1001 Albums Summary

Best Song: Smile LYMI, On Top Worst Song: The last 4 of the album In small doses, has some catchy elements and can see it being enjoyable in a 2000s club, but the latter half of the album is devoid of this. The most likeable aspects can be attributed to being derviative of 90s Britpop / New wave, I actually thought some of this was New Order. But overall it comes across as very confused and artificial rather than inspired. Brightside -dont hate the song, it's just overplayed

PERFECT Best Song: WYWH Love the album, very thematic although I needed to read about the context to appreciate it, which is fine. Love Have a Cigar and WYWH, balances Shine on... and makes the album more accessible. PERFECT

I cannot relate to the critical acclaim this album achieved. Sound and production was cold and repetitive and very dated, even by early 80s standards. Songs felt bloated and the album longer than necessary at 1hr10m. The theme of apocalyptic partying and sex fantasy is less interesting than intended, coming across as self indulgent. Some songs like Lady Cab Driver I find distasteful and poorly aged. Giving 2 stars instead of 1 because the album is ambitious, and performed and produced entirely by Prince.

Best Song: Snowblind ofc Worst Song: Tommorows Dream / FX but I like both. Probably my favourite Sabbath album following Paranoid. Great vocal performance by Ozzy Osbourne and guitar by Lommi. I love how heavy it is while being perhaps more progressive and experimental than earlier albums. Snowblind is the centrepiece for me, and my favourite by Black Sabbath, blending great guitar riffs, vocal performance and lyricism into an exhilarating track. Changes is a beautiful song and displays the band's range as previously shown in Orchid and Solidarity in MOR. Of course it has also spawned covers such as Charles Bradleys which takes the lyricism to a new height. One criticism might be that although it thematically fits in the album, it isn't quite cohesive with how heavy tracks surrounding it are. Laguna Sunrise archives much the same praise and criticism. With regard to popular criticism, I don't think FX is a terrible filler, but I do think it highlights that the album could be made more cohesive. Perhaps FX should not be listed between Laguna Sunrise and Changes. The critique of the self production is unwarranted -Ozzys vocals are perhaps slightly muted/muffled but I think it works within the album, although I could conceive that a different approach would make some songs more soulful.

I'm not a huge fan of the early Beatles pop-rock, but I think this album is very listenable although lacking in standout/memorable tracks. The songs are very short but flow well into each other, creating a very joyful atmosphere. Like many of their pop-rock songs I think the lyrics are maybe a bit generic / dated but I like the layering and instrumentation (eg harmonica). I think it works best as an album, not as standalone tracks. Money is probably my favourite track, mainly due to John's vocals, but this is a cover Maybe between a 3 and 4, but giving a 3 by Beatles standards.

Sound is very boring, from production, instrumentation to the vocal performance. I think the lyrics are very generic singer-songwriter, and lacking in subtlety.

Hard to describe how I feel about this album. The aesthetic, production and instrumentation on this album is what I identify the White Stripes with, moreso than the previous 2 albums that were more raw. I don't think their sound progressed much in later work, this is their sonic peak. I feel much the same way about the album as I do about the band. Some great/listenable tracks (e.g FILWAG), but I find the style maybe grating after a while -not sure if its Jacks voice or the heavy distortion etc. Songs are lyrically strong but I feel that I dont appreciate the lyrics because of the production/sound. The strength of the album is in its range, with punky garage tracks to Hotel Yorba and WAGTBF.

Best Song - Come as You Are Worst Song - Something in The Way (not bad though) My favourite Nirvanna album. Influential, original, works well as an album and as individual tracks -has no misses. Not a huge Nirvanna fan but Nevermind deserves the praise.

Best Song: Peg Worst Song: Black Cow Not the sort of album I would usually listen to, but glad I did. Quite different to the Steely Dan I am familiar with. Very smooth and seamless, and short enough at 39mins without becoming boring. I could see myself enjoying the album more with a different vocal performance although I would accept it works for the jazz-rock style. No songs are particularly remarkable, but I will be listening to the album again.

A Christmas Album

Best Song: Rapid Fire Worst Song: Red White and Blue BESMERCHING the image of the 80s. Should be left in the past Went into this with very low expectations but was not quite as bad as I expected. Much too 80s campy for my liking. Some of the lyrics and added effects are very dated/cringey. In general I didn't find the lyricism interesting or impactful. I did enjoy the guitar riffs and the drumming; although it doesn't compete with other bands of the time . I don't like how the vocalist has the artificial gruff/rock voice affect. Judas Priest is ranked as one of the best heavy metals band, but I view Judas Priest to Back Sabbath what Nickelback is to Nirvanna/Pearl Jam -although more lacking in hits.

Best Song: Real People / Faithful Worst Song: GO! Blends 90s lyricism and performance with early Kanye production. Feels warm & somehow nostalgic. The sound on this album rivals Kanye later work though much more subtle and calming imo. The album is strong from start to finish. As perfect as a hip hop album can be.

Really can't find any enjoyment in this. Boring 80s vocals, poppy synth, very low energy.

Best Song: Cupids Trick / Speed Trials Worst Song: Ballad of Nothing This is an album I thought I would enjoy now than I did, being very nihilistic and acoustic. The all album is very homogenous, and the production is perfect. The lyricism is interesting, at times, and there are some nice melodies here and there. However there's something that would stop me listening to much of this again - I think his nasally alt rock singing- it might work in context, but not for me. I lo think some lyrics are too singer-songwriter, and one song where the lyrics would rhyme, I found off putting (in it is a silly complaint)

Best Song: Isi Might be biased because j listened to this on a very nice drive, but I really enjoyed it. Rating as a 4/5 in context

Best Song: Berts Blues Incredible psychedelic album. Such interesting lyrics and instrumentation. Never boring despite being over an hour. Donovans performance is great, I can't believe he is Scottish

Best Song: World Leader Pretend Worst Song: NA I haven't listened to much REM before. Enjoyed the album, some songs standout and I don't think there are many misses. It's hard to explain how I like the sound of the album but I didn't find it particularly impactful.

Forst time listening to the beastie boys, I actually liked some of the production at times however I find the rapping annoying and the lyrics quite cringeworthy. Something very artificial about it, like a parody of a rap punk band

Best: Oh baby I don't see anything special about this album, I would be more impressed if it came out in the 80s but otherwise it doesn't seem remarkable. Some of the sounds capes it creates are enjoyable but its lacking any particularly impactful songs. Rating as a 2, not a 1, because it's listenable and we'll produced

In some ways a difficult album to review because it was so culturally significant at the time. I enjoyed how diverse some of the sounds are, e.g barhead vs debt collector, but that being said I just don't love the style of the album. I find the campy laid back vocals quite annoying after one or two listens. I can respect alot of the lyricism and it's clear the album has a message but I'm not quite keen on the sarcastic cynicism. Rating subjectively as a 2 on enjoyment, aware objectively it could be a 4

Perfectly listenable album with some nice songs and performances but I really don't find it particularly impactful. The harmonies aren't really to my taste, a more soulful performance would add more depth to the songs. Sound is nice. I just wouldn't mind not hearing these songs again

Best: Warszawa Worst: Best my Wife Found it interesting that it was inspired by NEU!, whose work I also enjoyed. I love how avant garde and cinematic it feels, and I can't agree with reviews that critique it for being negative.

I've always enjoyed the Velvet Underground and I enjoyed this album, they achieved such a melancholy and gritty sound which I somehow also find relaxing and tender. I like the collaborative vocals, and the mix of songs like PBE to punchier ones Murder Mystery

Best Song: Raised on Robbery I really enioved much of the instrumentation: the blend of guitar and piano, and some of the sax on Raised on Robbery. As vulnerable and contemplative many of the lyrics may be, it strikes me that they would work better as poetry than in song, which touches on my main problem with the album. I feel that although Joni's vocal performance is technically good, I feel like either the melodies just dont land for me, or that they aren't integrating well with the instrumentation - like shes trying to carry the song with her singing but it feels like singing poetry over a song. I think this is exacerbated the lack of choruses. Standout songs like Raised on Robbery avoid these pitfalls. Also very notable how much of this she wrote, produced composed herself.

Best: Can I Kick It I do like samples in this, simple though they are, they still hold up today. Production is maybe a little dated with a lot of the disk scratches. Performance is flawless, lyrics are smooth but honestly neither evoke much emotion in my opinion. Do like the positivity / laid back feeling of the album

Best: Clint Eastwood Worst: Remix of Clint Eastwood Never been a huge fan of Gorillaz and this album reinforces that. I can appreciate how diverse the sound is, one track from another has different instrumentation, vocals themes and production. However it just doesn't evoke much for me, I often feel like damon albarn is trying too hard to be creative and missing the forest for the trees

Like oasis rejects without the energy

Excellent blues rock album, great guitar, love the vocals including the live performances, like the lyrics. Obviously narrow scope and sound but works really well as a blues album.

Costello lacks the bitter, cynical sense of humour of Huey Lewis. Really didnt enjoy this, its just not my thing, mainly the vocal style. It's not as bad as I anticipated, but hand in hand annoyed me so much I'm giving a 1

Obviously the theme of the album is a spoof, so it was never going to be that meaningful. However the sound is bland and there's very low energy for a spoof album to warrant being here. The performance is just so lackluster indie, it's just easy listening, and is far too long.

So disorganised and chaotic, poorly performed whilst still being boring. Its like what Nirvanna/Cobain were criticised as being.

Best: WOWY, Streets Have No Name Never understood why U2 were so popular and highly regarded, but tried to listen to this without that bias. Can't say the album has any flaws, technical quality is good, lyrics are meaningful, Bonos performance is decent. Don't think it ever achieves a very captivating sound but I like how atmospheric some tracks are. Some songs I really liked (above) and there aren't any misses. Would maybe rate 3.5 but preferable to recent albums so giving a 4

Best Song: Trash Tongus Talker. I can't say this is much better or worse than White Stripe albums, there seems litle difference in the sound. Like WS, jack whites vocals permeate the instrumention, (the instrumentation being the best part of his music). His mix of nasally shouting and falsetto baby whining is just so grating, especially as the album runs on. The albums gets better in its latter half as Jack is more subdued.

Enjoy the raw vocal style, at times. Its a weird album, reminiscent of Jimmi Hemdrix, kind of hard rock, kind of grunge. At times it feels like there is dead space amongst the guitar, drums and vocals, like something was missed in the mix. I think the album had a lot of potential, just executed poorly

Enjoyed a lot of this, find it quite relaxing. Love a lot of the sampling, the simple guitar. Has so much going on yet still feels natural and cohesive. Even managed to avoid the 90s white rap cringe. Should be shorter, and a few songs [Derelict and Novacane] I found very grating.

Hard to review. Quite sleepy, technically good, got a few tracks added to my liked songs. Doesn't seem remarkable but very listenable

Cringe

I like the instrumentation but obviously cang appreciate the lyrics, although listenable the sound isn't enough to make me want to listen again.

First time listening to her, pleasantly suprised. The album is very lyrical and her voice is enjoyable. The sound just doesnt click with me unfortunately.

This is like very strange background music although its not so offensive to warrant a 1

Elvis Costello is so sauceless, I couldn't listen to another full album of his because its just too boring, for that he gets a 1

The Radiohead album I know best. Flawless, lyricism, the nihilism and fragility. Songs sound so layered, contains so many ballads. Saved the uk from britpop

Works very well as a soundtrack although it lacks the range some soundtracks can achieve, of course this was predicated by the film. I think it does have a very surreal sound, very atmospheric that I would enjoy driving to

I do love this album, particularly wild horses, it's just a wonderful song and one of my favourites. The blues influences of RS are so clear, I love the snarly vocals of Mick and the sax, especially on Cant you Hear. It strikes a good balance between punchy songs and slow ballads like Wild Horses. Although I love Dead Flowers MJ goes a bit over with the honky tonk vocals IMO. And of course, Brown Sugar sounds amazing but the lyrics are repulsive :/

Best: Austrailia Actually quite shocked by what this album achieves. So deep with social commentary and very well arranged. I think a lot of later Brit Pop is a poor attempt by comparison and you can see how this would influence Blur etc. It feels wrong to give it a 4 but I feel like it just doesn't quite make me feel so much and that is a requirement for 5

An interesting take on a modern country album. Its a fairly pleasant to listen, I enjoyed her voice. The lyrics aren't remarkable but the theme of longing and loneliness is very clear. However I just found it thoroughly boring.

Best Song: Calm Like You I really cringe at AM nowadays but I quite enjoyed this. I feel like it really blends genres & is quite cinematic. Alex Turner is more muted/less flamboyant usually. Probably won't register much, I just can't shake my hate for Alex Turner

Quite enjoyed listening to this, although more as background music as the tracks are incredibly long, although I liked how rhythmic it was and the energy, particularly the 3rd track, Carry Me. The last track really shouldn't be here though, and I would be more inclined to listen again if the songs were a little shorter and to the point.

Always been conflicted on the Doors, enjoying elements of their songs but feeling like the tone or energy is off; I dislike the eerie depressiveness which is intentional at times but seems to permeate a lot of their music and, in my opinion, needlessly. I did really enjoy this album to from the really blues songs like Roadhouse to Indian Summer which is very hypnotic, and I recognise from Apocalypse now.

Such a fun album that I would never think to listen to. Such smooth disco funk. I was originally going to say it remind me of Jamiroqui, yet the preceded them by a decade.

I only know the popular Beegees tracks so this came as a suprise (and disappointment) to me. Its a fairly generic sound and there are no technical qualms however the entire album is very boring at best, and takes far too long to achieve very little. The lyrics are very puzzling to me, as if they are trying to write like more accomplished contemporary writers than they seem to have been (e.g I declared war on Spain ???? ).

I have failed to suffer through this, multiple times. I just can't palate the trashy surf punk aesthetic, I find it so grating and overshadowing of any positive elements the album may have

Best Song: Give My Love to Rose I don't think this album is truly a 5 but I love it, so it is for me The album convinces me that Johnny Cash's voice peaked in his old age. Although it contains many covers, his performance is so transformative and haunting and on songs like Hurt and Danny Boy, and I struggle to think of anyone who could replicate it. Of course it's not experimental, however the theme of mortality, redemption, judgment, and faith is so intense, and the footage of JC performing it is heartbreaking. Give My Love to Rose is a very underated Cash song imo.

Controversially I think music should be enjoyable to listen to... The background story is interesting; also that he performed everything himself. I don't mind some of the guitar here and thereand many of the songs have strong lyrics that can stand without the whole 'breakdown' backstory. Unfortunately the production and mixing is awful. Loud guitar droned over by boosted raw vocals that strain. I understand the artistic decision re the breakdown but this is too blunt, conspicuous and excessive - a more polished but still gritty approach alike the Velvet Undergrounds early albums would have given the lyrics far more opportunity.

Accusations that Oasis were simply a Beatles rip-off have always baffled me. Of course they are clearly inspired - the 60s simple chords, cynical and satirical songs like Digsys Dinner. Is this so much worse than Led Zep and Rolling Stones vis Blues and Rockabilly? In this album they created their own sound, emblematic of the 90s and different from other inspirations like Inspiral Carpets and Stone Roses. This track listing is very strong; I think it contains the bulk of their best work- the strongest being Columbia, Live Forever and Slide Away. RnR star is a great choice to begin the album with. Overall a very enjoyable listen throughout. Unfortunately the album is much simpler and unidimensional than I remembered, perhaps why it is so palatable throughout. Oasis are renowned for having poor drummers - this is very clear in the album, through hidden through heavy guitar distortion and production. Cant help but wonder how good the album could have been with more talented musicians.

Best Song : Rip This Joint / Sweet Virginia Was somewhat surprised to read how this album is often considered their Magnum Opis, given my unfamiliarity with it, and its release date. I could certainly understand after a few tracks - Rolling Stones attributes are so strongly developed here - incredible blues rock that leans into, at times, Country, Rockabilly, Gospel, Jazz - and incredibly American sound for a British band. The instrumentation is incredibly rich with a very enjoyable blend of brass and guitar. Micks vocals are strong and just slurred enough I wonder if he's gone too far, as usual. What this album lacks, and perhaps I am being too immature, is one or two classic tracks; the songs are great but none standout.

I am very conflicted on my thoughts on this one. On one hand its easily enjoyable, singable, and performed with a soulful voice and a brass section rarely appearing in 'pop' songs like this. On the other hand, I can't help but feel a more raw production, perhaps more depth to the instrumentation, would being this album more in line with old soul records. Regardless, the lyrics, though rather exoteric, remain incredibly memorable and fully explore Amy Winehouse vices and life at this stage. Its actually shocking at times how vulnerable and exposing she is about her experiences. I'm rating this album as a 4 - accounting for my personal enjoyment and that despite its polished production it is peerless for its time of release, though i could see it argued as a 3

Vocals far too buried beneath the guitar, as I struggled to hear the lyrics throughout. For those i read, the lyrics were palatable yet generic and weak. The vocal style seems out of place, a low energy 80s whisper which seems out of place on an album with a louder, more 90s sound. Would've enjoyed more with no vocals, and making the album a 90s movie background guitar soundtrack

Nick Cave is very hit or miss for me, though he's not a very accessible artist. Really not an enjoyable listen. From the advent, a very grating, gutteral, vocal performance that I can only describe as parody-like. Intriguing lyricism marred by many very repetitive choruses which aren't enjoyable enough to warrant it. Very well instrumented. Not sure if Nick Cave may be too pompous, or I just can't enjoy more artistic and less conventional rock. Honestly cringes listening to some of this even though I understand it has quality.

I do like elements of the production, and I enjoyed the blends of Jazz amongst the Country, although maybe thats just the sax. At other times, the sound is sparsely populated and reminds me of hotel lobby music. Did not like the vocal performance which I found bland and (yodel-like?!) at times although pleasing on tracks like Shadowland. The album was generally rather boring and sleepy, I am grateful it was only 35 minutes.

Enjoyed the folky 60s instrumentation. Probably controversial, however I find the Simon and Garfunkels singing/harmonising too cloying or precious. It does suit their music but its not for me. I really didn't get the reverence people have for Cecelia. I don't mind BOTW even if it is a bit sappy (prefer covers), and I have always liked The Boxer. I don't quite see this come together as an album, and beginning with BOTW is a curious decision. Overall very conflicted on rating this betwen a 3 and 4

I do love her voice, and her performance in this album is flawless. The big hits are somewhat catchy and some aren't poorly written or produced for pop (Set Fire for example...). I think alot of the album relies on well produced orchestral pieces and piano which, in isolation, are very flat. Much of the lyrics of the less famous songs are incredibly generic

Coming to terms with the fact that I find it very difficult to review Jazz albums. I found this one to very smooth/relaxing, I think because there is relatively little going on compared to other Jazz I've listened to recently e.g. John Coltrane. I enjoyed the organ and the sax. The album lacks diversity, one song is very similar to the next which leads to my main issue, that I think this is background music to me. I would happily listen again; if so, it will be playing in my kitchen whilst I don't pay that much attention.

Best Song: All the Way Enjoyed this album for its typical New Order traits; the layered rhythms, bass guitar, synth and engaging lyrics. I always enjoyed how Bernard Summer delivers the lyrics in NO. Overall however, this album just doesn't resonate with me to the extend NO often does. I think there are some tracks that felt perhaps lazy or confused, others which I'm conflicted on, and others I enjoyed but feel may be generic. However a few of the tracks really grew on me after a second listen. This isn't a genre I would typically listen to, although NO feel so authentic to me.