1001 Albums Summary

First of my journey. It sets a high middle, I think. Made a chip dip with sour cream and mayo and Boursin and green onions and French onion soup mix. It’s Boxing Day 2025. The dip is for my mom’s house.

I feel like this could have been a five under different circumstances. Had to have the volume relatively low while driving with the family to Newcastle after Boxing Day. My dad would love this album. Reminds me of some of the best parts of Frank Zappa.

This concert seems like a chore

going into this album I think I'd give it a 4 based on reputation alone, I've heard it before but never sat down and listened to it. Honestly, it was pacing at a 3 for me until the last song, Purple Rain, and then I listened to that song 3 times and decided to revisit the whole album again. This is the first time since Lark's Tongues in Aspic that I have immediately relistened to an album. and it's a 5, even the weaker songs are punched up because Purple Rain is an all time banger.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn't expecting this album to be this boring. It's not "bad" but gets a 2 for how underwhelmed I am.

This (specifically the song Don't Lie to Me) reminds me of working at the pub in my early 20's and the cover bands that would come in on Fridays and rock out. Same energy, close my eyes and I can see a beer bellied guy named Kenny shredding for free pints and me slingin wings and popping my head out of the kitchen between orders to tend to the cigarette in the back corner. Terry and I would stay late and close up and she'd refill my pint glass like 6 times.

if this was released in any other decade I think I would've loved this, but the 80s make this album sound like it was edited with star wipes and written in comic sans. Her voice is a 5/5 but the music accompanying her brings this down to a 2. Oh ya, and those 80s sax solos can F right off.

I'm having kind of the opposite experience than what I had yesterday with TT's Private Dancer - the music is so good but he's just such a dork. It's like going to a great party but there's one asshole there and he's ALWAYS right beside you. There should be a remix where they use these beats and Tina Turner's Private Dancer vocals (and vice versa - that may somehow make both albums better.) He's the worst part of every song, even the one's where he's not creepy pseudo-sexy (Cry Me a River) he still does his best to kill the mood.... This album doesn't need to be this long. Every song allows for him to just repeat the name of the song over and over again for 2 minutes...

I've always hated the Doors, but have I ever really listened to the Doors? I don't know... well, now I have, they're fine, whatever, they're just ok. They border on really ok, but settle on just fine.

I have no interest in how horny this dude is.

This album was great when I first heard it when I was 10 in Eric Brown's basement and it's still great now.

I was hovering between 2 and 3 for a rating but the last song settled it higher. It's an ok album with PCP being the standout track. Sad story about the singer, he looks sad-confused in all his pics.

Better than the other Eagles album I was forced to listen to. The music is more sophisticated with some nice orchestral pieces. They're not trying to be country any more, just pure 100% unadulterated adult contemporary. I can smell the Lysol in the air as I am reminded of dusting an unused piano while 98.1 echoes through the background, it's 1990 and nothing I clean is clean enough. They're talented, they've improved a lot since their debut album but they're excruciatingly boring. 100% better than their debut which brings this rating up to a blistering 2.

My first Neil Young. I really like Neil Young. My dad really likes Neil Young. I've never heard this album before. What I love about this album a day experience is that it makes me have this conversation with myself, like what am I rating these on? I think of my relationship with the music now, my relationship when I first heard it, it's relationship with it's time, my relationship with my dad.... don't want to rate this too high because what if something else is higher, but why? I'm happy right now hanging out with these 10 minute songs, with these guys. I like the things Neil Young sings about, I like his voice, I like his guitar, I'm learning to like my dad.

This voice, man, wtf? I just can't with these guys... This is just not for me, I really wanted to have been wrong about Rush, thought I'd have a moment where I finally "got" them, but i did not "got", Rush is still not got by me. This is a looooong 39 minute album. You know how like if someone tells a racist/sexist joke and then you like call them out and are like "sorry what was that?" or "how is that funny?" and then they sort of have this moment of clarity when they say it again where they're embarrassed and (ideally) look inward and realise they're an idiot? That's what it must be like being a Rush fan and then having to prove it by making other people listen to this music.

Wow. Listened twice. Wow.

I'm finding that it's difficult to know what version of an album to listen to. Spotify seems to replace all original recordings with remastered stuff which usually adds an additional couple of bonus tracks, so when I originally listened to this album I thought it was too long and uneven, but I listened to an additional 7 bonus songs, so we're trying it again. You can certainly hear Kurt Cobain here, you can tell why they were such a big influence on him. it's better when it's shorter, it's fine.

For a debut album Elvis Costello arrives fully formed. I've always said about Elvis that if you don't like one of his songs that's ok because there'll be a new one on in like 2 minutes. Quick great sons, great energy, I kind of wish I dated a woman named Alison at some point in my life

I've never listened to Lana Del Rey before, her voice is so haunting. On a different day, in a different mood I feel this album could be a 4 or a 2, but after two listens I think it settles on a 3. The songs all sort of sound the same and maybe it's that second listen that soured me a bit.

I was excited to listen to this today, I have no real relationship with electronic music, so i'm coming in with an eager and open mind. This seems like it could be good background music, so maybe it's what I'm doing in the foreground (working) that is the issue? Drugs would help this, but alas... Songs mostly start out promising, some interesting conversation samples that blend into some cool beats that then just repeat, over and over(and over).... it's a little too long and - as I'm finding is my biggest complaint about the albums I don't like that much - boring.

missed this album when it first came out. I have had this blind spot for female artists most of my life which I am trying to remedy now, this album is helping with that. This album slaps. Ok.... Album is a high 4 but DEMANDS an immediate re-listen... Let's see how this goes. It goes well.

If this were on the heels of my Sufjan 5 I may be more generous with my enjoyment, but after a PJ Harvey 5 I was hoping for some more edge. This album is about as edgy as a nap. A very dreamy, pretty nap. A dreamy, pretty nap with a bunch of guitar dudes.

This is a perfect example of why this project should allow half stars or be out of 10. This album is a solid 7/10, it’s not quite at that 4 level, but seems better than a 3. Why did all songs in the late 80s/early 90s all have a verse about accidentally being gender tricked into having relations with another man? Whatever, 3

How have I had two Tim Buckley albums an no Beatles or Dylan, yet? This album seems more like what his music is usually like and less like the sex-folk of the previous album I had.

This sounds like a beer commercial for lite beer, still, it was better than I expected

I want to like this so much more than I do, but there's a feeling I get with the sound/production value, something to do with soft rock stations and growing up... I don't know. It's like an objectively good album but I guess it's just not for me

what was apparently groundbreaking at the time is a little hokey now... So many better options for britpop out there.

first song "Natalie's Party" is amazing! The rest is far from it

Pleasantly surprised with this, will def revisit, Hallowed be thy Name was the standout track for me, but almost burnt my house down because I left the burner on with a dry pan on the stove. It was good making dinner music but maybe a little distracting to have it on headphones while cooking under seasoned pork chops from frozen.

Dude was 21 when he made this album. He was dead by 26. It's so sad that he never knew his fame... Big voice with big sounds and big sads.

I have coined a new phrase after listening to this album, "Aggressive Harmonies". I was expecting this album to be a continuation of my 4 streak. At only 34 minutes long I was expecting a situation like that Simon and Garfunkel album i had, just wowing me with a handful of beautiful sweet songs... but here we are, stuck in my headphones with 4 people singing over each other singing stupid stuff. I like California Dreamin' and can forgive the business of the song when it's sandwiched in an Oldies mix, but even it is a little much when you're just listening to a half hour of vocal one uppery. Also, Do You Wanna Dance does not need to be re-recorded and re-arranged, it's pretty perfect as is.

Holy moly. Was never a Radiohead guy but these headphones, man…. What an incredible album. Easiest 5/5 so far

Love is Surrender is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard, but the rest is pretty solid. The arrangement for Help is amaze-balls and the title track is wonderful. Weird that songs titled Baby it’s Me and Maybe it’s Me are on the same album. Some high highs on this album, and some low lows…. Settles in the middle.

the blues are a total nothing burger for me. Just never got into them. This album would have to do a lot to get above a 3 and it doesn't really do enough. The album get's better for the last couple tracks when he stops doing duets and focuses on just himself "My Dream" being the stand out track. I used to have a roommate in university who played the blues on guitar and there was a huge gap between his ability and the blues-y face contortions he'd make while he played.... that has nothing to do with anything though, album is a 3.

When I was a kid I had this record from my dad and fell in love with her big broken voice. Janis was like the only female artist my father had any records of, so for the vast majority of my youth, she was the queen of rock n roll. I found out she used to drink Southern Comfort, and that became my shot of choice at the pub for a few years, and I've been known to buy a bottle every now and then. But the album... Well it's a 5 before I start, but from big voiced songs like Cry Baby and Trust Me to the softer Kristofferson cover, Bobby McGee and the acapella Mercedes Benz (both in common rotation as lullabies for my girls) this album don't miss! Standout track is Mercedes Benz, recorded three days before her death, meaning her joyous cackle at the end of the song is the last thing she ever said to us. Man, I wish the memories I had of the records my dad shared with me were the memories I had of my dad. Like I wish we shared these songs, listened to music and talked for hours about what we heard. I learned about my dad through the records he gave me but he never took the time to learn about me. Ah well... RIPs Janice

Context matters, so this album was listened to on a 1:00 AM drive north up the 400 after watching the film Hail Mary in IMAX. There was this terrible spring thunderstorm and I drove through constant lightning with intermittent torrential downpours, this album was an interesting copilot for the journey. Each song starts off like it's going to be the worst song ever, Disneyesque music begins each track and I'm annoyed that I have to listen to this whole thing.... but then something funny happens, all of a sudden it's six minutes later and I'm in a total vibe, the songs build into this chill space where your toes start tapping against your will. Then the song ends and the shit beginning of the next song starts. I don't think I've heard Congolese music before and not sure if I'll seek out any more, but... I don't know, just that I guess....2

I love this album. I would’ve rated it a 5 without even listening to it, but I listened to it anyways because it’s a 5. And now that it’s over I rate it a 5. It’s perfect, rock and roll for drama kids and im all for it!

so, the xx have three albums, I have listened to two of them through my first 80 albums on this project. That is 66.7% of The xx's discography. I never asked for this. No Beatles yet, no Dylan, no Zeppelin, no Soul Asylum.... Album is a whatever for most of it and then track eight (On Hold) is a banger

it's actually better than I thought it would be, but that's not saying much... It's passable background music, but doubtful I'll relisten. Nothing to really say, just not for me.

pleasantly surprised, I'm basically just an Automatic for the People fan, but this one is awesome too! had on the big speaker while I was cooking two pastas for Easter dinner. You Are the Everything is the standout track for me

I'm a Hotel Yorba man through and through, so this was a fun one. The last few tracks drag a little bringing it down from perfect.

we'll start off with I don't like The Police. Is that an "I don't like the songs I've heard by The Police?" like, are their hits just overplayed? Let's see... first, Reggatta De Blanc loosely translates to "White Reggae", so, hmmm. This is certainly white, but hardly Reggae... On Any Other Day includes the lyrics: "My teenage daughter ran away, My fine young son has turned out gay..." so there's that. I seriously tried, I can't even with this music... ACAB

I don't think this needed to be a double album, midway through the second album MY voice started to hurt. I learned a lot about the history of Southern Rock as well as the state of Alabama, so I guess I'm smarter than I was before I listened. It was fine, nothing too special.... I don't know, I'm tired

Look, here's my hot take; The N word is North America-centric, like that's "our" word, hearing it said in a British accent seems strange, like they should have their own word: may I suggest bog-woddle?... sick beats, good enough flow and wordplay, but a little boring, luckily at 35 minutes it doesn't overstay it's welcome. Each individual song would be interesting if it popped up on a playlist, but as a whole it's a lot of not-that-much

I mean, 1978, this must've been wild. This is still wild in 2026. This is the soundtrack to David Lynch's internal monologue. Why anyone would choose to learn how to play an instrument and then get together with other instrument players and make these sounds is mind boggling. I love Ween and this album out-Weens Ween. The cast of characters they introduce you to over the album is like a circus of misfits and weirdos, you can see their influence on Tom Waits. I feel like I'm just saying stuff trying to get to the point where I can properly explain my feelings about this album. Like this is what life sounds like, this is suburban boredom and experimentation, these are the sounds you're told not to make, the art that's too weird the joke that's too abstract. This kind of album can only be a 1 or a 5, so I guess it's a 5 for me!

the hits are AMAZING on these headphones, I was dancing my way through the album and then the deep cuts come on and they're very not good.... everything settles at 3.

keep waiting for an electronic album that hits, this does not. Reminds me of this really shitty drive I had from the Halifax airport to Antigonish where this dude played some playlist called "lo-fi beats" and never asked what I wanted to listen to and I tried so hard to stay awake... both were bad experiences

Kind of a nothing burger album... Nothing really struck me... The first concert I ever went to had Mike Watt open for Primus, TIL Mike Watt is in fIREHOSE.

I liked this a lot more than the Iggy solo album I had earlier. What a response to hippie culture this must've been. Very raw and powerful.

If I've never heard of a band on this project it usually means they're an underwhelming British band... I am almost certain I didn't need to hear this album before I died.

ugh, on track 3 and I want to punch something (in a bad way). Me no likey. Every time I hear music like this I wonder how anyone ever intentionally listened to it and then I remember cocaine exists. I think 80s synth pop may be my least favourite genre of music (that and Rush, is Rush a genre?). Each track starts with sounds that seem like some THX sound test to show you how well your speakers can work.

A little long. The hits hit, but the others drag a bit. It’s been a while since I’ve had a good one so I’ll be generous with this rating

I’m not a fan of Stevie Wonder. I mean, he’s objectively talented but maybe there’s something about his voice? I don’t know, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it ain’t this album that’s changing my mind

And now I’m realizing maybe I’m not a Disco fan either. It had a nice beat to walk to but I won’t be revisiting any time soon

Nothing new. Maybe there was a time that this was more appealing to me, but it just sounds like generic sad-boy rock.

I thought Anita Baker was like an Aretha Franklin or Roberta Flack type deal. She's not. She's on the forefront of a music style I just learned, quiet storm (Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style)... Anyways, other than the name sounding like some kind of suburban Aryan alliance, quiet storm sucks. It sounds lik CHFI 98.1 on weekend mornings with the smell of Pine Sol in the air and my mother's incessant huffing as she shows me a hundredth time how to properly dust the top of an unused piano.

Look, this is my 100th album and so far the only thing I'm realising is that maybe I don't like music... Well, at least not the albums I've been offered so far. There have been no Beatles albums, no Beach Boys, no Tom Waits, no Zeppelin, but two Orbital albums?!?!? that being said, I have this album on as I work and I'm like way more focused than when I have Law & Order: SVU episodes in the background. the didgeridoo solo to start WALK NOW... slaps! it's such a menacing sound... As I meander my way back into art I feel as though this, or albums like this, may serve more of a purpose, but I don't "like" it, I've just found a space for this music in my life, I guess.

These are the albums that I hope to find on this list where I’m like “I know that song” but then I’m like “holy crap their other stuff is amazing” but it didn’t happen here.

Good for what it is but doesn’t push the needle for me

I missed this one when it first came out. I had this blind spot for female artists for much of my life and feel drawn to them more as I age. Beats are old school awesome and her flow is tight. It's a little cheesy, as a lot of old school/first wave Hip Hop is, but it's accessible and a total vibe. I love finding Hip Hop I can share with my daughters and this one will totally enter our rotation.

Side two of this album may be the greatest side of any album in the history of music and I don't think that' an overstatement.

I got really into this album a couple of year ago on my mind widening search for female artist my father forgot to tell me about. It's an eye opening experience, I feel like I would have really resonated with the vulnerability she displays on songs like People's Parties, like a dude singing that song would focus on getting laid and trolling for tang, but her observations are empathetic and profound. Young love and falling in love are timeless emotions that this album touches upon. It feels like it can seamlessly relate to her time, my youth, and today.... Also, pretty sure this will be the only album on the list to mention the Leafs (Raised on Robbery).

This is what I want my Brit-pop to be; aggressively British. In a million years I would’ve never thought that the Dire straits were British, but from the first “rubbish” to lamenting about the clover on the white cliffs of Dover these guys Britain in the most English of ways.

An album that def benefits from the headphone effect, so many little sounds that may not have been identified on a rush hour rock station. There's a musical saw on track three!!! Asylum is the standout track (so far).

From a Rolling Stones article on the greatest debut albums in history: "Every idea we have of the guitarist as groundbreaking individual artist comes from this record." I remember listening to this record in my basement bedroom, it was a hijacked souvenir from trip to my dad's house. I tried so hard to like it, or did I just really like it? Do I even like it now or do I think I'm just supposed to? I have no opinions that aren't just parroted ideas from people I want to be seen by.

When I worked at a Suburban plaza pub in my early 20s I used to stay well after close to help the bartender close the place. She’d fill me with half pints as I wandered through the jukebox looking for music to accompany us. This was one of the albums I found and I was obsessed with the song Deckchairs and Cigarettes. I played that song multiple times every night (along with Ooooh Child by the 5 stairsteps and Hey Mama by Tupac). As time went on I forgot the name of this band and the song but I remembered the feeling I had and how important a part this song was in this part of my life. Imagine my surprise when the album came up on this list and imagine my utter horror at how much this album sucks. More British boys I’m America face. Ugh.

Geez... Another British band trying to sound American, these guys won't get anywhere

This is the music my Papa would listen to. I can picture him eating a slice of buttered whole wheat bread or putting corn syrup on vanilla ice cream. His lips would smack while he ate. He used to tie my hands up and I'd try to untie them as fast as I could. My mom tells me that he lost all of their money gambling while she was growing up and that he was a nasty drunk. He had stopped drinking by the time I arrived. He used to take me to Tim Hortons back when it had a coffee bar and he'd drink coffee out of a branded mug and get me a chocolate dip donut. he suffered from dementia at the end of his life and ended up assaulting nurses and spouting racist stuff all the time. When he died they showed a bunch of the medals he got from WWII and my mother told me a story about how het told Nana once that he was stationed somewhere in Europe and went with a jeep-load of men to a small town and stepped away to buy a pack of smokes. While he was away the jeep was bombed and he was the only one who survived. He talked about that once and then never again. I hope he's found peace. I don't think he had the capacity to love. rating a 4 because it let me think about Papa again.

Way more like Prince than I expected this to be. That's not good or bad, just an observation. I thought this was going to be more guitar fueled like his later work I'm more familiar with, but the inclusion of a bunch of other instruments (strings, sax, etc) makes for a more interesting listen than I was expecting.

I find myself mesmerized by my generic windows wallpaper while listening to this. This is the stock desert landscape with a single tree of music. It sounds like Le Chateau in the mall in 1997 while I wait for my girlfriend to return pants. It combines my two least favourite types of music; lo-fi beats and quiet storm R&B. Painful but palatable. Low 2.

Personally Jesus is a banger but I can’t get into his voice on anything else.

This was better than expected. Last song rocks. High 3

This was good. I've only ever heard of this band, never actually listened to them before. Me likey.

It's fine for what it is - an intro to the origins of hip hop, but I just can't believe this is the best example of this timeframe. I enjoyed the Queen Latifah album much more and feel like something from Grandmaster Flash may work better here. Plus just found out the Bambaataa was a notorious kiddie diddler, so let's move on from his historical significance and highlight other people from that era of hip hop.

8 songs, 39 minutes, balls to the wall energy that he still has 50+ years later. Thunder Road is one of the best all time opening tracks on an album. He's the boss of all of us.

so fun but so long... I love hip hop when it's cosplaying evil scientists and shit, such interesting wordplay emerges.

Dire Straits album #2... still a no for me, dawg.

starts off with heavy drum machine and synth ends with a cacophony of real instruments. A true transition piece for the band that moves into a world of better music (I assume). Very interested in hearing more from them in the future.

I loved this album in high school and still love it now.

Faith No More, more like Album No Good. If you're part of the reason why rap rock exists you're part of the problem.

I thought I didn't know this band but I do. And they're great! This sounds so 90s to me in the best possible way.

(The) Franz Ferdinand are firmly entrenched in my mind as one of the The bands that emerged in the early 2000s, their hits hit and the rest is fine. They're not the Strokes or the White Stripes but they're fine.

This album widened my view of hip hop. A collective of individual artists rather than a homogenous group. The bets, the wordplay and even the skits are all next level. RIP ODB.

This was not what I was expecting at all and I was all for it

This is what I've been waiting for. I have a limited relationship with metal and I think I've found a favourite!

Was a little skeptical of whether or not I'd like an instrumental album by Zappa (I usually dig his wacky narratives) but this over-delivered. Interested in checking him out again.

Track one starts with a reminder that the 80s tried to ruin everything you loved. Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War is a top 10 Paul Simon song but the whiplash in quality between that song and the next (Cars Are Cars) is astounding. totally a 1 album but with a 10/10 song on it saves it.

I don't even know who I thought Chicago (Transit Authority) was but this is the greatest thing I've ever heard

My thoughts are mixed on this one. I initially thought this was going to be some obscure metal band, but it's like the exact opposite of that... 1968 has the British invasion at full swing and with the Beatles White Album being released I think I started expecting a different sound from this album. I feel like my rating will go up if I ever revisit, but I only got so much time, bruh!

Absolutely nothing about this album makes me think I needed to hear it before I died, except for maybe A Minha Menina because I learned that that song is a cover of an Os Mutantes song and then I ended up listening to Os Mutantes and they're great. I needed to hear their album before I died so that all worked out.

Look... this album derailed my whole project... It took me 4 days to listen to because it's so painfully boring and there's no situation that called for this album. Walking, working, grocery shopping, I had to turn it off each time because it made every situation worse. This album probably doesn't deserve the hate I'm giving it, but I blame all the badness in my life over the last 4 days on this.

what a delightful little album to clean my pallet.

continuing with well needed delightfulness.

Find yourself someone who loves you as much as Jay-Z loves Jay-Z. Way too long, some wack-ass lyrics ("we can get paid longer than Pippen's arms"), but the beats are amazing and there's some bangers sprinkled about.

I'm on my 4th listen. This is amazing!

One of the astonishing things about this album was the mindfulness created by the 17 (give or take) seconds of silence that conclude each track. I found myself curious each time, wondering if my spotify link was broken, worried my headphones died or something, then giving in and waiting. The music was presenting a calmness I long for. This is a soundtrack to a life I long for, one that maybe, over time, can silence the cacophony of nonsense that rattles around this dusty mind.