1001 Albums Summary

It's uh, ok I guess? Yup this is indeed a woman singing country. Every song is the same. Lyrics, content, voice, melody, instrumentation. We get it, your husband sucks. For one song it was alright, for half an hour it was a snoozefest. 1.5/5 Favourite song: Don't have one, they were all identical.

First time listening to Bob Dylan (yeah yeah I know). I can't tell if he's great or if he's an alien that has only read the Wikipedia page for 'singing' and doesn't realise you don't need to sing every word in 7 different pitches. I /think/ I'm quite enjoying it. Music that you really need to chew on to get the full impact of the storytelling in the lyrics - and this is one of the few times - out of hundreds of albums I've listened to - I can say it really feels like a guy telling you a story over the top of a guitar. I don't think it's quite my thing, which is why it's only a 4/5 not a 5/5, but it's a very solid 4.

I do not particularly care for hip-hop coming into this, and...this album isn't gonna change that. I did, however, like it more than I expected. It's pretty okay. I can see why it's liked so much and why it's a foundational album. It's just not particularly one for me. Favourite song: It's Tricky (duh. that song fucking rules)

I think the algorithm must be checking my previous review because yesterday I said "hiphop isn't my thing" and today I get another hiphop album...and it's pretty great actually. Next up, please can I get some good country to get the taste of Loretta Lynn out of my mouth? It's just super fun. Certainly gets a bit too wacky at times (what the fuck is De La Orgee) but it's great fun to listen to and has a great funk to it. I might go back and listen to this again some day actually. If you're like me and think "nah hiphop isn't my thing at all", I'd strongly suggest giving this a listen. It really doesn't feel like it's a whole hour (!!) and it's damn good. Favourite songs: (3 Is) The Magic Number, Me Myself and I

Okay yeah this is some grimy and dirty rock and roll for sure. It's weird to consider Iggy Pop as an actual musician and not that old guy who never wears a shirt and has a face on his stomach. Liking it more than I expected definitely. It sure has raw power. Powerful, raw, musical. I actually don't particularly care for Search and Destroy unlike seemingly every other reviewer, and Penetration suuucks, but the rest are pretty okay. 3.5/5. Favourite song: I Need Somebody.

Adele has a fantastic voice. Hello is a very soulful, booming ballad. Everything else is the most bland, radio filler shite that is not just repetitive, boring to listen to, repetitive, a waste of time, repetitive -- but also feels so fake that it's offensive. Also where the hell is the bass? Why is the piano so exceptionally thin and tinny? I just got good speakers!

COMING OUT OF MY CAGE AND I'VE BEEN DOING JUST FINE C'mon, even if you ignore the absolute dominance this album had in terms of the mid-2000s zeitgeist, it's just wall-to-wall alt rock bangers. I don't care that "I got soul but I'm not a soldier" is cheesy nonsense. Album continues to slap. Fantastic. Favourite track: All of it tbh.

..this is the great Lou Reed? Guy has the lyrical ability of a 7 year old and the glam rock isn't anything special. It's not actively bad to listen to, but it sure as hell ain't good. Perfect Day is excellent however.

If you aren't a fan of electronic music, this isn't going to change anything for you. I am not a fan of electronic music.

What the hell is this (derogatory) It's eccentric and eclectic. The last third is definitely the best part of it. I was pretty set on a 1-2 but Stay Hungry and Take Me to the River are super funky and bump it at least a point. I don't know how I feel about it. It's certainly fun, but I don't know if I actually like it? The singer's voice is so goddamn whiny.

What the hell is this (complimentary) Yesterday I had Talking Heads and my review was "What the hell is this (derogatory)" This album is everything yesterday's wanted to be, but better. Eccentric, eclectic, funky, fun as hell. Total utter nonsense. I only knew of them for Love Shack, which I still don't really like. I mean there's still a solid third kinda ehhhh songs but they're definitely a minor part of the album. It wasn't a rock It was a rock lobster Rock lobster! Rock lobster! ABSOLUTE CINEMA.

'The album was a commercial failure upon release, and its rejection by both critics and the public resulted in the group's disbandment in 1987.' Yeah I can see why. 'The album was later described as a "neglected masterpiece" by Uncut, and was selected as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.' Did Dimery get paid to put this on the list? It's absolutely fucking awful. At least the other 2 1/5s I've given out so far had SOME, REALLY TINY, BUT SOME redeeming factors. This is absolutely awful. Boring and weird in a way that isn't even "they tried something new and it missed the mark but it was an attempt" but just they tried to do the boring thing, missed, and produced something even more boring. 0/5 is too generous.

Day 13 It's alright. It's not bad or anything; I quite enjoyed it. I really don't know why it's on the list though as it's just completely okay country. 3/5

I found it kinda...thin, musically. That's All I Ask and Either Way I Lose were great and had really solid depth. The rest felt like they were let down by the lack of musical support for Nina Simone's great voice. Maybe that's just the style of music and it's not for me, and that's okay. +2 songs into the rotation.

I'm going to assume this is one of the seminal albums of DnB and Jungle as genres and that's why it's on the list. I can respect that. It's also incredibly repetitive drum loops and someone screwing around with every button on their electric keyboard. I guess you need to be in a dark club dancing at 1am and not doing your Christmas shopping at 2pm to enjoy it a bit. Or at all. Also good god it's long. At least 3 times too long.

This sure is some dad rock but damn if it's the smoothest dad rock there is. Look, it's coming into this with a lot of negatives: I hate the fuckin' eagles, man; it's a genre that really isn't bringing anything new or exciting to the table; it's not doing anything new or exciting to the table. But...it's just so god damn /good/ at being radio-friendly rock that you can imagine your 50 year old dad doing bad air-guitar to that you have to love it. It's just kinda unfortunate that it goes for more piano relaxed ballads at the end. That knocks it down to 4/5. It would've been a 5 if it had kept the first 2/3rds up.

Look, I get that this is probably one of the most important albums on the list...but it really is Blitzkrieg Bop + 12 worse Blitzkrieg Bops. And Blitzkrieg Bop isn't particularly good. Also I absolutely hate his singing.

Day 18 What a fucking fantastically bizarro album. Sometimes you get those bands that are known for one or two hits and then you listen to the album and you get a hodgepodge of random really crap nonsense. This is half of that. You get Seven Nation Army, and then "huh, did I accidentally put my streaming into shuffle mode and it's playing a completely different artist? Nope, that's Jack White." Repeat for the whole album. Somehow by jamming the most random songs, styles, everything together they make a wonderfully cohesive and just fantastic album. I remember having this as a kid and finding it kinda dull and unexciting and I have no idea how I came to that conclusion. 5/5, no questions or asterisks. (2nd 5/5)

If you want huge orchestral indie-pop, you don't need to look any further than Arcade Fire. That being said, it was a bit same-y. Really good, but..

Look I hate Christmas music and I hope Phil Spector is burning in Hell right now But if you have to give me Christmas music, I'd happily stop being a total scrooge for an hour or so and listen to this. I think this is exactly the place where the wall of sound is unquestionably the right production choice. It can't be 5* because it's Christmas music but it gets a 4.

It's pretty damn funky I guess. It was a lot less funky than I expected (in terms of, I vaguely know Parliament out of the P-Funk collective). I can respect that the opening track is a sick 10 minute guitar solo but I also don't...want...a 10 minute guitar solo....I want some funky distorted guitar in a normal song or 4. It's not bad, but it's not my thing. It's also kinda lacking in cohesion. But it is funky. Also what the hell is Wars of Armageddon. Just...really ruined the ending.

The Bees - Sunshine Hit Me Day 22 Before listening I figured it was going to be pretty good if inoffensive lofi indie pop that I wasn't sure why it's on the list, probably 3.5 rounded down to a 3. After listening I realised it was very uninspired and quite boring inoffensive indie pop that I have absolutely no idea why is on the list. Like a 1.75 rounded down for the sheer gall of thinking this has any place on a list of albums to listen to, let alone the ones you must listen to. I'm starting to build a theory here: they (the publishers) wanted to get a proper reason to re-release the book every few years and they can't just put the same list of songs in it...so off Dimery goes and grabs anything he's vaguely heard of that got nominated for the Who Cares Award for Best Indie Folk Album Released On A Tuesday and dumps them in to say "look! new albums!". Only explanation I've got for some of these. Again, this isn't actively bad music to listen to. It's just really boring and kinda crap (a 2/5) and its existence on the list insults me, when my streaming service list of bands and albums that aren't even hinted at are nowhere to be seen.

It is ok at best. It's country, and I would say I don't like country -- but I gave that Lucinda Williams album a 3/5 because it was surprisingly fun and listenable. This one is not great. It's just kinda too...well, country. Also the twang of the guitar is beyond parody. We get it, country has a line of lyrics followed by a really loud steel guitar twang riff but you don't need to make it 10 times louder than the rest of the song and also do it every damn time. Not actively bad so it doesn't get a 1, but it's not great so it doesn't deserve a 3.

I only recognise the name Tom Petty but have absolutely no idea of his music. It's pretty good. Sure, it's just pretty straightforward rock and roll but it's pretty good at that. I'd give it a 3.5/5 but I'm feeling generous after a run of really kinda crap stuff, so it gets rounded up.

I need the most vibrato singing you have. No, that's too vibrato. It's certainly...musically flawed, but you can absolutely tell Anohni is putting all of her emotion into every line. It's raw and a bit odd but I can't say it's lacking in heart.

Someone else put it best: this is hippy poetry spoken over music without any real coherence to it. It's like a more pretentious and all together worse Bob Dylan.

It's bad! It's bad! It's bad! Ooh! Heehee! I've been flip-flopping between 2 and 3 for a while. I settled on 2. It's basically just the hits and then filller, and even the hits are like 35% too long. Just cut out half the random noises. It's so annoying.

Another review called this Dark Side of the Soul and it fits. It's a beautiful masterpiece of funk and soul and jazz, of songwriting and instrumentals. I would've said that giving me an album with a 13 minute long instrumental track in the middle would be an eye roll but it's great.

There's no way this can be as bad as people are saying, right? Turns out yes, it can be! This sucks. It is just bad. It's not psychedelic or shoegazey or ethereal or epic or experimental or anything like that. It's just shite.

I mean I don't particularly care for it. The beat is okay, but it's kind of the same beat for the entire album. I think all the reviews going "how DARE a black woman sing about SEX this is the worst thing EVER MADE" who also turn around and go "hell yeah, all of these rock and roll albums from the 70s and 80s are the best things ever made" need to shut the fuck up. I wish I could've said it was a surprisingly enjoyable album and give it a higher score out of spite but alas. It's not really for me. All that being said, "You could never trivialize pussy" may be the best lyric ever written.

Musically it gets like a 2 because...it really is the same song for 50+ minutes (and there is One in the middle) and there is zero bass and the drumming sucks. Don't tell Henry. However it is a lot of fun to just turn your brain off and go hell yeah, and One is a masterpiece, so.. If it wasn't SO DAMN LONG it would be a 4. but it's at least 20 minutes too long. Seriously, not every song needs to be 8+ minutes if you're just going to thrash out the same chords for 4 minutes straight of that.

It's wall-to-wall pop-punk bangers. A hell of a lot of fun and just a really enjoyable listen.

33/1089 Hey, do you ever think "I would love to listen to some twiddly prog rock that is fun and funky but I really don't care enough to put on a 3 hour space opera with 30 minute long orchestral arrangements that consumes all your mental energy to listen to"? well have I got a 40 minute twiddly prog rock album that is fun and funky and not a pretentious epic slog for you. sometimes you just want a bunch of dudes noodling on a guitar for a bit.

The best Radiohead album. I will not be taking questions.

Okay, putting aside the whole Kanye debacle...I can't fault it for being weird and experimental but it doesn't sing for me at all. It's just kind of boring and not fun. When every 30 seconds you decide to change up the entire song, for the whole album, it's just a mess.

This is possibly the weirdest one I've gone "why is this on the list" to so far. I mean as an album goes, it's fine. It's about as "yeah this is okay" as is possible to get. It's not bad, or good, or anything other than okay. Which...is why it's so odd that it's included. They're not a no-name britpop indie band who really like church organs or a british 80s new wave band's 5th album on the list. It's literally just the most okay 90s punk rock imaginable. This review is more thought than I had for the entire listening duration.

One third in: I kind of expected this to be just Sweet Dreams (and a bunch of filler) but it was pretty good actually. I don't particularly care for synthpop, and I don't really care that much for Sweet Dreams either..but yeah I can see why it's a classic. 3/5 After finishing the full album: Turns out there's like 1/2 hour of pretty good synthpop and then 40 minutes that feels like it goes on forever and keeps going "monkey monkey"...? what the hell is the rest of this. Gets marked down for just really flopping hardcore for too long.

Day 38/1089 I vaguely recognise the name The Temptations but I haven't exactly listened to much Motown. Or much of anything before 1990 actually. I mostly listen to midwest emo and pop-punk. Mostly soulful, partially funky, all around fantastic album. Full of emotion, full of great music. I was torn between 4 and 5, then realised all the reviews were talking about Papa Was A Rolling Stone and it wasn't in the track list on tidal. for some reason they don't have it in this album? but they have the full song on other albums? So then I went and listened to a 12 minute song, loved it, and it very clearly is a 5/5 album.

Just a massive flop tbh. Then the last song does sound like a bad rendition of happy birthday which really soured it all

Basically the Ramones but better in every way: more aggressive, more raw, more punk. That being said, I'm just not a fan of 70s/80s punk. It's so...empty.

I did not know about Layla or Clapton going into this, so I get to approach it from a clean slate. It's okay blues rock, but it's also so bloody long. It doesn't need to be anywhere near this long. Wikipedia suggests it was Clapton's attempt to show he could produce good music as part of a band instead of as a guitar noodling showoff, but then this album is just unnecessarily full of guitar noodling showoffness. It's both nothing special and also a drag.

Every girl may be crazy about a sharp dressed man, but no girl is crazy about sloppy boring dad rock that even your dad thinks is shit. I get that 80s "classic rock" is kinda formulaic but this is taking the piss. Also come on, literally every song is about wanting to have sex except the song about tv dinners (which is probably about having sex with tv dinners).

(Wonder)wall to (Wonder)wall britpop classics. It holds up fantastically. Just a wonder(wall)ful album.

I felt like I was listening to a clown at a pretentious child's birthday party hosted by some art snob rich parents who don't really get the whole children thing but are trying their best to work out what children like. It was upbeat and trying to be fun but it was mostly boring. Also I want to give them 1/5 just because of how much pronouncing equator as "eh-COO-AY-tuh" annoyed me.

It was pretty good. I knew the two big songs (Changes and Life on Mars) and they were still fantastic. The rest was pretty great too. Not quite Ziggy Stardust levels (the one Bowie album I actually do know, plus a couple of other songs) but if the rest of his stuff is this level of pretty good - and I imagine it is - I'm looking forward to it.

On the surface I should've loved this: somewhat experimental with a ton of fuzz and effects that still sits in the "an album of songs" space rather than the region of soundscapes and noise. Started off pretty promising, then slowly went down, and down, and the last stretch was just awful. It sounded like a high school battle of the bands except rather than get music lessons or singing lessons to learn more than 3 chords they spent all that money on guitar pedals.

47/1089 It finally happened - one of the top/bottom 20 albums. After finding Bad...well, bad - I was ready for disappointment with this one. But no, I get it now. This is why he's the King of Pop. Funky as hell, catchy as hell, not just endless "ooh! ahhh! awh-awh-awh! hehe!". It's short, sharp, and to the point without filler or fluff. Thriller-Beat It-Billie Jean back to back to back is also absolutely amazing. I want to rate it lower because it's not my sort of music and I got kinda tired of him on the radio, but I cannot in good faith when I liked it this much. God damn it's a good album.

What have I done to deserve this bland, whiny, boring indie pop shite? And I like whiny indie pop.

The review. I was expecting to be disappointed when I saw soft rock from the 60s, but it was pleasantly alright.

the first half was really boring ambient soundscapes, and the latter half was really boring electronic rock soundscapes.

Well, it finally happened. In the same week as I got Thriller, too. I mean I'm not going to doubt the influence or impact of this, but I also don't like to rate on that. I prefer to rate on how much I enjoy listening to it. Unfortunately this album was basically an experiment in "how little enjoyment can we force the listener to have". I'm very glad that the whole thing was not like I.B.M. (that was a little too abrasive). I can respect the sheer gall of releasing this and it sure as hell isn't boring even if I didn't particularly enjoy it. "Oh you like music? Name every sound." Throbbing Gristle: well Also my cat seems to be very confused. He normally doesn't care when I play loud music but this one has him at full attention for some reason.

I'm very glad I had Throbbing Gristle yesterday to prepare myself for this. It's not exactly an approachable album coming in blind. Look, there's not much to say. Even for someone as clueless as me who knew all of 2 Stevie Wonder songs (As and Superstitious), this is a gorgeous album full of absolutely fantastic songs. Guy can sing and the songs are so musically rich. I refuse to believe this is a double album (!) and his 18th studio album (!!) and there's like 1 or 2 filler songs at most. I am very glad that this project, even 50 days in, has opened my ears to the Motown sound because I'm really enjoying it.

Day 52/1089 I do not care for Elton John. He insists upon himself. Probably not fair to judge elton as "guy singing on a piano" versus the "guy singing on a piano" of yesterday (stevie wonder), but he just...isn't all that great except for Tiny Dancer. He lacks the oomph or much of anything. Also did he just look around and pick random objects to write songs about? oh yeah let's write a song about...holiday inn. yeah that sounds good. indian sunset seems to be just a bunch of native american stereotypes jammed into a song. razor face is...what?

sex! sex! sex! sexy sex sex! sex! jesus christ dude do you have literally anything else to do than to write generic hard rock songs that don't even pretend to be about something other than sex

Even by 90s pop-rnb standards I found this particularly unexciting, sadly. The interlude parts were really grating, too.

56/1089 White guy whose voice keeps cracking: I'm sad! I'm fucking sad! Me: This is dope. This is a good song.

57/1089 If you want some 60s psychedelic soft rock slash baroque pop and you're allergic to the beatles or the beach boys, this is completely fine. I can see it being amazing if you like that kind of thing, or boring if you don't. Oddly the best 2 songs are the first and the last. I do wish I could give it 3.5 because it's too forgettable/not my thing to be a 4, but it's definitely slightly more than a forgettable mediocre 3.

58/1089 Started out really strong but then just kinda fizzled out a bit. I liked it more than I expected for "white male singer songwriter in the 1980s not named Bob Dylan". I did think it sounded a lot like Phil Collins and I'm glad I'm not the only one that clueless, according to the reviews. Also I had heard Sledgehammer a bunch before but I never knew who sang it, or that he's singing "I'll be your sledgehammer" rather than slick jammer or something nonsensical.

59/1089 It's great but without growing up on it, I don't have any nostalgia for it. There's no way I can see it holding up it as ranked #4 total (behind rumours, abbey road, and dark side of the moon). There's like 4 standout songs and a bunch of pretty good grunge. Sorry, not getting the hype.

It's just kind of boring indie country pop stuff. It's okay I guess. "In Tennessee the sun's going down, in Beijing they're heading out to work" woah. I never considered that. so true.

Some fantastic female-fronted punk that is both full of energy and emotion. A great experience.

Somehow I've never listened to The Cure before, but this was pretty great.

Yeah it's some pretty alright swingy jazz numbers. Nothing amazing but it's pretty alright.

Wow they weren't kidding when they said this was just an excessively long blues noodling session. Devoid of any substance or meaning or relevance.

Been too long since I listened to this. It's still great, but there's a bit more...filler than I remember.

I can certainly respect the concept, and there's a few good songs on here, but there's just so damn much filler.

Never really got into the beatles. this doesn't change things.

Dimery really loves his late 90s/early 00s British indie huh This was pretty great. II agree it's an odd inclusion but I enjoyed it.

It's just regular hip-hop and doesn't do anything for me at all.

I have heard the name Tom Waits but never actually heard him, and I was not expecting that. I could see his voice being love it or hate it, and I rather liked it..the music less so, sadly.

Now this is something I really wanted from this list. 1001 albums to listen to should not be "here are Robert dimery's 1001 favourite albums", or even the 'best' 1001 albums. Do I plan on listening to more Senegalese folk music? No. Did I actually really enjoy this as an album? Yes. The guitar work is wonderful, it feels full and interesting and enjoyable to listen to. These people saying it's droning -- were they listening to the same thing? A little bit of the same thing for an hour but...still a pretty good thing. 3.5/5 for the music but just because this is the first time I've gone hell yeah this is an album people should listen to because it's a culture we in the West aren't exposed to, it's a 4.5/5. What the list was made for.

It's pleasant and something new to me, but it feels like...just good elevator music. Slightly disappointed after the new-to-me high of yesterday's Baaba Maal.

It started off really, really generic and awful. Then the last 5 songs, pretty good. With heart. Still really not great.

Absolutely everything wrong with 70s/80s prog rock summed up: stupidly long pretentious crap without form or function that exists solely because some people wanted to record themselves noodling on a guitar. The jazz parts were okay but nothing special or standout and then it went back to more mind-numbingly boring and dull prog. Compare to something like Yes, where it's stupidly long guitar noodling but it's great fun to listen to.

The only thing this destroys is my eroding faith in this list

Bring me all the funk you have. Wait, wait. I worry what you just heard was "bring me a lot of funk". What I said was "Bring me all the funk you have". Physically impossible to not tap your foot or bop your head along to this, completely independent of whether you're a fan of funk or not.

Every song is at least twice as long as it needs to be. I'd put this down as meh, disco isn't for me but this was enough of a nothingburger to put me off disco.

Heavy, abrasive, intense, but still enjoyable and doesn't overstay its welcome. Beats Metallica tbh.

Quite glad I got this one *after* 25 (which I hated), because it opened as a pleasant surprise. Yes, the singles are overplayed to hell and back but they really are quite good...and then my hope faded away as I realised that yup, this has a similar problem of being kinda commercialised nothing. It's still pretty good, and infinitely better than 25, but. And then it just went...downhill. Blech. It's fine.

Wow. This is by far my strongest reaction to anything on the list. So let's start at the top: this is a live album, which basically makes it a terribly mastered greatest hits album..which the list specifically chooses to avoid (rightfully). Yet this is here. So that should be an instant 1/5 but let's not judge it on whether it should be on the list... Then we get to the actual music. Wow. This really is nothing great. Maybe they were something special in the 70s but in 2026 it's just kinda generic hard rock...until we get to the solos. My god why are there so many solos. There's like 2 okay ones and then far too many "what if we randomly hammer every fret above fret 16 really really fast" solos. I don't know Deep Purple past smoke on the water, but there's no way their studio albums can be *this* awful - right? I really hope so. Oh and then there's a fucking 5 minute drum solo. Not "a 5 minute instrumental section when the drummer gets a chance to shine". Just 5 minutes of drums. And a hi-hat solo. Nobody fucking wants a hi-hat solo. So even if we ignore the 1/5 for it being included on the list, the 1/5 for it being a 4 hour slogfest by including same songs 12 times, the actual *music* I'm giving a 1/5 for being really bad. Awful, awful album that should be nowhere near this list.

It's good, it's great -- but as an album it lacks that something fantastic that made Songs in the Key of Life so amazing.

He really isn't. There is no soul at all in this album.

A very solid debut, though I only knew one song off it (I was big into Favourite Worst Nightmare however). Really unique sound, pretty great album.

Ehhh. I mean I get that being a total chaotic mess is kind of the point, but you need to do it right or otherwise you get...a mess. It does nothing for me really.

Even if we ignore that we have Little Richard to thank for the existence of rock and roll, this is a really fun little album. Yes it's kind of the same song 12 times...but the songs are 2 minutes long and full of energy, so what's the problem? It doesn't overstay its welcome. I think a full 50 minutes of this might be a little grating but it's not, so it isn't. I really liked my time with it.

I mean I got another Siouxsie album on the 1001 more list and it was alright, but this one was kinda bland and all over the place. Also her voice was grating.

I was expecting to hate this, but it was pretty okay actually. Some good classic rock that wasn't boring me to death (coughcough zz top). I still don't like Free Bird, but it turns out that blues rock can be solid.

It's pretty great. I think this might be close to where this kind of music peaks for me as a genre, and that's not at a 5. But it's still very solid blues rock/classic rock and if that was more my thing, it'd be an easy 5. I look forward to getting the 2 remaining Zeppelin albums (IV and I).

"We have David Bowie at home" David Bowie at home:

In Bojack Horseman, during some of the flashback sections they have songs playing on the radio with lyrics like 'Generic '80s new wave, Beep, bop, beep, bop, beep, bop; This is a song from the '80s, The decade which it currently is". This is basically how I felt about this album. It was like you distilled 80s new wave into the most 80s album possible..which could be great, if it captured all the great parts...but no. This is just the most generic 80s possible. Even when it has some vaguely interesting synth melody going on, it screams "generic 80s sound". I hated it. "We're S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G, we're shopping". Aaargh.

This was pretty great. Chill and relaxing.

Really not my cup of tea.

It is It is It is just It is It is just It is just It is just a little bit really goddamn repetitive It is It is It's not a 1 because Praise You is a stellar song on its own and because I think if you were at a live DJ set this would be what you'd want..but as an album to sit and do some work with headphones on it absolutely is not. That's not Cook's fault. However. Also what the fuck is up with in Heaven?

Come On Eileen was not good enough to make an album out of, let alone an entire band. It was certainly less of a total waste of time than the other Dexys album I got, but it was still a pretty crap listen that I did not enjoy at all. Completely incoherent collection of rambling nonsense. Also the guy's voice annoyed me.

All this time I thought Sufjan Stevens was a big beardy deep voiced country/folk singer and then I realised I was probably thinking of Cat Stevens. I've heard a lot about this album and ooh boy I hate it. I wasn't expecting "concept album about the state of Illinois" to be someone going down the wikipedia page for "famous places/events/people in Illinois" and writing some acoustic indie folk/pop that just describes what happened. You're taking the idea of a concept album too literally. It does not mean "list a bunch of concepts and then sing them". It feels like he's trying to be Bob Dylan "songs and stories are the same thing" but not realising what a story is. It's a solid 1.5 because it's at least...listenable, but in that really bland and dull way so I'm rounding down. It annoys me.

I'm definitely more lenient with experimental things because at least they tried something different. I think this kinda flops a bit, because it was quite disjointed and incoherent and I don't know what was going on. But I'm still wondering about it.

Serviceable if unexcitingly so.

Sorry but there's only one stellar track (Stairway), one really good track (Black Dog), and a bunch of pretty solid blues rock.

It's fine. It's alright. It's kinda fun but that's about it.

It's cabaret-style country and it's alright. It's not my thing but it's not bad for what it is.

Never listened to salsa music. I had no idea what salsa music would've been (except kinda latin). I don't think I'll listen to any more, but this was really enjoyable. Upbeat and fun.

Look, if you want really spacey electronic ambient stuff then this is great. I just never want that.

probably foundational to the late 90s/early 00s clubbing scene, absolutely mindnumingly boring to sit and listen to as music.

Oh hell yeah, this is fantastic blues. Super fresh and groovy. Language barrier is absolutely no problem either. Gonna need to seek out more of this desert blues thing.

Is this the great Elvis Costello who somehow deserves 9 albums on this list? If so, hoo boy this wasn't anything special and I dread the other 8. It was fine but it was really kinda...nothing.

The best of that early 00s sad slow lo-fi indie Mercury Prize nominee bunch that tries to be a bit Coldplay and a bit Radiohead, and by best I mean basically the only good one. Grounds for Divorce and A Day Like This are the standouts, but the rest is pretty solid.

It felt like they were trying out all sorts of genres and styles but not in the experimental exploration way, but in the "we have no idea what we're doing way". It was kinda disjointed and I just didn't particularly care about either the music or the lyrics. It was disappointing.

The epitome of "you're making this really hard for me to care about this album in any form". I've probably forgotten I listened to it by the time you're reading this.

Liked this more than I expected. Yeah, it's country - but it's pretty solid country.

It's an uphill battle unfortunately, being a hard rock album (sigh) from the 80s (sigh) that is also a live album (sigh). It's not...awful but it's nothing special at all.

I mean it's not Songs in the Key of Life. Let's get that out of the way. Every song feels so genuinely happy and uplifting. It truly is fulfilling to listen to. A joy.

It's fine. It was chill to listen to but I have no strong feelings.

Ya like jazz? I mean, I probably wouldn't say yes but I did really like this.

that comment about 'Music made by committee for hairdressing salons' can't be right can it? Haunted was pretty okay and then yup this sure is music made by committee for hairdressing salons.

Probably in the top 50 most influential albums of all time. 50 years later, it's just tired and boring dad rock. Also Smoke on the Water isn't good.

Oh hell yeah, this is some funky jazz that is awesome

It's only not a 5 because there was a lot of padding (fine padding, but padding nonetheless). I want more of Hayes' voice! It sure does what it promises though - hot buttered soul.

Zero coherence, zero enjoyment, zero thought.

It's just...the most uninteresting 80s soft alt rock.

What can you say, it's some smooth easy listening jazz.

It's incredibly cheesy 80s glam rock/hair metal about sex, sex, and more sex. But it's not...awful. It's just not particularly good either.

Given I bounced hard off the other ZZ Top album, this one was pretty alright.

Yet another "I do not doubt this is a 5/5 for influence and legacy, but it's like a 2.5/5 at best to actually listen to".

Just going to copy one of the top reviews: 'The album that inspired a generation of white British musicians to sound like poor versions of this album.' As this is exactly correct. Suddenly I get why those Zep albums were pretty great but just missing something - they added some nice guitar riffs, but they just lack the power and depth of a good blues singer's voice. Fantastic. If you asked me my thoughts on 1960s blues 6 months ago I would've laughed you out of the room.

I take back every time I called something else pretentious bullshit, because this takes the absolute cake. What a self-absorbed waste of 40 minutes.

It's a jumbled mess of nothing particularly standout; most other artists this would be a 2 and more likely a 1. BUT, Bowie does just have a way with music.

He's really trying for that whole sultry country-folk blues thing, huh. I'm not going to pretend like I have a clue about Dylan's discography past the big ones, but this sure lacks anything at all. Also too damn long.

I've never really listened to Hendrix and god I'm torn between 4 and 5 here. On one hand, this truly is the best guitar noodling I've ever heard..but it is over an hour and it really doesn't need to be quite that long. Fuck it, All Along the Watchtower is currently playing.

There's very little soul in this neo-soul. It's really basic lo-fi beats to relax study to with a guy whispering softly about how he's going to sexily sex you today, tomorrow, and forever.

Okay they really are just "Ace of Spades and then a bunch of songs which aren't Ace of Spades but are trying to be". I'm sure this was great live. However halfway through it went from "yeah this is alright" to "ugh why won't this goddamn end".

Catching up with this after listening to The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks was a mistake. This is exactly everything I dislike about 60s pop rock. It's just so dull.

Fully expected to give this kind of 60s pop rock a 1/5 but no - Campy and corny as hell, really quite fun.

Never listened to Beck. I know he did Loser, which I have not heard, and isn't on this album. After listening to this album I still have no idea what sort of music Beck plays and I have little interest in discovering it. This was a mess of weird experiments that did not go well.A shame, because the first track was promising.

The top review says 'There are 2 types of people in this world: people who like ABBA and boring people '. Call me a boring people because this is 2 passable disco tracks and a whole load of overly saccharine filler crap that I just really do not care for. I would love to give it a 1 out of spite, but that's not fair.

In two minds. On one hand, really not a fan of proto-punk/early punk. On the other, this was alright. Nothing special, but it's pretty fun.

I...was confused by this. I was expecting Throbbing Gristle 2.0: at what point do you go from noise to music? This was not that, and I don't know if I /enjoyed/ the utter batshit nonsense that was happening but I do damn well respect its existence.

Oh yeah Aretha Franklin has a great voice but I've never sat down and listened to her I take it back, Aretha Franklin has a /fantastic/ voice.

"wah wah why is there so much britpop on the list" I mean you're not wrong, there is far too much britpop on the list, but there's also far far far too much early american punk, american psychedelic rock from the late 60s, and american art rock from the 70s. Hmm, wondering if there's a reason people don't seem to complain about that. Anyway this is pretty good. It's fun.

I'm getting flashbacks to Duck Stab - this is just a weird acid trip mess of...what is even going on. Except unlike the sheer balls of producing nonsense on the scale of Duck Stab, this is trying too hard and it's just kinda...why. Commit to the bit or go home. Don't half arse it.

Somehow I never realised that Queen must've had actual albums and not just greatest hits collections. Unfortunately I can see why. It's Killer Queen and a bunch of stuff that is very nice, but just the most generic Queen slop imaginable.

Ngl, seeing "debut album...English electronic duo..." with an average score of 3 or less is really not reassuring. That being said, this was a very pleasant surprise. It's no Dummy (what is?), but it's some pretty fantastic trip hop that really does sound like a Bond theme. A strong 4/5. There's unfortunately some kinda dull bits holding it back from my rare 5/5.

Yeah it's hip-hop and it's the kind I really cannot stand.

I did not do enough ket to properly enjoy this. Or actually any ket, which is probably a requirement. It's club music, but it's at least...somewhat interesting club music? I don't like it though.

Even if you ignore the misogyny, the excessive violence, the slurs, the general edginess... It's just really awful to listen to. Skit skit skit women are all bitches skit one fish two fish red fish blue fish skit

It was certainly quite pleasant. A little bit elevator music, but pleasant elevator music.

is this the most overrated album in the history of music it's not even offensively bad. it's just quite boring.

I mean it was pretty good. I don't think it's a genre I'll revisit, but it's fine.

I mean the anthem tracks are really solid, but the rest (and there is a LOT of the rest. Seriously why is a pop rnb album 80 minutes long??) is just kinda...meh.

What are we doing here man In what world is this milquetoast lo-fi electronic nonsense an album you must listen to

I don't get it. Why does it have all these random genres when it's just Oh Look Yet More Early Punk

A very pleasant surprise. On The Beach is a great blues track and the rest, yes I can see why people say the guy can't sing, are pretty solid too.

I want to give it a 1 because I loathe the two big Bon Jovi tracks with a burning passion..but it's not /awful/. It's just really big flashy run-of-the-mill hard rock that exists for no purpose but to be commercialised.

Look, it really is Germans shouting loudly over the sounds of heavy machinery. It's not very good. Somehow they made it work, and it sure is creative..just it working isn't very good.

Some pretty solid post-hardcore/grunge/emo/whatever you call that sort of moody angsty 90s punk.

I can appreciate that this is on the list, and I can appreciate that I would not have listened to it otherwise, and I can appreciate getting to hear sitar covers of 60s rock and roll. I didn't particularly like it, but...yeah? I dunno.

80s quirk chungus ass music

Sometimes "Experimental" means when art questions what is music, what is rhythm, what is melody, what is structure...and sometimes it means bleep bloop gleep glorp music. This is bleep bloop gleep glorp music with interludes of unexciting soft pop rock. I hate bleep bloop gleep glorp music.

For a 80s pop album that has a sub 3 rating that I have never heard of and seemingly nobody else has heard of, it was alright actually.

When it's funky, it's oh so fresh and upbeat. When it's soulful, it's oh so dripping in pure longing and emotion. Also oh shit, this is where summer breeze, makes me feel fiiiiiine (at least the famous version) comes from. 3+3=5/5.

I mean it's certainly....interesting. I don't really know how I felt about it though.

Solid Britpop. Definitely Maybe a sign of things to come (well I already rolled Morning Glory).

I'm not a hiphop fan, and I'm not a fan of whatever subgenre of hiphop this is (gangsta rap? boom-bap?). However, this is at least reasonably pleasant to listen to for me. The skits are a bit much, though.

Seeing one or two comments about misogyny is something that kind of sets a bad tone, but seeing pretty much every comment being about misogyny does not inspire any confidence at all. And hoo boy, they really weren't kidding. I get that gangsta rap is about less savoury themes but this really is just...ugh. On top of that, the beats and rhymes are incredibly repetitive. Just awful.

it feels so bad to give /frank sinatra/ a 2 but this just isn't very good. it's the same song about being sad 16 times.

As 70s psychedelic rock goes...it's fine? I guess?

I really do not like Bohemian Rhapsody. It's the most holds up spork arena rock song ever made. I'd give it a 3/5 though. That being said, most of the rest of this album was just kinda worse than that and some (looking at you, Good Company and Seaside Rendezvous) were awful.

It's...fine. It's alright. It should coco.

I've somehow never listened to the flaming lips. They occupied that mystical space like the talking heads or the smiths or the doors or the cure where I know their fans are die-hard fans but I have no idea what sort of music they make. Turns out the answer is fantastic weird dreamy indie pop/rock/stuff. It's wacky without feeling forced (looking at you, they might be giants..) and it's a lot of fun. Really enjoying it.

It's jazzy, it's fresh, it's solid.

Within the first 3 minutes I get "how about you suck his fucking cock" and "slut, you think I won't choke no whore til the vocal chords don't work in her throat no more". Yes yes I get that Eminem's schtick is his persona that doesn't represent his actual views but jesus christ go to fucking therapy. I had some hope at points because he has so much emotion and anger and it could've been channelled into making something powerful but any possibility of that is thrown away behind "BITCH FUCK YOU EAT SHIT AND DIE BITCH" for a solid hour. Also the actual beats? rhythm? songs? are choppy as hell and abrasive and generally awful to listen to. How the hell did this guy become one of the greatest rappers of all time?

Oh this is pretty okay trip-hop kinda jazzy stuff... Oh it's not going anywhere... Oh it's still going... I mean it's not great and it's twice as long as it needs to be.

Putting Ace of Spades as track 1 is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it's about as effective of an attention-grabber as you get in music. On the other, it's a good sign you can just...turn the rest of it off after that. Ok that's a bit harsh. If you turn your brain off, it's some solid good ol' hard as fuck rock. Oh and then you get to Jailbait and think hmm that title is a little worrying, and then you listen to the lyrics and go "okay what the fuck". -1 because that shit is something else.

I get it. I finally get it. A masterpiece.

Another "if this was anything except Bowie it'd be a 2 at best and more likely a 1", but he has that touch that makes everything at least okay.

Surprisingly good. Nothing standout (other than Weather with You), but it was very solid.

haha silly old "she suck on my willy it’s quite delightful if I catch you in west Gloucestershire you’ll catch the rifle", nobody actually sounds like that in the UK! this guy: hold my fucking beer this is just fucking awful. there is no rhythm, rhyme, beat, anything at all. it's not getting a 1 because I really really dislike it, but because it's just pure unadulterated dogshit.

I slept on Duran Duran for too long.

it really needed to be 30 minutes shorter

Seeing "English singer-songwriter...201X...Mercury Prize" is always a sign for disappointment. Almost always. This is absolutely gorgeous. Dripping in emotion and soul, smooth, jazzy, fresh, atmospheric, rich. An incredibly welcome surprise.

Kinda boring generic contemporary rnb, kinda bloated, kinda overdone on the skits, just kinda meh all around.

completely forgettable.

...this is the white album? it's too long and nothing is particularly interesting. it's fine I guess. Also the fuck is with revolution 9?

Kinda wild that I've had both Dre and ice Cube's solo stuff and gave them both a big fat 1, but this is pretty solid enough. It's tight and it flows well.

I mean yeah it's not Oasis, but it does a damn good impression.

Seeing everyone in the reviews shitting on FF and Grohl for being the most cookie-cutter radio-friendly alt-rock imaginable gives me joy, because I've never particularly cared for FF. This however is a solid lightly grunge-y rock album that still has a soul and doesn't sound anything like modern FF. I like it.

it's...fine. I don't get it. But it's fine.

An amazing journey through a huge array of genres, styles, and song structures. And all of them are absolutely awful.

The most 80s 80s that ever 80s and completely bored me.

It just kept going and going and I kept not caring

Gorgeous songs, gorgeous voice, gorgeous album. Fuck that "secretary rock" review.

"Do you think you can hold on when the beat gets too strong" Thankfully this record will never test for that. It's just really shit drum and bass, and I think most drum and bass is shit.

The album every electronic, lo-fi, downtempo album wants to be.

I thought jethro tull was just some dude. it's kind of prog-folk. I like it.

the 3rd review is "Background music for a sad person watching rain fall down a window. 1/5" and it's completely correct except that 1/5 bit.

it's pretty funky, I'll give them that.

I dunno. I mean it's...fine. I don't mind the shout rapping, I don't mind the beats, I don't mind the flow. It's quite fun without being tryhard and overly skit-filled. But I don't particularly like it more than "it's okay".

World's most successful industry plant. They're okay I guess, but John Lydon's butter ads really sell how absolutely soulless they were.

take a drink every time chic says "chic" and end up in the hospital 10 minutes in slightly less "every song is 10 minutes too long and the same" than Risque...but every song is 10 minutes too long and the same.

Viva Hate indeed. "brown people, in the nicest way, fuck off. it's hard enough for us white people who belong here"