how incredible Adele’s voice is. The talent and power of her vocals drag an otherwise boring, made for radio album as far as humanly possible.
6/10 - Not a bad debut album. A few places I thought it sounded like Jazz ELO.
6/10 - I enjoyed this album more than the consensus rating. I think the band is aptly named. Probably wouldn’t come back to it but I thought it justified a second listen.
4/10 - it wanted to be electronic Bjork.
4/10 - I am not a jam band guy. I like more structure and less length to my albums and songs. I’m sure these guys are very technically talented, but it did not hold my interest.
7/10 - So far this is my second favorite Pink Floyd album. I really like the concept; however, I find Prog Rock often looses its course and doesn’t end up going anywhere. That happens a few to many times on this album to warrant a 4.
7/10 - Feels like a perfect 3.5 to me.
6.5/10 - it’s hard to judge an album when you know nothing of its peers. It was nice to get an album that wasn’t from an American or a Brit. This is what I was hoping this list would be like. Trigue Lycee is my favorite song on the album. Enjoyable but too long.
5/10 - I liked this album as something to have on in the background. I wouldn’t seek this out but if I was having a dinner party and wanted something with good vibes in the background, this would fit the bill.
6/10 - It’s a 3 but a great indicator of where the band is going. Love how Tribe pivoted from what was happening in Hip Hop to put their own spin on it. I would hope LET and Marauders is on this list as well.
8.5/10 - I love this album. It’s dark, it’s moody, it’s interesting. I think the album is a bit too long and tails off at the end. I think if the album ended after “Nothing” we would be looking at a High 9. Great Album.
6/10 - A fun album to have on in the house. I prefer the funk songs on the album to the more Motown/Soul songs but that’s a personal preference. Cloud Nine is a great song!
8.5/10 - What kind of Fuckery is this?
7.5/10 - Dwight Howard was left off the NBA 75 because he’s unlikable and immature. The product on the court was incredible, but often times the “other” issues were louder than his play. I think Morrisey is that way. This album being a 2.58 is a prime example of personality tax when considering how highly rated The Smiths albums are. Is he a great man, probably not, is he kind of preachy and whiny at times, sure, but that’s the ethos of him and The Smiths. You can’t have one without the other. It’s not as good as any of The Smiths albums, but those are all genuinely 8+ albums.
7/10 - It’s a good Bowie album.
8/10 - What a cool concept and what a piece of art. I think the run is a little long but it’s a super unique concept.
9/10 - Incredible album. One of Bowie’s two best. This is everything you would want in a pop album.
3/10 - she has a great voice but it’s a really boring album.
4.5/10 - This feels like an odd inclusion to me. Maybe this was really big at a certain time, but it didn’t have staying power. I know this list skews towards UK/US albums, but even so I think there are a vast number of more influential hip-hop or RB albums that would have made more sense on the list.
7/10 - It’s hard not to compare albums from the same band and use that as the standard. I think Funhouse was a better record but that shouldn’t reduce the score of this album. It’s a good early punk rock record and was worth the listen.
7.5/10 - Sam has a great voice but what sets this album apart is his presence. He is so dynamic, he works the crowd, he adds with the ad libs. This is one of the best live albums I’ve ever heard.
10/10 - I listened through again to confirm. This is incredible. It’s a 10. A legendary piece of art.
4/10 - I found this album to be a bit dull. It’s nothing egregious but it doesn’t spark anything in me.
2/10 - it’s not for me. Usually I keep scores 2/5 or up if it’s not egregious (looking at you Aerosmith) but 2 hours for a runtime is excessive.
7/10- it’s a strong 3 for me. I love the sound of the album and it’s easy to see that he is often used as a source of inspiration for other artists, but this album is too long and I find more than a few songs to be not going anywhere. Not my favorite prince album but not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination.
8.5/10 - Banger of an album. A lot of great songs, but I think the sum might be greater than its parts which is impressive for an album that has Even Flow, Black, Jeremy, and Alive. I think the supporting cast of songs is also really good. I go back and forth on Eddie Vedder as a vocalist. He has a great grunge rock voice but I wish I was able to understand the songs without having to look up the lyrics. The lyrics on a lot of these songs are great but you miss it with the smashed togetherness presentation. Great album though. Seriously considered giving it a 5.
1/10 - I understand how this is the lowest rated album on the list.
5/10 - There were some well written songs, but there were also songs that felt like Jonah Hills slam poetry.
5.5/10 - It’s an interesting album. It’s not my style or one I would come back to often, but it still has some pizzaz.
4/10 - One of the cool things about music and art in general is that everyone has different preferences. I could understand how people would love this piece, but this is not a style that I personally enjoy.
5/10 - Biggie is one hip-hops greatest talents. His voice is iconic, his flow is effortless and smooth, his ability to change his flow is unmatched. His sampling is excellent. His rhyming and his ability to play off words is genius. He would be on my personal Mt. Rushmore of rappers based off of ability alone.
That being said, this album has not aged well. The skits detract from the album, its run time is too long, and the mysoginy/homophobia/violence doesn’t further a story or morale (think GKMC). There are some hits here, but too much of the album is unpalatable. I would save a handful of songs and not come back.
6/10 - A good debut album that shows Frank’s skills and gives a great hint of what’s to come!
7/10 - Even though I’m giving it a more middling review, I’m still thankful that this album showed up. I’ve always thought of Bruce in terms of really strong ProAmerica rock, and while that may be true, I feel like this album showcases good song writing and passion. I think a lot of this album sounds similar throughout but at less than 40 minutes, it doesn’t feel egregious. I would own this album and play it once or twice a year.
8.5/10 - I find it hard to rate albums by bands I like this much. It’s not a Top 2 Radiohead album for me, but for most other bands, this is their magnum opus. Being the 3rd best Radiohead album shouldn’t relegate this to be anything below a strong 8.
6/10- I love the passion Ray has. I like that it used to be cool to really care. This would be an album I would have on at a dinner party or an open house style thing. It’s sounds like an elevated version of what most albums from this time period sound like.
2.5/10 - It would be hard to come up with 1001 life changing albums, but I can find 1001 albums better than this.
5.5/10 - I heard “You are the Quarry” and I thought “Morrisey really pulled extra weight in The Smiths”. I heard this and thought, “ Johnny Marr and the other two (respectfully) deserved more praise.”
6.5/10 - A new style for me. Pleasant but not something that I would put on often.
5.5/10 - it’s a 3 because of an incredibly strong opening (1984, Jump, Panama). The rest of the album is not something I would go back to, but man are the opening 3 tracks elite.
5/10 - I liked the back third the best. The front half was consistently punk, but the back half was more my style.
7/10 - I heard Kendrick from the jump and said “oh this might be fun!” And it was! Good album, slightly long run time makes it a light 7
8/10 - They do a great job keeping things interesting and unexpected!
7.5/10 - Super impressive musicianship. This is the closest I get to being excited about Prog. Somewhere solidly between a 3 and a 4.
6/10 - 1001 is so many albums that I think you have to include some albums because of the narrative or because of the backstory. Grohl wrote and performed almost all of the instruments on this album as a way to process the passing of his friend. It’s not a perfect album but going from Nirvana and accidentally starting the Foo Fighters is an album worth listening to even if it’s only a 3.
4/10 - A few fun/catchy songs. Very 80s in sound. Sounds to me like it was inspired by Bruce Hornsby “The Way it is”.
8/10 - The more I listen to Bowie, the more I am impressed by his ability to be influenced by other styles and meld them into his own sound. Big fan of this album and its Funk/Soul underpinning.
7.75/10 - Of the Bob Dylan albums I know, this is likely my 4th favorite. Just misses out on the podium, but similar to Bowie, Kendrick, Sabbath, and Radiohead Dylan’s 4th best album is most musicians best album. Ballad of a Thin Man is one of my favorite Dylan songs and is my favorite on the album.
6.5/10 - Good funk with a few stand out songs. Not a huge fan of all the ad libbing as it detracted from the songs at points.
5/10 - Felt very 70s and like a less fun Pink Floyd.
5/10 - Not bad, just not an album I would come back to. It’s not a bad debut album.
4/10 - No song on this album I would go back and download. Disappointed considering I really like “Don’t Say it’s Over”.
7.75/10 - I actually rate this pretty highly. I really like the leads voice/delivery and the generally disdainful and pessimistic sound. I’m probably higher on this than most.
9/10- Boy did I waffle here. I can see this as a 4 or 5. For me it’s squarely a 4.5 because of the number of short instrumentals and interludes. I find the songs serious and powerful but the song names are so goofy. It’s a fun juxtaposition. I imagine this isn’t our only Sufjan album on the list.
8.5/10 - Jazz is not a style I have a large bank to pull from, but this is my favorite Jazz album so far. I would listen to this again.
4/10- This sounded heavily influenced by early 2000’s rock (White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, The Strokes, etc.). On paper I should have liked this more but this felt loud without direction.
6/10 - Light 3 but what an album cover. Looks like a stock background of a Methodist Church worship PowerPoint slide. Feels like the lyrics to Amazing Grace should be printed on it.
3.5/10 - The 60s pre-Beatles/Bob Dylan albums are tough. They are fun for about two songs and then devole into repetitive whiny bs.
