1001 Albums Summary

I know music is itself an art form, but something about this album just says "art" to me. I imagine Monae as, well, Monet. It's not my favorite album by a long shot but it's just really well crafted, and even though it may not get many subsequent listens from me I have to respect this album.

Aguilera had pipes. I’d probably give 5 stars to an album of her just belting music scales for an hour. But this has fighter and beautiful on it, so definite 5.

The cover of Hurt is obviously incredible, and some of the other covers/renditions are pretty solid. Falls short a couple of times though: Danny Boy without bagpipes is unfulfilling, and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry wasn't nearly corny enough. Also, why does the linked version of this album not include Big Iron?

It's fine.

I’m a sucker for a simple old sound like this. Big Iron and El Paso are the bigger hits, but the rest of the album hits well for me.

Should you separate art and artist? Sure, 4 for art and 1 for artist, rounded to 2 because reasons. This project afforded me an excuse for listening to The Beautiful People again, and the album definitely hits for me. But even without the extremely problematic artist this isn't perfect.

Surprising probably no one who knows me, I really like this album. Self-esteem is actually one of the songs I liked least, which just means I really liked everything else. The offspring manage to be grating but in a good way.

I think these guys are from California.

I expected to not like this album as much as I do. But I guess there’s good reason for it to be called Radiohead’s magnum opus.

Bohemian Rhapsody and a few more bangers, plus some lighthearted silliness, and we nearly have a 5 star album. But I cannot give 5 stars to an album with whatever the hell is going on in The Prophets Song.

Some ups and downs on this album, but I can comfortably give it a 4. Drive is incredible.

Easy listening, probably good study music. But it doesn’t really go anywhere. Maybe a 3.5, round to 3 for having a song titled “17 seconds” that lasts for 4 minutes.

Easily my favorite Beatles album, they manage to not put any truly terrible songs on here.

Teehee, Dookie.

It’s a beautiful album. Accomplishes a lot in only 28 minutes, some other artists could learn from that ability to keep it brief.

This does very little for me. There’s nothing on the album that I’d like to come back to, and no situation where I see myself listening to this again. That said, it’s not wretched or irritating.

Just an absolute classic. Sloop John B is the standout for me on an album with multiple bangers and zero skips.

Clint Eastwood is great, but it’s the only standout on the album. I’d do a 3.5 if I could, but this ends up as a 3 because I honestly got a little bored of the album.

Didn’t do much for me. Nothing terrible, but nothing that stood out as great either.

It was ok. That’s all I have for it.

I can almost hear the helicopters.

Pretty good except for 90% of the vocals.

Kinda boring, don’t really know when I would want to listen to this. Give it 2 because nothing was great on it but I guess it didn’t make me physically ill.

Norah Jones voice is just incredible, beautiful, enticing, all the good adjectives. This album is one more Don’t Know Why quality song away from 5 stars. Even so, it works so well as a gorgeous mellow album. 4.5 if we had it.

You don’t have to release an album if it’s not good.

Oh, hello you very enjoyable album. I’ll be listening to this one some more.

Worked for me. Not perfect but nowhere near bad either. Also merry Christmas if you’re like me and looking at this instead of talking to in-laws.

Unnecessary shit. 1 star.

I don’t understand why this is an album I need to listen to before I die. I’d have been fine without it.

Strange, troubled man. Good music though.

It’s a really good album, probably a 4.5 if we had that. There’s a bit too much jamming that gets into meandering, but overall this was an enjoyable listen. I also realize that I had only ever heard the radio edit of Grapevine and that song is super long.

I don’t usually listen to jazz, and this album won’t change that habit. It’s just not for me.

Back to back jazz albums? Today was rough listening.

Liked the sound, found myself nodding along happily. Brother my cup is empty was the standout track for me.

I was between 4 and 5 stars until halfway through Heroin. I liked the album as a whole, but it does get a bit grating. Maybe that’s the point, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

It's way better than Nebraska, and actually ok to listen to. Between 3 and 4, go down to three because I can't find a real banger on this album.

Banjo.

It’s a good album, not earth shattering though.

I didn’t know a single song on this album before, and I’d be fine knowing none after. Why include an album from a band with a bunch of hits when this album has zero?

I really like this album. Super fun, and caught me off guard with how good Proud to be Black was. I’ll be listening to this again.

I really enjoyed this. It’s not quite a 5 star album, but it has some real bops on it. Teenage werewolf sounded super familiar, not sure if I’ve heard it before or if someone copied that guitar

Not my thing but it’s at least interesting, and running up that hill is a bop.

I was so worried when I saw the number of listens this album had on Spotify, but I came away pleasantly surprised. It’s really cool to hear music by non-western artists, and this style of blues sounds great. I’m a bit too generous with 5 star reviews and I know I’m gonna revise some of those in the future, and this album fits snuggly in the “5 right now and probably a 4 later” category.

This album is really let down by the lead vocals. Get a halfway competent singer and we’re looking at a 4+.

1 star because fuck this guy.

Good not great. There are some questionable lyrics on this album, but it’s from 1971 so what can you expect?

The only truly bad music is boring music, and this is super boring. Might actually be the worst music I’ve ever heard, because it is so incredibly boring.

Sometimes a song would start, and id get a little excited. Like little bitch is really good for all of 10 seconds, then the ska happens.

It just doesn’t seem to do… anything, really.

?? The band with the cat guy?

Think of how good this could have been if every song was less than 2 minutes. Just quick, catchy jams. Oh well.

It's a 4, but a strong 4. White Rabbit and Somebody to Love are of course the iconic tracks from the album. The rest of the album can't even hope to hit as hard, though the very bluesy In The Morning had me rocking along.

Dude with a guitar sings softly. Good? Yes. Outstanding? Nah

How many cigarettes did Joplin smoke?

My reaction before listening is concern. After, ew

Very middling 1960s British music. Maybe it’s iconic in its time, but today it just sounds generic as hell.

I liked it. Steely Dan produced a couple real classics on this album.

Nothing here I want to hear again.

Wait what? I listened to Steely Dan 2 days ago. Oh, this album is not as good as Can't Buy a Thrill. Guess I'm not becoming a big Steely Dan fan.

Gross lyrics, mid musically. Somewhere between 1 and 2. I guess since I felt icky for most of my listening experience I’ll give it a 1.

They tried a little too much with this one. Goes from fun to meh

It was weird, not as weird as I expected given it's Bjork. I didn't like it much, but it's at least an interesting album.

I like it, but it’s definitely too long. Free Form Guitar also pissed me off, because there’s no need for 6.5 minutes of that crap on an already long album. That said, most of the album sounds great. Had more than one moment of “Oh I know this one.” And the bit of historic political drama chronicled near the end of the album makes this a solid 4.

There’s a style here that’s so polarizing. I fall on the hate it side, but I’ll give it a 3 since I can at least kinda see the appeal.

I believe the impossible has happened. It's a jazz album I legitimately enjoyed. The live aspect of the album lets Vaughan's personality shine through, and it's a pleasant listening experience that keeps me engaged and smiling.

It’s not particularly deep and most of the songs sound pretty much the same, but it’s still a fun listen.

Is album art a bad reason to bump my rating up a star?

How did I only know Respect? It’s an awesome song, but not even the best on this album.

A very pleasant listen. Maybe it’s more a weak 4.5, but with California Dreamin being such a banger I’m gonna go to 5.

Ew. Might have made 2 stars but the album art was gross too.

This isn’t an album that stands out as amazing to me, but it had a couple bangers and was an overall fun listen.

Feels like an album that I would always be happy to listen to, but not one I would seek out on my own.

This didn’t grab me right away, but I ended up happily grooving along with this album by the end.

I didn’t expect the album title to be so literal. This is a batshit insane album, I really liked it.

It’s not so offensively bad as to deserve 1 star, but I have no idea why someone would want to listen to this album.

Really didn't need Mojo part 2, but still a pretty good album.

Might not be a great album, but it at least elicits some involuntary giggles. 3 stars

Somewhere between 3 and 4 on this. Can’t name a standout track but the album has a good feel to it.

Another solid album by my favorite Bay Area bayou boys.

It’s on the longer side, but if the album stays good for an hour then I’m happy to listen. I read about the background and concept for this, and it’s just really cool, and I love getting snapshots of an era through music like this.

It's bad. Pretty boring until West Country Girl, and dropping off again after. I don't understand why this album would make anyone's list of albums to listen to before you die. It's not good nor is it revolutionary in any way. Perhaps if I was clinging to life and someone wanted me to give up then they could play this album for me.

Could have been a 4, because while not my style I could still (mostly) appreciate the album for being fun. But good lord what an awful cover of Downtown. I know the album was already less than 40 minutes long but you could still trim that off.

Far from the worst thing in the world, but not MJs best album by a long shot.

That’s enough out of you Mr Dan

Dark and weirdly sexy.

Good, but too long for how good it is. Hope that makes sense.

I hate this. One poorly functioning piano and jazz is a terrible combination.

Not much to get excited about on this album.

It’s fine. Hovering between a 3 and 4, guess 3 because I really have no urge to come back to anything off this album

Plenty of bangers, but the album drags on in the back half.

As an album it’s very skippable.

My type of music.

Controversy bordering on being cringe, featuring some really unwanted stuff. But it has Stan and the real slim shady on it, and honestly despite its flaws I’ll probably listen to it again.

This is a pretty good album, but not one I plan to come back to even if I felt like relistening to jazz. Also lacks any standout tracks, so it doesn’t quite make 4 stars.