1001 Albums Summary

I've been meaning to listen to this album for a while now, and I'm glad to have gotten it as my first album in this long journey. I very much enjoyed this one. Musically the album is excellent, with some of the band's best work on it, and while Morrissey's lyrics and vocal style are definitely not to everyone's liking, I'm quite partial to them (though I feel the need to point out that I find his personal beliefs as of recent reprehensible and a massive disappointment). All in all, I think this is a really solid album. I wouldn't call it the best album of all time as some have, but it's a very good one regardless and worthy of its status as a classic. A solid 4.5/5. RIP Andy Rourke

This was amazing. I’m just kind of blown away by this after the first listen. I don’t really know what else to write here, other than that I really, really, really liked this. This was certainly one hell of an introduction to Charles Mingus, and to a degree, jazz in general. 5/5

Queen were my favourite band in my teenage years, and I still like them a lot, but I haven’t listened to this album in full in what must be a decade. It was really fun to revisit this one, and I’m glad to say this holds up great. It’s not my favourite album of theirs, nor is it without flaws, but it’s still very good, and I can’t tell if it’s just the nostalgia or my tastes changing as I’ve grown older, but I think I like this even more than I did when I was younger. 4.5/5

This is a very good album and definitely worthy of its status as a classic of its genre, but for some reason I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would, despite liking this kind of music. I liked it a lot, but for whatever reason it just didn't resonate with me the way my favourites in this genre do. Maybe it'll grow with me over time, but I don't know. Still very good, though. 4/5

I enjoyed this. It's not exactly my usual genre, but I found myself really intrigued by most of the songs on this album. I'll definitely be relistening to this one, and I wouldn't be surprised if it will winds up growing on me. 4/5

This was absolutely wonderful and definitely worthy of the high praise it's gotten over the years. I really don't have much else to say. I loved just about everything about this album, the music, the lyrics, the production, the message, just... everything. Kendrick is truly a master of his craft and a generational talent. 5/5

Timeless. That’s all there really is say about this one. 5/5

This one's just alright. It's not bad by any means, in fact it was a fun introduction to a band that I only knew by name, and I liked some of the songs a lot. However it's nothing terribly special overall, especially compared to many other albums on this list. It's a fine compilation album by a good band, but not on par with the other albums I've heard so far. A solid 3/5

Discovering music like this is one of the main reasons why love working my way through this list. I hadn't heard of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan prior to getting this as my album of the day, and while I'm not a complete stranger to music from the Indian subcontinent, I struggle naming any individual musicians outside of Lata Mangeshkar and Ravi Shankar. Needless to say this one immediately piqued my interest. Musically this album is gorgeous, plain and simple. Khan's singing is beautifully evocative and his voice unlike anything I've heard before. The songs themselves, while long, have this enthralling and mesmerising nature to them that's hard for me to put into words. The more I listen to this, the more I like it. I'm really happy to have heard this. I just find it really beautiful. 4.5/5

This was a really fun listen and definitely a classic. The use of samples is really innovative and still holds up to this day, and the songs themselves are really infectious and entertaining. It's not quite a five star album for me, but I can totally see why it would be for someone else. 4/5

For a live album, this was great. Overall, the performances hold up really well, with only a few duds (if you can even call them that) here and there. There are also a handful of performances (e.g. 'Visions of Johanna', 'One Too Many Mornings') which offer interesting and quite different takes from their album versions which I loved a lot and will definitely be listening to again in the future. All in all, this was really good. Not quite as good as Dylan's studio albums, but still great in its own right. 4/5

As someone who is a fan of experimental music I loved this one. While I wouldn't call this my favourite King Crimson album (that'd be 'Discipline', at least at time of writing), it's still definitely one of the best prog rock albums I've ever heard and a high point for the genre. Composition-wise, the music on this album is just amazing, incorporating both conventional and very unusual sounds and other musical elements just seamlessly without ever coming across as purposefully complex or pretentious. The songs themselves, while long, never outstay their welcome and have this natural feeling of build and flow to them that I feel is unfortunately often lacking from many other songs in the genre, while simultaneously being really out there and experimental for the time. While this album isn't necessarily all that accessible and definitely not to everyone's liking, if you're willing to take the time to appreciate it for what it is, it's a blast to listen to. 5/5

The album that I got just before this one was King Crimson's 'Larks' Tongues in Aspic'. While that album and this one are both labeled as "rock", the two albums couldn't be further apart musically. If King Crimson is pretty much as complex as rock gets, then the White Stripes are as close to being the complete opposite as possible. Still, I wouldn't call one better than the other. It's like comparing apples to oranges. This is just about as simple as rock gets. Just guitar and drums. Pair that with incredible songwriting and that's honestly all you need for a timeless album. What else is there really to say? 5/5

This was a fun listen. I didn't know anything about this album before listening to it, and was quite pleasantly surprised by it. I was definitely surprised to find out that the lead singer's from Hüsker Dü! The songwriting's solid and the songs themselves are well performed. This is a good album and I enjoyed listening to it, but in the context of this list, it doesn't quite hold up with the rest of the albums here. I'm happy to have heard it, though. 3/5

House music isn't a genre I really know anything about, but I enjoyed listening to this. The album blends techno with an interesting mix of genres in a way that sounds intriguing and fresh even now, thirty years after its release. I'm not sure if I'll be listening to this again any time soon as it's just not my usual genre, but I definitely really liked this. Edit: While I still like this album and appreciate it for its impact and artistic credit, I wound up changing my initial 4/5 to a 3/5, simply because to me, it just doesn't hold up in the way many other classic albums from even this era do. If I could give this 3.5 stars, I would. Unfortunately that isn't possible, and rounding this up to a 4 would put it among albums that it simply doesn't compare to in my opinion. 3.5/5 but closer to 3/5 than a 4/5

For a Christmas record, this is good for the most part. The Wall Of Sound production works really well for the majority of the songs (e.g. Frosty The Snowman, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Sleigh Ride), but for some songs (e.g. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Parade Of The Wooden Soldiers) it's just all a bit too much and some of the songs (e.g. Marshmallow World, Here Comes Santa Claus) are just plain forgettable. I really like the groups performing the songs (the Crystals and the Ronettes in particular) so that's also a plus. I personally prefer Christmas music that's more somber, but all in all I think this is alright. However, if you know literally anything about the producer of this album, Phil Spector, it's probably that he was an abuser in every sense of the word and a murderer. Knowing how horribly he abused Ronnie Spector (lead singer of the Ronettes) during their marriage makes it hard for me to enjoy the music on this one. I know being a bad person doesn't make you a bad musician and that Spector was genuinely a talented producer, but I feel any sort of assessment of his works and legacy isn't complete without at least acknowledging how awful a person he was and how this label of "genius" that was given to him early on enabled him to hurt so many. To summarise: The music's good, but fuck Phil Spector. 3.5/5, rounding this up to a 4 mostly because I love the Ronettes. RIP Ronnie Spector.

I went into this album wanting to like it, as I've always found Chris Cornell (RIP) a very talented singer and while I'm not that familiar with Soundgarden's albums, I've liked everything I've heard from them so far. Initially, I must say I didn't like it as much as I hoped. While lyrically the album is very strong, my first impression of the music on some of the tracks was a bit underwhelming. However, as I kept listening to this, the more I began to enjoy it, and by the time I finished the album I actually really liked the songs on it. I'm willing to guess that this album will grow on me a lot if I give it some time. 3.75/5

I liked this. I liked this quite a bit. I've heard some of Rahim Redcar's (F.K.A./A.K.A. Christine and the Queens) music before and enjoyed it a lot (People I've Been Sad in particular) and I was quite excited to have gotten this as yesterday's album. Musically this album is good. While I personally prefer music that's more experimental and abrasive, for a pop album this is great for the most part. The music takes a lot of influence from 80's pop, but instead of just imitating it, it borrows its sounds, blends them with contemporary pop and presents them in a way that feels original and inventive. In particular, I admire just how, in lack of a better word, spacious, shimmering and just grand the songs on this album feel while still being very stripped down in terms of instrumentation. There's just this openness to it which I really admire. However, there are a few songs on this album which to me feel a bit dull compared to the others. There could have also been more variety between the songs. In general, the music's great, though. The weakest part of this album is its lyrics. You can tell English isn't Rahim's first language, as a good deal of the lyrics on the English version of this album come off as a bit odd and nonsensical. I'm guessing this is the result of him writing the lyrics in French first and then translating them into English, as the lyrics on the French version are way more coherent and just better overall. As a second-language English speaker from Europe I'm used to this kind of poor-quality English lyricism from bands and artists whose grasp of English isn't great, and as a result it doesn't bother me that much. However, it's still distracting and it definitely makes the English version of this album weaker in comparison to the French version. To summarise, I think this album's good. It's not without its weaknesses, particularly when it comes to its lyrics, but all in all, it's an album which I very much enjoyed and would recommend to others. 3.75/5 (English version 3.5/5, closer to a 3 than a 4 though; French version 4/5)

I liked this, but frankly, I wasn't able to spend enough time listening to this album to really form a strong opinion about it. If I have time, I'll revisit this one and write a more thorough review of it at some point. But just based on my feelings after first listen, this is a solid 4/5. It's no 'Things Fall Apart', but it's still really good.

This was one of my favourite Dylan albums in my teenage years when I was first getting into his music, and now a decade later I still think it's one of his best. Music-wise this strikes a near-perfect balance between Dylan's early folk songs and his later electric era with songs like "She Belongs To Me" and "Love Minus Zero" flawlessly blending electric instrumentation with Dylan's still heavily folk-inspired songwriting. Then you have songs like "115th Dream", "Outlaw Blues" and "Maggie's Farm" which are these loose and wild bluesy folk rock tracks that just feel alive in a way few other songs manage to pull off. Finally you have the second half of the album with "Mr. Tambourine Man", "It's All Over Baby Blue", "Gates Of Eden" and most notably "It's All Right Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" which all are in my opinion among the best songs from his folk era. Lyrically this is at least in my view the album where Dylan grew into himself. Songs like "It's All Over Ma", "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues" rightfully rank as some of his best writing, while "She Belongs To Me" and "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" are two of my personal favourites of his, both lyrically and musically. While Dylan would keep improving as both a songwriter and a lyricist on later records like "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde On Blonde", this, at least to me, out of all of his albums is the most quintessentially Bob Dylan. It straddles both his folk and electric periods and captures him both in his creative peak and at a turning point in his artistic journey. If I had to choose one album from Dylan's discography that most represents him and his whole career as a musician and artist, I think this might be it. Either this, "Blood On The Tracks" or "Blonde on Blonde". In any case, it's one of his best, one of the best albums of the 60's and one of my favourite albums of all time. 5/5

Do you like avant-garde music? If so, you'll probably like this album. If not, that's fine too. It's not everyone's cup of tea. As someone who likes experimental music, I loved this. This is krautrock at its finest. 5/5

This is one of those albums where I can respect the artist, the artistry and the influence of it while not really caring for the music that much. There are a few songs on this album which I like quite a bit, but on the whole this album's just not my thing. Many of the songs just sound like fairly conventional 70's pop/rock, albeit really well produced and written. Also, while album length isn't usually a thing that I care that much about, this one really felt like it dragged on for too long. I can see why this album's so highly revered by some, but for me, it just didn't do anything for me. All in all, I'd give this a 3/5 (2.75/5 to be more precise). It's fine, but like I've already written, it's just not my thing.

Christ, what an album to kick off 2026 with. This was excellent. I haven't much else to say, really. 4.5/5

While I don't think this is Bowie's best work from an artistic perspective, I still have to give this album its flowers for being as close to being a perfect pop/rock record as possible. This album's great and contains some of my favourite songs of Bowie's discography, but on the whole I just don't love it as much as I love his other work. I guess it's just a matter of personal taste. 4.5/5, but rounding it down to a 4. For now, at least. (Fuck Bowie for being an abuser, though. He was a great musician and songwriter, but not a great person, unfortunately.)

Yet another album for which I didn’t have quite enough time. I will likely come back to this and write a more in-depth review in the future, but just based on first impressions, I really liked this. It’s not quite my genre, but for its genre it’s very enjoyable. 3.5/5, but closer to a 3 than a 4. I might change this up to a 4 later if it grows on me.

One thing I've learnt so far from this project is that I like jazz. I wouldn't rate this as high as the two other jazz albums I've gotten so far (Kind of Blue, The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady) but I still very much liked this. 4/5

Nick Drake is one of my favourite songwriters of all time, as well as someone whom I greatly admire as a guitarist. To call him extraordinary would be an understatement. Not only was his guitar playing virtuosic and singular in style, but he also had a talent for writing melodies and harmonies that are both unique and emotionally evocative. Just to name one example from this album, I know much has been written about 'River Man' and both its 5/4 time signature and chord progression. I don't feel that I know enough about music theory or analysis to go into detail about Nick's songwriting, but suffice it to say he was very talented as a musician and a songwriter, and a great lyricist also. To release something of this quality as your debut album at twenty-one-years of age just feels unfathomable to me. It doesn't have a single bad or even mediocre song on it, and in particular, the songs 'Time Has Told Me' with its simple yet beautiful chord progression and gentle lyrics, 'Three Hours' with its stunning guitar playing, and 'Fruit Tree' with its depressingly accurate observations about fame considering Nick's legacy feel like particular standouts, alongside 'Day Is Done', and of course the aforementioned 'River Man', which are both just gorgeous and among the best songs Nick ever wrote. And to think he's still at the beginning of his artistic journey on this album. While his songwriting, lyricism and guitar-playing are all excellent here, he would only continue to improve on his later two albums. I have been thinking about Nick Drake a lot lately. I feel like I should note that I relate to Nick Drake strongly. For most of my life I've dealt with a fair share of mental health issues, which have at times been very severe, but not quite as bad as what Nick went through. I'm the same age now as he was when he passed away. A couple months older now, actually. I cannot help but think of how short of a life he lived. How much life he still would've had ahead of him. All the things he could've seen and done, not only as an artist, but just as a person. All the different things he still could've experienced, ranging from all kinds of big moments in life to the small and ordinary. How much more he could've still achieved, both in his art and life outside his career. I wish he could've lived long enough to see people come to respect his work for what it was. I wish he could've seen how much his music mattered to people, and how much it has moved them. How much his art has influenced generations of artists that have come after him. Mostly, I just wish he could've found the help he needed. I don't want to play into the myth around him and reduce him to some 'tortured artist' whose life was fated to end the way it did the way some people do. There is far more to him and his art. His life didn't have to end like it did. Still, I cannot even imagine how difficult just living must've been for him. Just thinking about it makes my eyes tear up. I just wish he could've found some way to push on and not lose hope. I know this review of sorts has veered off course from being just about 'Five Leaves Left' and being more about Nick Drake in general. I just felt like I needed to put these thoughts into writing, and hey, why not use this opportunity? Rest In Peace, Nick Drake. "Fruit tree, fruit tree Open your eyes to another year They'll all know that you were here when you're gone" 5/5