1001 Albums Summary

It was fun listening to "Wishing Well"; brings me back to when it was on the radio at the time. I thought as an album that it was all kind of samey, and since stuff like this isn't really my favorite genre I ended up skipping halfway through a number of the tracks. I give it a 3 - I'm not about to buy the record, but none of it would cause me to change to a different radio station.

Oh come on, do I really have to listen to this? I feel I have spent enough time listening to this record and seeing the video on MTV back in the day to be able to say I have heard it before I died. 2 stars - I recognize its technical quality and danceability, but I would get my coffee to go if I were someplace and they started playing this record.

Yay for this record - I've always loved "A Forest." Weirdly though, the only record I ever had by The Cure was that singles comp "Staring at the Sea," so much of this was new to me. Fun record - I love rhythmically compelling songs with obscure lyrics and music that sounds like the soundtrack to a creepy movie. Probably won't listen to the whole thing very often, but there are some top-notch tracks here.

I couldn't get into this; it just didn't make me enthusiastic about listening to the whole thing because these days this kind of American folk rock isn't very interesting to me. Admittedly I've never gotten into any Neil Young since I was super into "After the Gold Rush" when I was in 9th grade. So this is well done for what it is, I think, just not for me these days. If it were playing in a coffee shop I wouldn't leave to get away from it, but I'd probably complain about the place afterwards like "well yeah the espresso drinks are good but the last time I was there all they were playing was all this sleepy Neil Young stuff." Three stars

Hot Rats! Riotous funk-jazz weirdness; the only Frank Zappa record I still listen to regularly. "Peaches en Regalia" started running through my head the minute I saw this cover this morning. I love that the only vocals on this record are by Captain Beefheart. Best track: The Gumbo Variations, which should have been twice as long If I heard this in a coffee shop I'd stick around to hear the whole thing unless I'd just played it myself recently; there's a limited amount of Zappa that I can do these days. Five stars

Well, this was inevitable, might's well get it over with. Yep, "Sgt Peppers" is an incredibly important record that inspired countless important bands in later years. But do I ever want to listen to it again? No. (Aw come on, even "Day in the Life"? NO.) This record came out when I was nine years old and has been on constant rotation ever since - so yes, I have heard it, thank you.

I wasn't expecting to like this record this much! I've been hearing forever how great Wu-Tang was, but have never been into this kind of stuff enough to check it out. Not something I'd play in a car with open windows because of some of the lyrics and spoken word stuff, but otherwise I really enjoyed it. Four stars

When this record popped up yesterday morning I was like "oh yeah Sebadoh, I remember them" but my next thought was "have I ever actually heard any of this or do I just know about it from reading about it in Puncture or whatever at the time?" So ok - this is along the lines of things I like, indie rock. I'd give it more stars if it was a little more innovative. It didn't really speak to me for some reason. Three stars because it's competent, tuneful, but for me unexciting.

I somehow had managed to never hear of this band, so I was intrigued. I love the cover. The best tracks reminded me a little of Sparks, that over-the-top dramatic kind of stuff. I can see that one or two of them would be fun popping up in the right sort of radio set, and Neil Hannon has a great voice. I'll bet if you liked this at the time, you probably REALLY liked it. Most of it was just a little too goofy for me, but I can see why it was included in this list. 3 stars

This is fun stuff - songs that those of us around at the time will remember from the radio: "Time after Time," "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," etc. 3 stars because while it was never my favorite thing at the time, it evokes a fond reaction of "aww yeah, Cyndi Lauper"

The fast songs were annoying but ok if you like music like this, I guess. But the slow songs were intolerable, like I couldn't get more than 30 seconds in before having to skip to the next track.

Woo, Parliament! - this record is fun. I decided to listen to it while doing some weights and crunches and such but ended up mostly dancing instead. Lyrics to "Handcuffs" didn't age particularly well, but otherwise there's not a dull moment on this record.

Ha ha this is what I get for telling someone "I like The Mekons more than Bob Dylan" yesterday. What can I say, everything by him has always sounded kind of samey to me, and then he takes out the harmonica, etc etc. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first couple tracks on this record, acoustic things that I wasn't very familiar with. But it stopped being fun around the halfway point, with a number of tracks like "Mr. Tambourine Man" that I've already heard enough times for an entire lifetime. There was also the issue that somebody in the Youtube comments brought up, that the mixing wasn't great on the electric songs so the singing was obscured by the music, fairly average blues-rock stuff. tldr: while the first half of the record had me thinking "this is more interesting than I thought it was going to be, I'm going to give it three stars," by the midpoint it started dragging and ends with a two. Not entirely Bob's fault, but he's got a Nobel so he probably won't mind this too much.

I've heard Elliot Smith tracks here and there on the freeform/college-type stations that I tend to listen to, but haven't ever listened to an entire record of his. So I appreciated the nudge today. I really like his voice, and there's something about the instrumentation that I also like - kind of subtle but interesting at the same time. I don't know if I'll buy this record, but I liked all of it - so, 4/5.

So I feel very strongly that what made The Smiths as good as they were was the music, not the vocals, and this record reinforces that opinion. Plus he's turned out to be kind of politically terrible, which I can't help but be influenced by. So yeah, obviously not a big fan here. However, despite all the negativity in the previous paragraph, this really wasn't as irritating as I feared it might be. So, 2/5.

This is the first record that I've gotten on this project that was a new, wonderful discovery. I had no idea who Coldcut was, but when I saw that this record had both Mark E. Smith and Queen Latifah on it, my first reaction was "wait, what?" and then I immediately put it on. Here we have some dance-y music incorporating lots of sampled speech and sounds, which was weirder and more interesting to me than a lot of the stuff in that genre that got airplay here in the US. (I somehow managed to miss getting into the whole techno thing, so I don't have many referents there.) So, this was very fun; while many of the records I've been fed so far in this project have taken a bit of an effort to get through, I was sorry when this one ended. If I ever find a copy, I'll buy it. Until then, at least I have Youtube -- 5/5

So of course I've heard individual tracks off this record, but it's mainly been in the context of those end-of-year "best 1,000 songs since 1960" type radio shows, sandwiched between Oasis and Janis Joplin or whatever. It's completely different to listen to the whole album and really pay attention to it. Lauryn Hill's voice is both strong and beautiful (I like this version of "Killing Me Softly" better than the original), and the way the three of them work together makes every track imaginative and forceful. 5/5 stars for this one. The generator is turning me into a hip-hop fan! (I have to add that I'm happy to have finally heard the track that was sampled on that song that then ended up being redone as The Gilla Band's "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage")

There was a time when The Residents were my favorite thing in all the world. I've seen both them and Snakefinger live multiple times, was in the Residents Usenet group, used to tell my kid that his Christmas presents were from Santa Dog... I'm sure I could think of more examples of my complete Residents-induced derangement at the time. So I was wondering why I had to dig this record up on YouTube; I know I had a copy of it at some point. Then I listened to it, and realized that other than "Constantinople," the vocals are rather consistently irritating, aren't they. I don't know why the 1001 guy chose this particular record for the book, since there are better ones from that period like Meet the Residents, Fingerprince, and Intermission from the Mole Trilogy; any of those would have gotten 5 stars from me. I guess the question here is "what rating do I give for a record that I don't particularly like by a band that has been important to me and that I still love other stuff by?" Which I hereby call the "Pablo Honey rule." With that in mind, I'm giving Duck Stab/Buster and Glen a 3/5.

If you can believe it, I've never heard this whole record before, just tracks like "I Wanna Be Your Dog" on the radio. Most of this is fun loud garage/proto-punk stuff with great fuzzy guitar bits, which I love. I was mildly baffled at first by the 10-minute psychedelic track at the end of the first side that had with Iggy singing about his usual subject matter over sitar and Hindu chanting, but let's remember that this was recorded in 1969, not 1979. The second side is great - turn it up louder. Even louder. Thank you 1001 albums generator, it was lots of fun listening to this today. An excellent break from the standard Christmas Eve day playlist. 5/5

These singers are wonderful - this is a cool choice for a Christmas record. But.... I guess for some people, no matter how many times they hear "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" in a given season they're still always filled with warm nostalgia for childhood Christmas mornings, and can't wait to hear it again. Aw, and now here's Frosty! They love that song! But honestly, me? I really would be glad to never hear about Frosty again. And now it's the end of the season, when I'm looking forward to not hearing any of it for another 11 months. (Plus, Phil Spector, eew.) They should have given me this record on December 1; I might have given it a 3 then. 2/5

There are a few tracks on this record that I've always liked, especially "[I Don't Want to Go to] Chelsea." Catchy tunes, cleverly rhymed lyrics. There are a couple duds, though, and the subject matter is pretty repetitive. And I'm a little sick of "Radio, Radio." Despite those complaints, I seem to be tapping my foot anyway - the beat is pretty irresistible. I'm leaning around 3.5 for this one, but I think I'll bump it up to 4 because I really do like "[I Don't Want to Go to] Chelsea."

Much of this record is great - the intense music - the guitar, the bass!, and Morrissey's often heartbreaking lyrics. What I was most looking forward to on this record was "How Soon is Now," though, which I swear was on the US version of this record, but it isn't on the version linked here since it wasn't on the original UK release. Too bad, I really like that song. Despite my disappointment about not getting to hear "How Soon is Now," I've given this a 4/5, since it really is quite good.

First time hearing this record; The Flaming Lips is one of those bands that I've heard on the radio periodically but never grabbed my attention enough to get me to buy one of their records. The music on this album is interesting - unexpectedly symphonic. A couple tracks struck me as a little too sweet-sounding, but I can see how repeated listens could make them work in context with the rest of it. The singer has an interesting voice that sounds a lot like Neil Young to me - but it's like Neil Young did some kind of multi-year ecstatic retreat and then stumbled out into the light, inspired to have a completely different kind of sound. 4/5 that could convert to 5/5 after listening to it some more

This record is all about "Peace Frog" for me, since it's one of only a handful of Doors songs that I still really like. So that was fun to hear again: "bloody red sun of fantastic LA"! I used to go to LA a lot for work, and I'd think of that song. But sure, it's also good to hear "Roadhouse Blues" and "Waiting for the Sun" from time to time, and even the songs that don't grab me as much are redeemed by the guitar and keyboards. So: while I was much more inclined to listen to the Doors when I was 18 years old, today I ended up enjoying "Morrison Hotel" as a whole more than I thought I was going to. 3/5 though because for me it's mainly just about that one song

When I opened this up this morning I yelled "YES!" Confession: since I wasn't really into punk at the time, I've only recently been catching up on the stuff that came out in the 80s while I was listening to New Wave and my old prog records. So, I've only had a copy of this record for a couple of years, and have come to really like it. It's great for driving around - just an all-around propulsive record, consistently good. My favorite track is "Jesus and Tequila," but the whole thing is great, 5/5

I love qawwali music, so I was really pleased (and surprised) when this one came up. I knew a couple of tracks already from another Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan record that I've got that I think is a comp, not sure because it's been ages since I played it! Must do that more often. 4/5 because while I wouldn't play it all the time, it's really wonderful and mesmerizing music.

When this record came out I was very anti-Elastica. But I think I was in my Coil phase at the time, so you don't want to have to trust then-me's judgment about Elastica. So, my impression 30 years on? I still find it pretty annoying, like most of these songs felt like blander versions of other bands' similar music. Technically they did a fine job, but by the time I was 2/3 of the way through I started wishing it would end. But "Stutter"'s good, and a couple of the other tracks were ok too. So, 3/5

There are a couple of Elliott Smith songs that I hear now and then and really like, but sadly none of them are on this record. I can tell that this is good for the genre, but I feel like it's more calm and ballad-y than I usually like. If we could give half points I'd say 3.5, but I think based on this one listen that I'll give it a 3.

I like the background music on a lot of this - the opening doomy-sounding electronics made me think that maybe this'll be another nice hip-hop surprise. But the vocals were kind of an annoying distraction for me. I'd be interested in hearing a remix of this as a purely instrumental album. I know my opinion is affected by what Kanye is like these days, and it's certainly not uniformly terrible. But I can't get past a 2 on this one.

Yeah I'm sitting here singing along with "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam." This record was on constant rotation in my household when it first came out. I never play my old Nirvana records anymore, I guess I got a little tired of them and what I like to listen to has changed a lot since then. But I really enjoyed hearing this one again today. I think it feels fresher than the others because of the mix of covers and less-played originals and of course the acoustic setting. 4/5

Led Zeppelin II: a solid group of blues rock/metal tracks. It's an important record because of the influence it had on later work. I don't really like Led Zeppelin the way I did once, so I found some of it (like the vocals) a little annoying. And at this point I really don't need to hear "Whole Lotta Love" again. But I did enjoy much of it, like "Ramble On." 3/5: objectively good but not really my thing these days

Huh, I've never heard of this band. The cover art made me wonder what was going on there and I didn't have high expectations for it. But it ended up being pretty interesting. Some of it is very jam band, kinda like Little Feat or the Dead. Other bits are more complex, with occasional hints of Tejano and Canterbury sounds dropped in here and there. So it looks like we have a new genre here, "Texan jam-prog." I don't see myself reaching for it again, but it was a fairly enjoyable surprise. 3/5

Ah yes, late-90s house music. It reminds me of being in LA in the 90s, and it's pretty fun. I might get a copy of this record, it would encourage me to go to the gym more often. I was dancing around while listening to it this morning. Sure, some of it is predictable, but there are no stupid lyrics, and the electronic effects are often interesting. I found it really fun and immersive. (I was particularly entertained by the videos.) 4/5

Listening to this today for the first time in 20-some years. The songs "Biko" and "Games Without Frontiers" are so strong and memorable that this is an important album just based on their inclusion, and the rest of it is pretty good too, with lots of interesting people like Robert Fripp contributing to the rest of the tracks. 4/5

Achievement: I no longer think Coldplay is probably boring because other people say Coldplay is boring - I now think Coldplay is boring because I've finally listened to a Coldplay record, and it was boring. It's like they took a bunch of songs and ran them through a filter to make them 50% less interesting. Maybe they don't want to upset anyone, which is nice? I prefer upsetting music. 2/5 since I'm saving 1 for something absolutely excruciating.

Oh hey, I remember this - "Big Muff" and "Smiling Stranger" got a lot of airplay on certain stations at the time. On this record he has some dub influences that add interest, but it's overall pretty mellow. The final track "Small Hours" is a nice 8+-minute guitar bit with swoopy effects that approaches new-ageyness but doesn't quite get there. Good piece to use as bed music to back-announce a radio set or play in the waiting room of an acupuncture studio or something. 3/5 because it's too sleepy for my current preferences, but well done for what it is.

The The is one of those 80s bands that I know existed but have no memory of listening to. Unfortunately it seems like this is something that would have potential if only it had been done in a completely different style by different people. It's like they wanted to make angry music that was also dance music, but couldn't quite figure out how to do them both at the same time. Even "Sweet Bird of Truth" didn't have much of a punch, which was disappointing because the wiki described it as a controversial track critiquing US imperialism. It sounded too much like Thomas Dolby or something and I couldn't take the lyrics seriously in that context. There are records from that period with political subject matter that still sound very urgent and contemporary, but this isn't one of them. 2/5

This stuff is really strong - the fluid way he raps is pretty amazing. I definitely can see why it's such a well-regarded album. Would I ever go back and listen to it again, though? No, I really struggled to continue with it - a lot of the lyrics were a bit much for me. I'd probably give it a 4 if I didn't speak English. 3/5

Why don't I have this record? It's great. This has lots of fun extended instrumental bits like in "Goodbye Toulouse," and of course I was delighted to hear "Get a Grip on Yourself" for the first time in quite a long time. Check out the keyboards on this record! Ha, it's nice hearing this stuff on something better than crappy 1970s car radio speakers. (ok yes, "Peaches" is stupid, but it's funny-stupid so that's ok) Five stars

Me: (screams in pain) Husband: Are you ok? Me: I HATE THIS FUCKING RECORD Husband: So turn it off! Me: BUT I HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT FOR THAT ALBUMS PROJECT THAT I'M DOING 1 star

Oh right, this record. I love "The Cutter"; hard to resist singing along. Let's see what the rest of it is like - I never did end up getting any of their records at the time, just enjoyed their hits when they came on the radio. So I think this is one of those records that grow on you with repeated listens as you start to process the lyrics. The band are doing some interesting stuff behind the vocals, like on "Heads Will Roll," "Gods Will Be Gods," and the 6-minute title track, and I'm bopping along with the consistent beat. I like this - well, I've always enjoyed the danceable but with miserable-sounding vocals kind of New Wave that came out in those days. So: 4 stars. 4/5

Let's say it's 1970 and you're 12 years old and you go with your saved-up allowance money to buy a Beatles album, and then you get home and are greeted with "Revolution 9." I don't have a clear memory of my initial reaction to this record, but I imagine that experience was fairly formative, considering the nonlinear stuff I like to listen to these days. This isn't a perfect record; there are goofy bits on here like "Bungalow Bill" and "Rocky Raccoon" that I could have lived without ever hearing again. And the apolitical theme of "Revolution 1" felt off to many people on the left at the time, and feels kinda problematic now too, considering everything going on at the moment. But hey, it's a double album, so there's a lot of good stuff left to hear if you skip those. So while my general position re the Beatles is that people need to quit playing them all the time already (and that Siouxsie and the Banshees covers of Beatles songs are better than the originals), still: 4/5 stars for the white album.

What was I doing with my life in 1990 that was more important than listening to this record? I only got this album a couple of years ago (along with Daydream Nation) because I was wondering why I didn't have any Sonic Youth records, since it seemed from what I'd heard so far that I would like them. And that was the right decision - I love bands with this kind of searing noise and beat. The Karen Carpenter song is heartbreaking, with equivalent intensity in the music. And "Mildred Pierce"? I wish this song would go on all day. This whole record is filled with cacophony and growling noise, which makes me happy - just the kind of thing I like to listen to when I'm the mood for noise, which seems to be most of the time these days. Love this, 5/5

The faster songs on here are the kind of music that are good to hear live in a pub with several pints of beer. Of course there are millions of bar bands like that, so it's not going to be a standout for me. And the slow songs required lots of patience on my part, but that's no surprise. It closes with their big hit "Come On Eileen," which is fun. (Of course that song always reminds me of this: https://xkcd.com/575/) So, I feel bad not rating it higher since Kevin on the cover there looks so sad, but: 3/5.

Woo, Black Sabbath! I know some of their other records, of course, but not this one for some reason. It was silly of me to listen to this first thing in the morning, since what this record needs is late night and a party. But it's a good listen, especially when they get into the longer instrumental bits. Turn it up! (Oh wait no don't, the neighbors are probably still asleep.) The final track, "Under the Sun," was my favorite; it had an interesting repeating guitar bit at the beginning, and some very nice stuff happening in the rhythm section. It felt more restrained than the rest of it, which made it more powerful for me. But I drop a star for "Changes," which - like we all love and miss you, Ozzy, but did we need to hear you singing a sad love song over drippy strings and piano? I mean maybe, but it didn't work for me. Biggest regret: that "FX" didn't go on a little longer (they thought of it as a joke piece, but I kinda liked it). 4/5 stars

"It's 1989! It's 4:00 in the morning! We're tripping!" is what I said as the first track started up. It's a good accompaniment to the video I'm watching where somebody put a gopro on their cat and let it out to run around in the snow. Aw look at that cat, it's having fun. OK I think I'm getting a contact high from the music. This is great stuff. A couple of the tracks had vocals that detracted a bit for me, but it's mostly lots of fun. 4/5 stars

I've only ever had the first Specials record and a couple Fun Boy Threes, so I'm happy to have the opportunity to check this one out too. And ah yes, I recognize a couple tracks, e.g., "Enjoy Yourself." This feels a little mellower than the first record - it's the usual ska with interesting lyrics, but a couple of tracks had some unexpected dancehall-y/soundtrack-y bits, which was fun. Only disappointment was that I'd hoped "Ghost Town" would be on this one, but I'm now reminded that that song didn't come out until 1981, so it looks like that must have been a single that came out after this album. I loved that song when it was on the radio but never tried to find a copy. But still, enjoyed it - 4/5

I've always been pretty much a nope for Depeche Mode, so I went into this with some trepidation. But hey, this record was more fun than I thought it was going to be. The best songs here have a tense contrast from the dancey bleep bloop and a dramatic edginess in the vocals, backing strings, and rhythm section and such, so I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of it. But then the 80s/90s dance music that I like best always has that tension. But a whole record full of it is a bit too much! And there were a couple tracks that I really Did Not Like, mainly the slower ones that had lyrics that I guess were supposed to be moody and deep but sounded whiny and uninteresting to me. Odd videos. Depressed-looking clowns being lectured by a Depeche Mode guy in an abandoned adobe hut? Sure, why not. 3/5

Here's a Smiths record that I like all of, from beginning to end. All I knew up til now were the singles, so this was fun. What I've always enjoyed about The Smiths was the contrast between the tuneful music and the lyrics, and this one feels more sad/funny, cynical, and cliché-busting than ever. There's a lighthearted feeling to all of it until you pay attention to the lyrics and then it's like hang on what did he just say? Like if you hear "nothing's changed, I still love you," you don't expect someone to follow that with "only slightly less than I used to." My biggest issue with English-language pop music is all the predictable lyrics, so when a lyricist does something that messes with that predictability, I am primed to like it. And of course Johnny Marr's choices for the music are always spot on, and provide that contrast that makes the lyrics work better in context. I think of Morrissey's solo material as something one is subjected to rather than enjoyed, so it's obvious to me that the music as much as the lyrics is what gives this record 5 stars for me. 5/5

So, I have finally heard an entire Van Halen album. The guitar playing is virtuosic for sure, but it doesn't feel all that original to me. And the lyrics don't really work for me either, it all seems to be "woo hot chicks" and such. I think if this had come out when I hadn't already heard a ton of other music, I probably would have liked it, with nothing else to compare it to. But it's too late; this isn't going to work for me now. But I can see why people like it. 3 stars

Suede is a band that I know existed; if a crossword puzzle had a clue "UK 90s band" and Oasis didn't work, I'd try Suede next. But I only remember one or two of these songs. This maybe sounds like what would happen if the Smiths had listened to a little more David Bowie? It's slightly overwrought; the singer got on my nerves occasionally. But a lot of the music I like teeters on the edge of irritating like that. This is the sort of thing that I like when I'm in the mood for it; I thought it was a good listen. I'll revisit it some other time, since it seems like one of those records that benefit from listening to it a couple of times. So, 4/5

This is the first time I've ever heard this entire album as an entire album, despite how often I've heard all of these songs over the past 40-some years! I like this more now than I did when it first came out - it's pop music, but with a slight punk edge. I still think Fun Boy Three's "Our Lips Are Sealed" is better than the one here, but this record is a lot of fun anyway. Favorite: "This Town" 4/5

This is a great record. I think Bragg's political sensibility made him a good match for Guthrie, and while most of these songs aren't political, still, it feels right. And though I don't really know Wilco much though I appreciate them, I like Billy Bragg, with his political British punk/folk work. Of course I'm sure part of what I'm enjoying about it this morning is nostalgia for listening to it all the time when it first came out. I was listening to less noisy music in the late 90s, lots of British and Scandinavian folk and world music kind of stuff. And "California Stars" is still one of my favorite songs; it makes me cry for some reason. 4/5

HARDCORE PUNK YEAH In 1980 I was still listening to lots of prog and such, so it took me a while to get a real appreciation of this kind of stuff. I didn't really get it at the time, but I love it now. So here we have 14 tracks, none of which is more than 2 minutes long - the perfect length for songs like this. This record makes me want to jump around. 5 stars because FUCK YEAH

I know Isaac Hayes best from "Theme from Shaft," which I've always loved since hearing it on the radio when it was a hit in the early 70s. Plus the wikipedia article says that this is one of Henry Rollins' favorite records. So hey, let's go. This is everything that I liked about "Shaft" but stretched out, sometimes with an almost improv kind of feeling. I did not expect these instrumental bits! The crazy long end of "Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic" reminded me of Can. (Or maybe better to say that the bass on "Tago Mago" reminds me of "Hyperbolicsyllablecsesquedalymistic," since this came out 3 years earlier.) What interested me most when I first saw the tracklist was this 18-minute-long version of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix." What? I didn't know what to expect with this, an 18-minute soul version of what I remember as a lightweight Glen Campbell song from when I was a kid. But damn, his long intro that created a story around why the guy in the song was doing what he was doing caused this version to be pretty heartbreaking. 4/5