1001 Albums Summary

Before I heard this album I was a complete dorkus malorkus. Now, upon hearing it for the first time, I am driving through midtown Manhatten at midnight in a Lincoln Continental, shades on. I'm wearing a pinstripe suit, I have a martini in my hand and a knockout dame on my lap.

Some of the most gorgeous and evocative guitar playing of all time, and some quite lovely song writing, are crushed beneath mind numbingly boring arrangements and production. Too long, too slow, too sparse, too spineless by half

Play this loud. Elemental, vital, no frills rock n roll played with soul, muscle and heart. For a band so woven into the fabric of our pop culture CCR still seem underrated. Incredible album.

I listened to this album a lot when it came out, so this was tinged with nostalgia. Very 90s, well produced with a satisfying blend of teen angst and adult sophistication.

A cultural juggernaut and part of the firmament of what made the 90s the 90s, listening to this with fresh ears I'm neither blown away or disappointed, it's every bit as enjoyably extra as I remember.

Songs 3.5/5 Vocals 4/5 Atmosphere 5/5 Grooves 100/5

The best KOL album, which is an extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemley low bar.

Sloppy, obnoxious, strangely charming. The guys in this band all seem dodgy as hell but they can find a cool and unique groove. If I was 20 and on drugs when this came out it would've blown my mind.

Classic sounding without being boringly reverant, soulful and emotional but never histronic, ecclectic in it's influences but cohesive in it's vision and sound. This is a true album as a defined piece of art. Richly satisfying and my favourite new discovery so far.

There are some albums that are so influential you are able to overlook how horribly dated and boring they sound. This is not one of them.

The older I get the more I deeply enjoy listening to jazz. Not for the songs themselves, but for the thrill of hearing musicians in the real playing music of supreme quality and expression, taking me on an aural journey.

At first I found this album annoying jarring, pretensious and painfully unenjoyable. As I listtened it grew on me and I came to appreciate it's clear, singular vision and the song structure and overall tone grew on me. In the end I respect this album and never want to hear it again.

It's hard to hear this with fresh ears given how insanely influential it is, but the groove is undeniable. Not what I reach for, but I respect the technique and the stature.

The brutal, blast beating hardcore side of this blast rules and is a strong 4. The histronic bleating emo side of this album stinks and is a weak 2. So we'll split the difference and call it a 3.

Three supremely talented sex pests and one hilariously untalented sex pest make the most inane, annoying and ultimately gutless bullshit going. Fuck this band and fuck this album.

I don't care who you are. I don't care where you're from. I don't care how old you are, how much money you have, who you like to fuck or what you like to drink. This is some of the realest shit ever commited to wax and you need to get down to it before you make a damn fool of yourself.

Who up honkin' they tonk?

Shit rips. It's like drinking from a fire hose, but once you get in the zone this is a suprisingly cohesive, enjoyable album.

Somewhere between perfect pastiche and earnest genre piece. Absolutely reamed full of hooks and ineffably c o o l.

As an old punk I fully expected to hate this but I found myself locking into to the virtuosity, the bananas timing and arrangements and the baroque weirdness of it all. I must be getting old.

The highs on this album are fabtastic - the title track is an absolute barnstormer and their cover of Born to Run rips. Unfortunately however the lows really make the album sag.

Undoubtedly extremely influential and a remarkable achievement, subjectively speaking this is all a bit too slow and gloomy for me. Love the bass and drum sound, and some of the faster tempo numbers were fun, but all in all a bit of a slog.

God DAYUM that's funky. And when I say funky, I mean in the 'tight as a fishes booty hole, stanker than a jazz cigarette' old school cool proto funk. Soul funky groove baby, yeAHHH!

The fact that Oasis are still so beloved despite releasing nothing but shite for their final FIVE albums is testament to how beloved and fantastic their first two are. Huge, dumb, loveable choons and lightning in a bottle chemistry and charisma and chutzpah to pull them off

Music to Drunkenly Leer at Girls By

WELL NOW Old school rap is kind of CORNY AS HECK But that don't mean it don't DESERVE RESPECT The 808 is POPPIN' and the rhymes are KICKIN' And in your head these songs will be STICKIN' This album rules and that's NO JIVE So clap your hands and slap a FIVE

Oh how I adore this album and this artist. Tidal is an extraordinary opening salvo from one of her generations most unique, exceptional and intoxicating songwriters and performers. As incredible as this album is it is only an appetiser for a run of albums that, when the dust settles, may prove to be THE discography of all time. She is that good. 100/5.

This aural equivalent of dropping a valium and some molly and zoning out on a beanbag giggling with your best friends. Pure, unadulterated Good Vibes.

If this album consisted of just the title track alone repeated 8 times it would still stand as an almighty pop music masterpiece. 'Young Americans' (the song) is as close to a perfect song as I have heard, each tiny element tuned to absolute perfection, the track unfurls over 5 something minutes of scintilating, luxuriating, envigorating bliss. The rest of the album does a gallant if not entirely as captivating job of following such a peerless opening act. Rich, textural production, smooth rhythms and harmonies, ineffeble sex appeal and sophistication. A sleek, stylish and satisfying cocktail shaken and served by the master Himself.

Breezy, dayglo, hyperactive and very late 90s. The late 90s were a positive time full of optimistic vibes. You didn't need to think too hard, you just need to smile and move your booty. And if this don't make your booty move your booty must be dead.

Servicable, competent, palatable and by the numbers. All adjectives that do not denote something that is unique or essential. You do not need to hear this album before you die.

Few bands loom as large in the popular imgination as Pink Floyd. Who, apart from the Beatles and Bowie, has so many albums that have reached an almost mythical, unassailable level of reverence? All that to see that meeting albums like gif on it's own terms is something that must be done with prior intention, lest you get carried away with the towering context of it all. So, with ears as fresh as is possible, this album is fantastic. Nothing on here seems unconsodered, not a second is wasted. Indeed every moment for the duration is utilised to it's fullest capacity in service of the albums themes and motifs. Musically the album leans clinically precise without losing a vital smeer of humanity, notably in the vocals. The epic 12 minute bookends are impressive constructions, and the three songs in between more than hold their own. I want to give special attention to the title track. Despite half a century of over exposure it is still a shatteringly emotional experience listening to this song, especially if you are someone who has loved or lost a person suffering mental illness. Sandwiched between note perfect exercises in ice cold precision and howling ennui, it's compassion rushes over you like a balm. It's monolithic stature is deserved, this is a towering achievement.

Along with albums from Velvet Underground and Nico, the Stooges and Black Sabbath, this is THE most influential 60s album in the development of quote unquote alternative rock n roll. You could make a list of 1001 bands from the 70s to today for whom this album's shaggy, stripped down, spaced out take on country rock is the rosetta stone. I love this sound, it scratches such an elemental itch in my music listening brain. This album feels like being stoned to the bone rolling a smoke on a couch in a garage on a hot Wednesday afternoon. Dig it.

The zenith of a certain strain of warm, jangly, intelligent, big hearted music broadly known as alternative in the 90s, or more aptly college rock. This is an album that wraps around you like a woollen cardigan. A deserved masterpiece.

Decant a flagoon of fineste mead and embrace ye beloved maiden or lord, for verily, this slappeth.

Sophisticated country-adjacent singer songwriter music is usially my jam but I find this just ok. Trying to pin down why this album isn't gelling with me when on paper I should love itband I think it's that overly 'aw shucks' West Coast 70s pop sheen on the production and vocals. Needs just a little more grit and it'd be a classic.

Top 3 album of all time for me. I first heard this as a teenager laying in bed home sick from school. From the first curious, careening guitar chords I was absolutely locked in, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. Over the next hour or so my mind got completely blown apart. Densely complex, technically astounding, fiercely intelligent, darkly groovy, ineffably intoxicating, depressingly prescient. What else is there to say about this towering masterpiece of modern music? A generational work of art.

Shit rips. Next.

I'm glad albums like these are on this list, it's unique, it's obscure, and it swings for the fences. It's two epic 7 minute plus songs are fantastic, and I genuinely love the vocals and commitment to the artistic vision. Unfortunately that vision often leaves me feeling like I need a shower, most notably in the godawful second track which overstays it's welcome about 30 seconds into it's interminable 6 minutes.

I tried with this album, I really did. I can hear some fine song craft, but the whole thing is so bloody maudlin, has such an air of cork sniffing pretentiousness, and is so painfully, dolorously slooooooooooow that I just couldn't. Maybe if I was post coital or three cocktails deep.

A bliss point is the precise, engineered amount of salt, sugar, or fat in processed food that maximizes pleasure and consumer desire, creating a "just right" taste that encourages overconsumption and repeat purchases. Coined by Howard Moskowitz, this industry strategy aims to trigger dopamine hits, making foods nearly impossible to resist.

Yes, yes, Morrissey is a royal bitch. My goal with this project is to try and leave context at the door, simply listen and ask myself if I enjoy it, and I enjoy this very much. Arch, histronic, swaggering, dripping with invective, the songs are confident and economical and the production is crisp and punchy. As good as any mid tier 90s indie as you'll hear, I would listen again.

At first I thought this was just another goofy old school hip hop album, but as the album went on the intricate, ahead of it's time production and heady lyrical themes made me appreciate it as a much more of an important and interesting album. It does feel a little, if they'd shaved 3 or 4 tracks off this would be a bonafide classic.

An extremely stoned album. I enjoyed some of the more upbeat tunes and think the final track is probably the best, but some of the more dubbed out chillers got a little boring and Albarn's falsetto is extremely grating. Clint Eastwood is an all timer of a track. What was I talking about?

Cafe Del Mar-core snooze fest.

I was a young teenager when grunge broke, I absorbed the big 4 bands and their classic albums through cool older kids, but never heard this, apart from the singles. Courtney Love attracted so much derision from the same cool older kids that I know I would've dismissed it anyway. By the time I was a cool older kid I was in love with punk and looked down on grunge as sad sack junkie music. On hearing this through I can now say I missed out on an incredible work, surely one of the high watermarks of grunge as a style and movement. Wow. This album floored me. The atmosphere is intensely personal, aggressive, spitting with righteous anger and detached despair. The music is soaring and dramatic without ever losing it's edge and grittiness. Like the best grunge it strikes the perfect balance between hardcore's intense dynamics and powerpop's melodic sensibilities, but crucially there is a rich, dark vein of punk rock and riot grrl running through these songs. Special mention must be given to Love, who's lyrics, vocal performances and presence lifts this album to another level. As a huge fan of Distillers I now know where Brody Dalle took her cues from. I have been unable to shake this album since hearing it. It is an incredibly effective and potent rock and roll album that can not and will not be denied. I wish I'd heard it when I was a young teenage boy.

Vocals? Crooning. Drums? Swinging. Ivories? Tinkling. Horns? Blarting. Must be a 50s jazz pop album! Not enjoying music like this is like not enjoying a marshmallow.

Steely Dan changed my music listening life. Not because they taught me something about myself or helped me through a tough time, but just that they showed me how richly enjoyable music can be a purely aesthetic level. This music is exceeding NICE to listen to. Gourmet music. An epicurean delight to the ears. Of course part of the magic of Steely Dan (and they are magic) is that this sumptuous sweetness is balanced with the perfect hit of acid in the lyrical themes. All in all the dish that comes together is a perfectly balanced, delectable and morish.

Melodramatic and rich at the same time as being brooding and ice cold, this album is deceptive. It can wash over you as a simply a classic example of baroque chamber pop, but closer listening reveals complexity and darkness. There is something almost chilling in the calculated regal detachment of the vocals as they sing their theatrical tales of debauchery and despair above the grand, sweeping scope of the music. It is cinematic, evocative, lush and highly effective. I want more.

First two sides - "Maybe I've been wrong about prog rock all this time. This is some of the most adventurous, thrilling and fun rock music I've heard in a minute. I'm feeling a strong 4 to 5" Second two sides - "The punks were right to want to destroy this bloated, pretentious nonsense. Light 2"

REM is a white whale of mine. Never knowing more than the hits I've always been so curious as to why exactly they are so beloved and canonised. Two albums in on the project it's becoming clear, people love them as much for what they created as for what they represent, and those two things marry beautifully- the idea of artists as craftspeople, using attainable skills to make things of beauty that speak to common truthes and concerns. The idea of a band that isn't critically lauded because of their virtuosity, or their avant-garde experimentalism, or their shocking left turns, but they did the work, and the work was good. That is a band you can believe in and feel good about living with your whole heart.

Wow. This made me rethink all the 5 stars I've already given because THIS deserves 5. An extraordinary, breathtaking masterpiece.

I saw this descibed as trip hop, it is definitely is not. What it is is very well made, extremely pleasant to listen to pop music. Which has it's place. One for when you need to lower the cortisol.

An album as remarkable and commendable for it's concept and context as much as it's content, so thankfully the content is as good as it gets. Sublimely understated compositions masterfully performed. The only thing keeping me from a 5 is the sequencing and repetition which I think will gel better for me after a few more listens.

That exceedingly rare thing - an album so fully ingrained in the firmament that you can demarcate popular culture before and after it, that does not lose an iota of it's thrill decades after it's release. I can't wait for the day I play this to my young sons, to watch their faces as they hear it all for the first time.

The sound and production on this is clean as a whistle, all the the instruments sound like they were recorded in hermetically sealed barns. The vocals have an agreeable twang, the uptempo numbers get the tows tapping, and the whole thing is pleasantly cheese laden without toppling into parody. The two songs that are directly and plainspokenly about murdering your intimate partner should she dare leave you definitely sour the experience for me however.

This music is a balm for the soul.

Music for nerdy 12 year old boys who've had far too much sugar.

This is one of my mother's favourite albums so listening again after many years evokes warm memories, as indeed does the music itself; wholesome and humanist as it is. This has a quality I appreciate in an album wherein all the songs kind of sound just a little similar. It makes for a cohesive feel and gives the impression of an artist working in a rich creative vein. All up it's a little twee but puts a smile on my face. p.s This is where Vampire Weekend were born.

It makes a lot of sense when you learn that Steve Earle spent the first part of his career working as a jobbing songwriter in Nashville. He is a craftsman as much as an artist, his songs are sturdy and reliable. This album leans more into heartland rock and pop than pure country, big emotions, whole chested deliveries and a rich authenticity of voice. This album is packed with bangers but unfortunatley for mine loses a bit of steam in the last couple of tracks. There is a lot to love here though, and Earle as a figure deserves his flowers.

Aggressively inessential.

Beguiling, elemental, ineffeble. A sound world I could spend my life uncovering.

Given their universal acclaim I'm embarrassed to say this is the first Smith's album I've listened to go to woah (singles compilations notwithstanding). Shocker - it's really good. Remarkably ahead of the game for an album released in '87, a lot of it sounds like it could be released today. Smiths, Pixies and REM really were the Ur Indie bands of the late 80s hey. This didn't hit me as a masterpiece of a album, but a collection of very good to very very good songs. Bring on the next one, I'm sure there are more on here.

This is really fantastic. A perfect (dis)harmony of distortion and melody. Some very satisfying skronk and screams balanced with warm chords and melodies that draw you in. Equally the album is well weighted in the ratio of 3 minute bursts and longer, more slowly built up atmospheres. All while being effortlessly, effortlessly cool. Spectacular.

If you wanted to show a group of young musicians an elite example of a band as a group of musicians serving each other and the song, you could do worse than this album. Each player plays their role, takes their time and supports the groove and the vibe. The outcome is exceedingly enjoyable and deceptively simple. I teach primary school dance and one of the first songs I play for my classes of Preps (5 and 6 year olds) in their intro to dance lesson is the title track to this album. Has never failed to get bodies moving and minds relaxed, and never will.

Goofy, candy coloured, Disneyfied rock n music. The King has no clothes.

I may be in kind of a shitty mood today but still. What the fuck is this shit?

Lush and ornate and arch, but ends up sort of wafting over you, not to be grasped, just enjoyed via osmosis. Pretty but hollow.

This is the 2nd Dire Straights album I've heard through doing this, the first being Brothers In Arms, and I enjoy this so much more. It's the same silky smooth skills and classic blues (small r) rock sensibilities, but far more warm blooded. Where I found B.I.A to be sparse and cool to the point of anemia this has far more air in the room, and is more enjoyable for it. Rather than the sense of peering at virtuosity beneath glass, this feels human. Sultans of Swing is an absolute all timer too. Something about that change into and out of the pre chorus that just hooks you in.

What is often overlooked in the moral panic about west coast gangsta raps dominance in the 90s is that as well as the all the things that upset people - the glorification of criminality, the unceasing violence, the outrageous braggadocio, the appalling misogyny - one thing the big rap albums of the era had in common was an extremely listener friendly, addictive sound. G Funk is funk, afterall, and funk is fun to listen to. This music is FUN, ethical qualms or not. And this album, at least timeline wise, is the zenith of that. Every aspect that makes the genre so appealing is turned up to 11 and run over the top of the pristinely produced beats and pop hooks. Is it anal time rap album? Probably not. Is it one of the biggest pop albums of it's era? Undoubtedly.

Sepia toned, wide frame and analogue, music made with so much reverence for the past it feels like an act of homage. Vitally though it never feels like cheap mimicry, there is far too much skill and care in it's creation. Deservedly beloved, if a little too baggy by the end to be called a true classic.

I'm Australian, disparaging Acca Dacca is a bootable offense.

This is worse than 9/11.

What a shame that Sledgehammer, one of the greatest tracks of the 80s, had to be stuck in amongst this woeful dreck. Woof this album stinks. 'Adult Contemporary' and the adults are all fucking prats.

I really enjoyed this. In a list clogged with so much ornately produced and meticulously performed prog and classic rock it's so refreshing to listen to an album in which you can hear the weather in the room. Red blooded, intelligent and quietly ambitious, this fits into a late 80s/early 90s scene that blended folk, country, punk and gothic Americana; think Violent Femmes and Gun Club. A fantastic discovery I will revisit.

God this is all just so SILLY isn't it?

Mën naa ko gas.

Clearly very influential and groundbreaking, it's pretty amazing to think this came out over 50 years ago. The first track is a bit of a slog and gives the impression that the whole album will be inaccessibly cerebral, but the middle two tracks offer some more softer edged ambient sounds to get immersed in. Just don't go in expecting anything resembling traditional song structure.

Nina Simone is one of the greatest to ever do it. A prodigiously talented singer, pianist and interpreter of other's music. She also had impeccable taste and an invigorating passion and politic. This album shows off her towering talents in a range of styles in the vocal jazz milieu, including hauntingly beautiful solo performances and swinging full band numbers. As with a lot of pre-late 60s albums it hangs together more as a collection of songs rather than a cohesive whole, but the songs are by and large magnificent, so it doesn't matter.

Bombastic, histronic and overblown, this could very easily be painfully pretentious and unenjoyable, but it manages to (mostly) avoid that fate by virtue of some excellent playing and production. The music SOUNDS excellent, even when the writing is a little much. The album starts strong and ends even stronger, a little less bloat in the middle and it would be an all timer.

'Blues played by pasty British guys with electric guitars in the 60s' is my most consistently low rated genres, so I was expecting to hate this but was pleasantly suprised. The music has grunt, the rhythm section is full blooded, and the lead guitar is effortlessly badass. Not even King Leer himself Rod Stewart or some baffling song choices could ruin it for me.

It's 2009, and I’m in the midst of a life shattering heartbreak, so I move to the big city. My heart is bared as wide open as it will ever be, oscillating between hyperactivity and melancholy so quickly they become the same thing. I fall in with a crowd of beautiful, cool, ridiculous, interesting people, drink a lot and listen to a lot of music. My sonic palate expands. I'm introduced to a swathe of bands - Fleet Foxes, Bill Callahan, Bon Iver, Midlake - that make music in the folk idiom that plaintive, aching, painfully sincere, staggeringly vulnerable. It catches the particular light in my wild, sad young soul perfectly, and in that refraction things seem clearer. My own aching, painfully sincere, staggeringly vulnerable feelings don't feel so crazy. It's grounding, like a walk through a pastoral scene, in the fog of a frosty morning.

By any metrics it's staggering what Black Sabbath achieved in just five years. Between 1970 and 1975 four working class blokes from Birmingham pumped out six albums that were beyond just 'influential', they created entire genres of music whole cloth to the extent that decades upon decades of countlessfuture bands would ape their sound to the point of mimicry. Simply put, no Sabbath, no Metal. This album leans into mid tempo stoner and doom with enough stylistic detours and tempo changes to keep it engaging. Everything sounds elementally heavy and is held together by one of the most iconic and awesome voices in music history. Essential.

Amazing to find someone I'd never heard of who is clearly so influential. Every sardonic self aware hipster singer songwriter can trace lineage here, and the last track is pure NYC guitar band cool. I love the acoustic guitar all over the album too. Great choice.

There's something so satisfying about the structure of a lot of these songs, the cabaret/chanson inspired craftsmanship of the writing, her voice is incredible and I adore Costello and Waits. However this is a lot, it's so bloody camp and euro sleeze - see the two dreadful duets and bawdy songs about whorehouses. A little more subtlety would've gone a long way.

A top 10 of all time for me and a formative album for my young brain. I was obsessed with The Strokes when their debut dropped and hearing this for the first time not long afterwards made me realise just how deeply influenced (at the time) modern music could be classic material such as this. This is such a fun, cool, bop of an album, personality and charisma out the wazoo and just the right amount of depth. After all these years it just keeps me hangin' on.

Look, there are worse things to listen to whilst drinking a malted milk at the hop with your steady.

One of my very favourite songs ever- Nothing But Flowers by Talking Heads - sounds like it was ripped directly off one of the tracks on this album. Good to hear the OG I guess.

If I'd heard this at 16 it would have blown my mind, but now not so much. It's catchy and has some interesting moments, but way too long, and everything here has been done better by other bands. Listen to Buzzcocks or DEVO instead.

Normally when I get an album I've never heard of I'll do a quick read of the wiki to get a bit of context, but here I decided to go in blind. Within 30 seconds I knew I was hearing something truly great. No suprise then to read that this is considered an all time masterpiece of it's genre. The virtuosity, the scope, the production, the passion and the palpable energy are spectacular. An amazing listen.

Formula for a Marilyn Manson song: Start with four bars of creepy synth/organ grinder music. Next bring in chugging, midtempo, over ridden guitar riffs and meat and potatoes industrial rhythm section for 16 bars. VSing each line in a creepy whisper, except for the final word which is in a hilarious, strangled cat effect. Yell every third line in the most pissweak yell ever committed to tape. Lyrical content is a hodge podge of insects, drugs, prostitutes, rock stars and satan. Title it something unbelievably pretentious. eg: The Bloodletting Feast of Bleeding Apostates (Red Roses for Weeping Widow Babies) Pt II Verse I am the bug with large brEASTS You want to make me unDRESS I DRINK A GLASS OF PURE COCAAAAAIIIIIIINE And then commit inCEST Chorus I am a rock god! I am a fuck dog! I am a corn cob in your school! I am a skid mark! I am a pool shark! I am a theme park full of ghouls! Drag this out for 6 interminable minutes.

Im not saying this to be edgy, or funny, or controversial. This is not a value judgement and honestly I'm not really 100% sure what I mean, but: this is the whitest music I have ever heard.

Imagine being John Lennon. You grow up in a broken home in working class, post war Britain, with no father, being shunted around, you have learning disabilities, trauma and huge amounts of rage, resentment and confusion. You then, in your early twenties, are catapulted into unimaginable fame and adoration. You are hailed as a hero, a legend, a genius. Women hurl themselves at you, and literally millions of people hang on your every word. Imagine what that would do to your already fragile ego? Then imagine you spend the last decade of your life devoting yourself to the messy and painful and imperfect world of figuring your shit out. You read, you listen, you do the therapy, you open yourself up. You fuck up, you apologise, you repeat. You try, in your way, to find make a positive impact, and to find peace. You are murdered, barely 40. Then imagine that for the rest of time chuds on the internet can't stop making asinine comments ala HE SAID IMAGINE NO MONEY BUT HE'S RICH! HE MUST HAVE BEEN SPEAKING COMPLETELY LITERALLY! FUCK HIM AND FUCK YOU I'M SO ANGRY AND COOL There are plenty of other piece of shit rock stars who beat their wives and abandoned their kids, but none of them could write songs like this.

Holy shit. Countless musicians over the decades have tried to capture aurally a psychedelic experience. This dude absolutely nailed the assignment. This is an acid trip on tape. The disorientation, the euphoria, the panic, the moments of terror, the bizarreness, the humour, the ridiculousness and profundity and beauty of it all, this album manages to capture it and serve it to the listener in one continuous stream. What a trip. On top of all that there is some exquisite song writing in here too. Wow. This album is incredible.

Sublimely soporific.

Catchy and kinda charming I guess, but man is it same-y. Kind of like your useless stoner buddy. Good in small doses but lacks much real appeal.

Imagine your debut album absolutely genre defining and it still only being your 3rd best album. The Clash were the real deal.

A tightly wound, emotionally cathartic, quietly devastating masterpiece. The atmosphere and song writing here is lightning in a bottle brilliance, there's nothing like it. This is a high watermark of the Boss's career in my opinion.

Seductive coos over gossamer synths and tasteful beats with just a hint of glitch. All very stylish and sophisticated. Not something I would listen to very often, but perfect for driving fast at night with sunglasses on, or making cosmic love to a stranger in a neon lit club, with sunglasses on.

The fact that Oasis are still so beloved despite releasing nothing but shite for their final FIVE albums is testament to how beloved and fantastic their first two are. Huge, dumb, loveable choons and lightning in a bottle chemistry and charisma and chutzpah to pull them off. (This is the exact same review I gave What's The Story Morning Glory, because to these ears the first two Oasis albums are essentially the same. Having said that I gave WTSMG 4 stars and this 5. I will not elaborate).

Of all the various sub genres of music that have risen and fallen in the time I've been paying attention, trip hop seemed to me as the most daringly creative. Instead of just a tweak on an existing formula, trip hop seemed to be something actually new. Listening now with the benefit of a few decades I can recognise that the genre does have forebears, namely dub, jazz, and (duh) instrumental hip hop. Still, it's admirable and remarkable how unique and distinctive the blend is, especially as it is shot through with it's signature atmospherics. This album is definitely atmospheric, with some gorgeous moments and dark twists. It varies widely, and for me that keeps it from being something I return to often, but I appreciate and enjoy it's various moments and contours. Perfect for a dimly lit room full of dank weed smoke, or a dinner party with sophisticates.

A charmingly shaggy and enjoyable rough around the edges rock opera. It's a little same-y in parts and probably overstays it's welcome by 10 or so minutes, but it's not lacking in ambition and chutzpah. What I enjoy most about this album though is it's relative simplicity when compared to the sprawling, virtuosic, proggy concept albums that came after it. Drums perhaps notwithstanding, there is something in Townsend's powerchord based writing that makes this seem attainable, and therefore admirable.

If you were rating these albums purely based on how well they achieved what they set out to achieve this is an automatic five. 40 plus years later this is still the hardcore punk rosetta stone. Musically this sound - short, fast, loud, angry - is replicated by countless bands to this day. Lyrically the themes, which are so perfectly summed up in the album title, are the ultimate expression of a certain subset of 'angry young man' poetry. Essential and undeniable if you have even a passing interest in modern punk rock.

Sunglasses on, janked up on caffeine, dressed to kill. A little bit Talking Heads' artsy nervousness, a little bit Blondie's pop smarts, a little bit Split Enz's melodic mastery. Of it's time but always fresh. A perfect little confection, lime fizz with a double shot of grenadine.

Needs and deserves to be listened to loud. Another of Black Sabbath's unimpeachable run of first four albums. They captured lightning in a lager bottle, sunlight in a bong. Every element here working exactly as it should and adding up to a heady, undeniable stew of riffs, chugs and wails. Crank it.

I hate myself for not hating this.

Heavy man. I very much appreciate the way these songs are structured. Undergirding it all is some of the coolest post punk drumming I've evr heard, upon which is layered dense slaps of atmospheric guitar, echo-y bass and incredibly expressive vocals wailing some of the darkest lyrics I've ever heard (check out 'The Figurehead', oof it's bleak). The atmosphere is something you need to be in the mood for though, because it's fairly unrelenting. Great? Yes. Enjoyable? Ehhhhh

Oh how I love this band. Lush, playful, deeply human, often shatteringly gorgeous. An act that was serious about stretching the boundaries of what acoustic music could be without ever being too serious about it. Capital M music with heart and a warm smile.

A lot of people I respect love this band but I just don't get it. Plodding, turgid, self important shite with the most irritating vocalist I've ever heard. Shut the fuck up guys.

I mean, look. It's Led Zeppelin. Not so much a band as a mystical tribe of Rock N Roll Lords who cast tablets that contained untouchable blasts of rock perfection or something blah blah blah.

Hair Metal/Cock Rock are amongst my very least favourite genres but luckily this album is so far above the rest of that pack it just about transcends it, becoming instead just a very good rock album. Kind of glam, kind of punk, full of far too much confidence and machismo but overflowing with riffs and attitude and it quality. Lightning in a bottle that was never recaptured.

Bowie was first and foremost an artist. He could have followed his muse into acting, visual art, literature, philosophy.. How lucky we are he chose music, so that we can have albums like this, where he turned his artist's eye and prodigeous talent towards crafting blissful gems of pure pop perfection.

I'll echo a lot of other comments here and say I was absolutely not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did, but as a lover of songcraft I couldn't help but sit back and admire the masterful work going on here.

Oh yeah, this is slicker than owl shit. As well as being slicker than owl shit, this is a remarkably effect concept album, After hearing so many increadibly dense, convulted and head-in-arse concept albums/rock operas by prog bands through this generator (Looking at you Genesis), it's so refreshing to hear a story told in a clear and concise way. Amazingly done from top to bottom.

Gah what a thoroughly unenjoyable slog that was. Prodigious rapping talent and meat and potato beats all in the service of a deeply bitter, nihilistic, arrogant and toxic worldview. Here the 27 year raps about, among other things: date raping teenagers, butchering his wife (more than once), killing his child (I think) and raping a woman to death. And yes I know it's all meant to be a big joke, or a horror movie or whatever, but at least when ICP do the same thing they have the ridiculous goofiness and self knowing wink to kind of pull it off. This on the other hand is a void where charm does not exist, and despite it's many attempts at humour, neither does wit. All that's left is bone deep unlikeability.

Warm, generous, lush and full hearted, in the hands of a lesser band this tale of a robot experiencing a crisis of confidence (which doubles as an allegory for the experience of a psychedelic drug trip) would be too cloying, twee or goofy. The Flaming Lips however, already 10 albums in, had the experience, the smarts, the sincerity and the cool to pull it off in spades. A modern psychedelic masterpiece.

A fitting swansong for the legendary poet and songwriter.

Extremely well produced, this albums sounds fantastic. I love that this band leans so hard into their particular spaghetti western/space opera aesthetic, even if it is somewhat silly in places. Like so many albums on here, with a bit of judicious editing this would be a classic.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would, indeed, there is a lot here to enjoy. Sumptuously produced and artfully arranged, this album sounds gorgeous, and luckily the songwriting is mostly deserving of the dressing: Ambitious but not pretentious, cinematic but still personal, meticulous while still feeling lived in and warm. Special mention to the lyrics, which are really terrific from top to bottom. My only complaint is a few songs, namely The Fix, lean too far into musical territory and stand out as not sounding of a piece with the rest of the album. Still, that's nitpicking what is a fine piece of work by any metric. Bravo.

An extremely successful exercise in creating and sustaining mood and atmosphere. Even if it's all just a little too down tempo for my tastes I applaud the method.

In this listereners humble opinion the best psychedelic albums balance out their conceptual noodles with tight songcraft, so that the listener isn't just assaulted with one 14 minute wander after another, but rather gets to enjoy a few 14 minute wanders among the collection of bobby rock songs. That's exactly what this is. The noodles are noodly, which, when you are listening to arguablty the best ax man to ever do it, is great fun. Even more so the shorter songs are by and large fantastic - Crosstown Traffic, Burning of the Midnight Lamp, and of course the final two absolute classics. All it makes for an album that is sprawling but never fristratingly so, as it's ambition remains tethered as a collection of good to excellent songs. Special mention to my favourite drummer OAT Mitch Mitchell cutting absolutely sick all over this album. Out of sight.

Here we are invited to witness the bearing of a soul, in all of it's longing, pride, confusion, pain, stuborness, despair and moments of calm. This album feels at once too perfect to exist and like it has always been there, ready to hear. A true masterpiece.

Proto Egg Punk Eno admirably balances both the endearingly goofy and the eye rollingly high brow sides of art rock here, meaning there are thoughtful, serious synth and piano studies (more heavily on side 2) next to uptempo bops. It more or less coalesces, and overall the artistic vision is an enjoyable listen.

As cutesy poo aw shucks as a lot of Simon's post Simon and Garfunkel output is, and as much of a voracious cultural appropriator as he is, there is no denying his songwriting nouce. Not sure I'd classify it as essential, but it's hard to hate.

Maybe it's just the crushing intensity of life in the great late capitalist decline hellscape that is 2026 but oh did this make me wistful. Sincere, smart, full blooded, full hearted, just ever so cockeyed. I love it.

I was right in the target demographic for this album when it was released but, even though I heard it and liked some of the tracks, I never quite understood the hype. Listening with fresh ears I can see why it is held up as classic of early new milenium indie. Captures the zeitgiest of post 9/11 paranoia and unease and filters it through the pride, anxiety, innocence, big hearted love and invincibility of youth. wide scale emotions with wide scale sound to match, and enough ideas under the hood to keep it interesting beyond the surface level bombast. Very well done.

First things first - Dancing Queen is the number one greatest pop song of all time. Right? I mean if not it then what? It's simply a perfect piece of entertainment that floods your pleasure centres. The album surrounding it is fine too, depending on your tolerance for utterly cheesey yet undeniable well constructed euro-pop and disco adjacent bops. The other songs can be pretty silly (Looking at you Dum Dum Diddle), but are hard to really hate, unless you're super cynical. In which case, hate away. As for me, I was stressed out after a long day and this absolutely brightned my commute, so thank you ABBA, you goofy Sweedish pop auters.

It is impossible to overstate the cultural impact of this album. Music, movies, fashion, politics, language - it was felt everywhere. More so than other epoch defining albums (Sgt Peppers, London Calling etc) this album, through the use of skits and non-traditional, conversation centred verse structure, gave the listener an incredibly granular insight into the culture that stemmed it, including the lexicon, hierarchies and values. Yes, this includes an awful lot of toxic masculinity. But it also includes some astute political observations and a lot of pride. Musically it swings and bangs and teeters on the edge of overstaying it's welcome without ever doing so.

Music for girlies who turned 22 and finally dumped their dickhead boyfriend, go to a festival with their besties, get drunk in the sun and yell and dance and go "Wooo!", then paint glitter on their face, take some shit speed and good molly and go for a dance at the main stage, hear a song when they are rolling and feeling themselves that help them realise they they were never the problem, they are a queen and they deserve more, and even though life is bittersweet they love it and love their bestie and love this song!

Take away the fact that this is the opening act from one of the 3 to 5 most legendary and monolithic bands of all time, take away the solid examples of pop craft, the audacity of some of the sonic experiments and the impressive sense of cohesion here, and you have to admit - this is pretty bloody silly, isn't it?

The first three Pixies releases are unimpeachable indie rock perfection to my ears, manic and weird and enticing and propulsive and unique and influential and incredible. Bossanova marks the moment that Pixies albums became just very good, as opposed to all legendary masterpieces.

Blitz (verb): a swift, intensive, and sudden attack or concerted effort. Originally a military term for "lightning war," it is now commonly used across several contexts to describe any overwhelming rush or concentrated campaign. Is this really blitz? No, not really. The well made, sophisticated synth constructions run the gamut from groovy, to dancey, to comtemplative, to maudlin, but never gather up the steam to call itself a blitz. Maybe 'It's Canter!' would've been a better title.

I had never heard of this but adored it. Literate, intelligent, creative, playful and clearly ahead of it's time.

What do you do if you release an album that is so lauded and beloved that is defines an entire, ever more sprawling genre of music and, even moreso, redefines the sonic landscape of an entire generation of music? If you're My Bloody Valentine, you don't rush. You bide your time and return two decades later with a work that is equally as gorgeous, lush and dense. One that, while it may lack the certain innefable perfection of it's predecessor, is still a richly satisfying, thrilling and cathartic listen. What makes this such a triumph though, is just when you think you are in for Loveless 2, the band have the sense and guts to zag, offering new frontiers to their seemingly horizon-less soundscapes.

You'd be hard pressed to find a finer distillation of the kind of mainstream approachable yet street legitimate, conscious yet tuff soulful boombap that typifies the late 90s as this. So many reviews saying they don't get hip hop so can't rate this... bruh, what's to get?

In an album where Blur went looking for influences they managed to find a happy medium between serious (and often self serious) sonic experimentation and slacker-than-thou goofing off. It's quite impressive how many ideas, hooks, sounds and textures are crammed in here, with most of them landing. Very good fun.

Strong positive vibes on this one. Offers deft, thoughtful wordplay atop the always rolling often euphoric quasi-gospel beats of peak (ie: pre-Nazi) Kanye. I respect the homage paid to ATCQ in the opening number too, a nod to the past while looking forward. Two decades on it sounds a little dated but there is enough intelligence, spark and care to keep it from coming off as cheesy or stale.

Songwriters could toil for decades and never create something as succinct, powerful and moving as 'Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight', a two minute mini-masterpiece tucked towards the end of this leviathan of songwriting, performance and musical genius. If may sound like the understatement of the century but The Beatles were the real deal. Any attempt to pass them off as overhyped collapsing it the face of an achievement such as Abbey Road, which is probably their masterpiece, especially when you consider the duress the band's relationship was under during it's creation. Of course it's 5 stars.

Classic rock catches a lot of mostly justifiable flack for being overplayed, overrated, pale, male and stale. Given that it's refreshing and somewhat reassuring to listen through an album of a classic rock band you mostly know from singles and find that it does, in fact, rock. It is fun, muscular, propulsive, groovy, swaggering, shaggy, slightly sinister, with a lived in feel and dusty analouge sheen. The music lopes and choogles along at a good clip, the guitar and keys interplay through raw blues and Eastern - influenced motifs, and the vocals sound like they come from a grizzled and world wearly 40 year old crooner, not a drunk 27 year old acid freak. All in all I enjoyed this a lot. It's fun, which is not what I assume when you think of The Doors (instead I think of naval gazing teenage poetry and organ noodling {double entedre intended}).

Regressive politics aside this is very pretty.

I listen to all albums on here and indeed all music with an open mind. However. I also believe everyone should be allowed one or two bands they just hate. I hate Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I've always hated them, and their fucking wompy domp performative male creeper so cal nonsense. And here's the thing, it's not that I don't know they're talented, or have some good songs. Hell I LIKE some of their songs. It's the whole package, the whole goofy fonky day-glo, virtuoso by way of horny clown shtick. I found it exhausting in high school and that was 3 decades ago and I'm still being sunjected to it. Shut the fuck up you slap happy dolts.

I was obsessed with this band and this album as a late teenager. OBSESSED. This album is the ultimate example of a one and done. It hits you like a slap in the face, and has a vitriolic urgency that I still find thrilling all these years later, and then leaves. I know a lot of people hang it on the Sex Pistols for being a manufactured band, but to me that makes their story all the more fascinating and tragic. With all the support they had going for them they could't help but collapse under thier own weight. a good thing too, because if any band needed to burn out and not fade away it's these louts. Love 'em, love this album.

I always had LCD Soundsystem pegged as an archly hip, tounge in cheek party band and failed to understand why they are so beloved. Silly me, I should have listened to the songs. There is some seriously good work here, and the middle stretch of tracks from 'How Do You Sleep' to 'Call The Police' is staggering. The music succeeds because of the long, linear layering of sounds, rhythms, grooves and squelches, with enough of the sounds, rhythms, grooves and squelches being captivating, catchy or emotionally thrilling that the whole impact moves you along at an undeniable pace, layered over with very clever and often achingly profound lyrics. Bravo LCD Soundsystem I was unaware of your game.

Baroque, bespoke, ornate and utterly, exquisitely twee, this album feels boundlessly creative, warm, communal and compassionate. It's a little cloying for my tastes, but it's hard to deny the brains and hearts at work here.

For as lauded as they are for their peerless work in the folk idiom, Simon and Garfunkel are underrated as a pop rock group. This album has bangers. Songs that are short, sharp and catchy as hell. This is overflowing with gorgeous melodies, wise and wry lyrics and, of course, those famous harmonies. The work of a seriously talented songwriter.

If you are ever in danger of taking this whole 1001 Albums list too seriously, or believing it to be an actual arbiter of quality and essentialness when it comes to the history of popular music, consider that the list contains no less than three (3) albums by retro regressive, nostalgia riding, classic rock cosplaying dorks The Kings of Leon and just one (1) solitary entry from the long, wild, weird and bogglingly amazing discography of Frank Zappa. Zappa was many things - virtuosic, iconoclastic, scatalogical, pig heading, insanely prolific, prolificaly insane - but you can never say he wasn't forward focused. He would've hated KOL. Zappa deserves far more representation on this list. This album slaps hard. Listen to it and remember to distrust all authority, including this list.

The word 'vibe' is thrown around a lot, but man, this is a vibe. Sustained atmosphere that hovers and ripples and grooves, lingering like smoke, occasionally punctuated with bursts of energy. Beautiful marriage of the softly massaged brass and creeping electric tones on the keys. Dig man, let this take you away.

Music for sad BDSM goths who like to party. Sounds insanely fresh and ahead of it's time production wise, and the vibe is spot on. Let down a little by some hokey lyrics.

Like eating an entire birthday cake for breakfast.

You've got to be fucking kidding me if you are trying to make the argument that this 3rd rate, derivative pablum is somehow essential in any way shape or form. Selections like this are a complete joke.

Once, as a young, stupid, extremely drunk 18 year old, I happened upon a lively karaoke bar and signed myself up. Wanting to keep the party vibe going I chose perennial rocker 'Proud Mary' by CCR. Can't go wrong. Whilst waiting for my call up I decided, in my ever more inebriated wisdom, to change my choice. What, dear reader, did I chose instead to belt out at this upbeat, good time karaoke bar? The Drugs Don't Work by The Verve. Yes, 5 minutes of the most buzz killing solemnity ever cut to wax. I am also a terrible singer. Undeterred by the boos I warbled my stupid way through, feeling like I was absolutely acing it. When the song mercifully finished I sauntered over to the bar, ready for my accolades. "Mate, that was fucking shit" said the man next to me. Decent album though.

Sometimes you listen to a classic album and can clearly pinpoint one or two aspects of it that are the reason is it is lauded and beloved. Upon listening to this lauded, beloved classic my takeaway is simply this - this is really really good music. It's gorgeous and sumptuous and multilayered and interesting and funky and dank where it needs to be and gentle where it needs to be, it's perfectly played and produced and just floods ones pleasure zones from start to finish. Simple as that.

Interesting, enticing, silly, unsettling and timelessly weird. The kind of album that, if you find music interesting, you actually SHOULD hear before you die. Sure as hrell beats another milquetoast by-the-numbers slab of Britpop slop.

Powerful, evocative, sexy. Something about a woman and a piano man, I tell ya.

Balances the proclivities for proggy noodling with some post punk tautness to make an enjoyable enough album, still far too mawkish for mine.

The people who whinge about Bob Dylan's voice are such babies. Did the slight atonality hurt your widdle ears? Do you not like any distortion on your guitars either? Mayonnaise too spicy for you? Bob Dylan is my favourite artist, hands down. This is not his best album, but it is still an insanely strong collection of tracks. Even the slightly throwaway numbers (Outlaw Blues, On The Road Again) are interesting in context of his burgeoning exploration of blues and rock. Elsewhere it is an embarrassment of riches, with the first four and last four songs all close to masterpieces. One of one is his Bobness.

Oh MAN. Albums like this are why I'm so glad I'm doing this challenge. I would never have had reason to listen to this otherwise, and I utterly loved it. Beautifully performed, expertly written little nuggets that swagger, sooth and radiate with soul. The guitar playing is off the charts, the voice is out of this world, the rhythm section is absolutely in the pocket, this is SO dope. Thank you generator, we eat well today.

Definitely worse things to have in ones tapedeck whilst rolling in one GNX.

Not nearly as shocking as a lot of reviews made out, but well made, deceptively clever, transgressive fun. Influential too, I hear Odd Future and Lil Yachty.

Elite level inessentialiality.

Ever listen to blues? Ever listen to blues... high

Man, Stevie Wonder really was on one in the 70s huh. All you can do is sit back and admire the absolute peakness.

This is an album very close to my heart. 1990something, primary school, probably 10 or 11. My best friend Ryan was always the one who exposed me to the shadowy, alluring things that bad older kids got up to. The smoking, the wagging school, and the music. Soundgarden, Nirvana, Bodycount, NWA. The kind of thing that can really turn a good kid like me bad, in the best possible way. One day I came over and he put this on. We listened in hushed tones, it felt like a dispatch from a room our parents had told us to stay out of. Immediately I knew that THIS was the sound of all the desperately sad and cool looking long shaggy haired flanny bedragled stoner teenagers that our older siblings hung out with. Kids from broken homes who were artistic and angry and drug fucked. That kid would be me in a few short years and this album revealed itself more and more as a place of solace and identification. As the years past and I grew up and okay it became more of a curio, a relic of a time I cherished in a rose coloured way, but hope to god my own kids avoid. Few pieces of art have quite captured the torture of youth like this. A masterpiece.

Saa waay, mën naa ko gas.

My thoughts on this are very similar to Dr Dre's The Chronic - ready to hate it, very much enjoyed it. Some undeniable bangers in here, just hold your nose and let your head bop.

In 1975 journalist Pete Golismet met with the controversial artist Christo Javacheff who was collaborating with his wife Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon on a spectacular large-scale installation artwork called “Running Fence” in California. Golismet and Christo discussed a previous artwork constructed and sold by Christo. - A friend of mine likes to interrupt constructive dialogue by asking brightly, “But what does it all mean?” That’s sort of the way I feel about Christo Javacheff’s cross country curtain. What does it all mean? Christo once showed me a photo of an old motorcycle he wrapped in rope and plastic sheets, and sold for several thousand dollars. “But I could have done that,” I said, “Ahhh,” he smiled, “but you didn’t!”

Pound for pound it's absurd the number of beautiful little folk pop nuggets Simon and Garfunkel pooped out in the 60s, this album is chock full of them. With 12 songs in just about half an hour it's also a good argument for two and a half minutes being the ideal length of time for all songs.

Hardcore was never before or since done with such intelligence, ferocity, individuality and wit. This album blew my tiny teenage mind back in the day and still has the power to, because it fuckin rips. Top 5 punk masterpieces of all time.

Just gorgeous. There's something about jazz that lends itself so perfectly to being poppified, and this is a perfect example. Utterly delicious.

Wow. Conceptually and aesthetically this album decolonises rock n roll. Interpreting and remixing the alternative rock canon (Modern Lovers, Pixies, Clash) thrumming with punk energy and DIY ethos, and inviting 3rd world and First Nation's cultures to kick and dance all over it, this is defiant, essential, future music. The fact that it pisses off the squares is a nice bonus.

Undeniably fun and enjoyable. That falsetto OOOH! Is worth 5 stars alone.

Bombastic theatre kid indie perfection.

I'm so ready to love The Smiths but I fear that in my early 40s I may have left my run too late. This album is laudibly crafted and engaging in it's atmosphere and dynamics, but given I wasn't caught up in it's big feelings as a teenager I am missing something I think.

You know that part in The Simpsons when Homer's watching Twin Peaks and he says "Brilliant. I have absolutely no idea what's going on"? Yeah.

I really enjoyed this. I don't know enough about Eno and his evolution as an artist, I've heard Here Come the Warm Jets and Music for Airports and now this, which seems transitional between the two. It seems to me that this album saw him move away from traditional song structures towards smaller, self contained pieces, little nuggets of ideas floating in vibe-y minimalist grooves. Listening in one sitting it becomes a perfect 'middle distance' album: something you can have on the background that still rewards attention.

To be frank, this is cringe inducing juvenalia only on this list by virtue of it's vastly superior successor.

As a died in the wool singer-songwriter guy it is a revelation to really listen to albums like these, clearly so influential, and consider the importance and popularity of genres of music that don't use typical verse - chorus - bridge 3 minute structures. Music like this works with grooves, layers, atmosphere, textures and vibes. It's super effective and super fun. I can hear the blurprint for a whole galaxy of dance music here. Good stuff Prince you horny little dynamo.

You have to be pretty cynical not to enjoy this on at least some level. Utterly silly and ornately theatrical, more akin to show tunes than punk rock, this is regal and righteous and lots of fun. Hail Satan.

How does he make these sounds? Extremely atmospheric, languid, sleezy and engrossing, for me it got a little much by the end, I felt like I needed a shower and a decent night sleep.

Oh gosh I really enjoyed this. Lived in music with character, soul and breathing room. Familiar but utterly unique, full hearted and clever and gorgeous. I will be listening to this a lot more.

An admirable melange of styles, folky, roots, chamber pop and almost proto punk. For me the all American good old boy vocals let it down, that's a sound I just can't dig.

The early 00s rock revival is easy to mock in retrospect, but the leading lights rose to the top and it produced two or three truly great bands, The White Stripes being one. As much as a 'saviours of guitar rock' tag can be a curse for a band, it is remarkable to look back and see when a band was able to put something out that felt really new and thrilling, even moreso when it wears it's influences so openly. The White Stripes were not the only Motor City band that played stripped back, amped up blues pop rock, but they did it with the most verve, nerve and brilliance.

The classic dual strings and harmony choral vocals that is so ubiquitous in early pop songs is probably my most hated musical trope, it's so sickenly sweet and shmaltzy. Unfortunately that this album is dripping in it because the bops are still there. Can't make it past the shmaltz though. Sorry Ray.

The sound of a band who are locked the fuck in and mining a deep vein of form. Taut, tight and extremely economical (seriously, count how many drum fills you hear), this still brims with character, atmosphere and a thrumming energy. As close as you'll get to a dictionary definition of 'rock n roll' in this listeners opinion.

Genre labels are a funny thing. Everything I read about this band kept describing them as British folk, so I expected something very 'tiddly iddly hi nonny hey'. Instead we have a slap of really quite progressive proto psych and even proto punk guitar filtered through folk forms. It's really really good!

I have somehow made it my entire 43 years without listening to a Kanye album front to back. This is not from some principaled stance, it's just a blind spot. Listening to this then, his charismatic, gregarious, soulful and shit eating debut, my biggest take away is how ultimately sad his downfall is. Not sad out of sympathy for him, but sad at the loss and corruption of the bright, youthful, cheeky, and optimistic presence who is swinging for the fences here. For that young man to be bought so low by his own hubris, mania, ego, addiction and mental illness - it's some Greek tragedy shit. As for the music? It's pretty hard to deny I'm afraid.

There are groove, there are grooves, and then there is afrobeat.

Sometimes I Know He Is The GOAT

Yeah, nah.

Wow. I have never heard anything like this before. The sounds bellow and thunder and roll at you before catching you in their current and lulling you along and under, only to spit you back out into the maelstrom again. As you surrender into the vortex you grasp it's elemental power and beauty. Quite simply extraordinary.

Remarkable that this is often considered the weakest of Nick Drake's haunting, breathtaking run. It's a beautiful little album, and were it not for a few missteps towards the end (the extended jazz-out 'Poor Boy' especially), would be an all timer. Interesting just how much modern twee folk pop I hear here. 'Hazey Jane II' is the best song Belle and Sebastian never wrote.

If at age 20 you are not a fan of The Doors you have no heart. If at age 30 you are still a fan of The Doors you have no brain.

A novelty Bongo drum album? In this economy?

Music to make love to your old lady to

There's nothing particularly egregious about this album - it's well played and produced, creative and interesting. However, as with so much vaunted early augts rock revival/landfill indie bands, you are left feeling not a great deal. All style, not that much substance.

Plodding, mopey, self serious dirges in which the overwhelming emotion is guilt. Maybe old mate needs to come out and he'll gain a more healthy and positive approach to life?

Green Day were one of my first favourite bands. Dookie changed my life when I heard it as an 11 year old in '94. It was one of the handful of albums that set the trajectory for my tastes and identity for my entire teens and into my twenties. I was a very different 21 year old when I heard this for the first time. Much more jaded and into far heavier punk and hardcore. To that 21 year old this was at best a cutesy novelty and at worse a gross, overly commercial betrayal. It certainly signalled the end of Green Day being one of my favourite bands. Revisiting it for the first time my opinion has softened. It's a lot of fun! Billie Joe seems like a good guy, ambitious and earnest, more in the lineage of songwriters like Paul McCartney and Paul Simon than Lou Reed and Jello Biafra. He has a strong grasp of rock n roll structures and melody, and he swings for the fences here. The biggest touch points on this album are, of course, other rock operas, most notably Tommy, but there are little referneces and easter eggs littered throughout to classic rock. There are some moments that haven't held up, most notable the two 'balleds' the turgid Wake Me Up Before September Ends and Boullevard of Broken Dreams. The upbeat numbers are a lot of fun, and the multi song pieces are enjoyable in their composition without overstaying their welcome or being too clever. This album was definitely the moment Green Day left behind any remaining punk cred and fully embraced their theatre kid future. 21 year old me was furious, but I've changed. It's good to change. Green Day changed and acheived one of the most successful second acts in modern rock. Good job guys.