1001 Albums Summary

Don’t understand what is special about the Pixies. Just weird and discordant sometimes.

Needs more variety in song styles. Album comes alive when it mixes up in the second half. I will admit the tracking of the vocal harmonies doesn’t sit with me for some reason and becomes grating at times, but I know people love CSN for that reason, so to each their own.

Parts are very good. Others are just too much musical noodling with lots of lengthy intros and outros. I don’t think this is for me and really feel like I am missing context either musically or culturally to understand why this is deemed a masterpiece.

My first real discovery so far. I was only aware of later-stage P-Funk era Parliament/Funkadelic. I definitely hear the influences of Jimi throughout this album. I will say that my first impression on the first track coming off Sigur Rod the day before was “Not another navel-gazing jam session type album” but once I understood the context for the opening track, it all clicked in for me. The next five songs were all tight, late 60’s/early 70’s style rock tracks that fit right in my wheelhouse with socially conscious messages and I was surprised I had never heard them before because they were great. So much so that the final track of purposeless noodling didn’t bother me. I will be recommending this album to others. Love it.

Second Pixies Album in five days. Enjoyed in more than Surfer Rosa on average, but every song started to sound the same after about the fifth track. So the highs of Surfer Rosa are more appealing to me and the lows of Bossanova are not as discordant as those on Surfer Rosa but I still feel like I’m missing the context of what makes the Pixies so important and influential.

I feel like I really need a better understanding of the context to get why Bowie is so important. I feel like I’m missing something. Also the production from this era sounds hollow and tinny to me, as if there are elements missing, so this is a pass for me. I just don’t get it as much as I want to.

Started off better than I expected. I liked the variation from song to song. But after the mid point, each song quickly became internally repetitive. If the songs were each about 60-90 seconds shorter, I would consider rating this four. But I started to fall asleep by the end of it due to the repetition.

Seems like two different bands competing for space on the same album. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The two best songs are listed on the cover image. There are definite elements of early psychedelic rock in here. I wish the rating system allowed for decimals because I liked this more than some of the other albums I’ve listened to but still give it the same number. Also ignore the complaints about some of the latter songs. The songs are just silly and of the time.

This is fantastic. I was unfamiliar with Jurassic 5 before but this is quality straight through. The harmonies on the verses and choruses throughout are excellent. Not a weak song on this.

It is interesting but this just isn’t for me. A few moody songs here and there is ok but a whole album is too much for me.

This really just isn’t for me at all. Constant Craving is by far the best song on the album and I have never liked it. I just prefer some energy in my music.

Was very unfamiliar with her work other than Paper Planes from this album, so I wasn’t sure what was in store. I found myself grooving by the end of the first song, appreciating the way the beat slowly incorporated other elements throughout to get my head nodding along. Each song seems to work around a different aspect of global music and I really appreciated the exposure throughout. M.I.A.’s rapping style isn’t for everyone and I found myself going in and out of synch with her vocals, which did take me out of some songs (especially Mango Pickle Down River which I think has kids rapping on it too) and keeps this from a five star for me, but I really dug it for the most part. And I was surprised to be vibing and singing along to 20 Dollar having never heard it before only to realize it is a “cover” of Where Is My Mind by The Pixies, but completely different musically.

This is a fantastic new discovery for me. Epic and soaring, you can definitely see the early influences on 70’s soul and R&B. When I saw it was only 4 songs, I couldn’t believe it, but they are all unique and great in their own right. The only knock against it in my opinion is the lengthy spoken intro for By the Time I Get to Phoenix, but that was because I wanted to get to the rest of the song already. The groove on the second track is my favorite of the whole album and might be one of the best I have encountered in the project so far. The guitar on “Walk On By” is fantastic, excellent tone and I feel like it has been sampled repeatedly because it was recognizable and yet new at the same time. Really glad I listened to this.

So many thoughts on this one. I was in High School when this came out and was witness in real time to the immediate revisionist history being written after Cobain committed suicide and the framing of him as the tortured soul of our generation. It has never sat right with me all this time that this guy who rejected fame and materialism was forced down our collective throats by the marketing machine at the forefront of a wave of rock that was all about rejecting the materialism of the 80’s and hair metal only to then be the face of the next wave of rock music by that same machine. I also feel like Cobain was so full of himself that the only reason he is still so well loved is that he died before he could reveal himself to be as pretentious as Billy Corigan. Finally, I really feel like Nirvana gets more credit for the grunge revolution than they deserve. Alice In Chains was breaking through first. Pearl Jam was more popular than Nirvana from 91-93. I’m not saying they weren’t integral to grunge’s success but they were not the end all be all they are made out to be. I intentionally never listened to this album before yet I still knew all the words to 10 out of 13 songs. It’s definitely been a popular and lasting influence on culture writ large, but grunge as a whole came and went by 96-97 at the latest, making way for the next iteration of more punk influenced bands. Which makes me wonder why grunge gets representation but other generations of rock not so much on this list.

Definitely see the influence it had on a bunch of later genres. Only problem is I don’t care for any of those genres in the least. But this is still pretty decent.

Wow. This was terrible. Overindulgent. And this was supposed to be a triple album? This was the point right after he broke up The Revolution and he really needed someone to be telling him no. Maybe two or three good songs on this album. I was in Middle School when this came out and there’s a reason I only really remember U Got The Look from the four singles and have vague recollections of the title track. The only other song I’d say is good is The Cross. Hell, there’s a whole song about taking multiple baths with a woman with his pants on. This is really bad.

This is peak 70s music and that is my least favorite decade. This just is not for me.

Why is this here? Why is this deemed important? What is the lasting influence of a modern collection of torch songs? I am genuinely perplexed. The album was fine. Not as bad as some of the others so far.

Not for me again. I understand why people like this but I just can’t get past her voice. It is so dissonant from the ethereal and beautiful orchestration that it just doesn’t resonate with me. And she NEVER STOPS SINGING for more than five seconds so I can’t just vibe out to the music. I’d love to hear the orchestration alone to experience that.

Loved it, just would have preferred a few more up tempo numbers throughout. Nice blend of styles, including funk and soul. Can’t go wrong with classic Motown.

What can I say. This is awesome and full of nostalgia for me. The first album I already knew fully. Of course it is getting five stars.

Interesting and definitely see the influence it had on subsequent music throughout the 90s and beyond. Found myself grooving out to it more than I expected. Not musc I would normally listen to.

Very interesting. Loved the exposure to new cultural music. Definitely a vibe to it.

Very good early hard rock/prog album with a number of cuts I will revisit. Love Queen.

This is an all time classic album. Great songs throughout and a huge influence on many artists worldwide to follow. I had never heard this album before yet I knew most of the songs already. Just put this on and enjoy the vibe.

I am not familiar with this genre as a whole and never heard of this artist prior. I really enjoyed the blending of the trio hop style with the Latin and Brazilian influences. This album is great and one I would revisit.

It was ok. A fine record of the time. I remembered hearing about the band at the time and instantly remembered Get Free. Ain’t No Room also rang a bell. Not really sure why this is on the list tbh.

Better than I expected. Never heard a full Neil Young album before and I would definitely revisit this. Have a new appreciation for his role in rock history.

Never got into Screaming Trees but I really dig this album. The eastern influences in late stage grunge was cool to listen to and I will be exploring more of their stuff. Not sure why it’s in the list but I’m glad I listened to it and I will definitely revisit it.

Awesomely surprised by this. Never heard of this artist before but this was a great jazz album.

Of course this gets 5 stars

How can you go wrong with 70s funk/soul?

Unremarkable. Not sure why this was included. Already forgot most of it.

This was a slog of prog. Too may different keyboard instruments in the same song. The 21 minute opening track is all over the place. At least Floyd and Rush have the decency to somewhat organize their prog epics into movements or chapters. This was just everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The fact that it is 3 minutes longer than every other song on the album combined really tells you something.

Another great jazz album. You can just leave these on repeat for the vibes alone.

All time classic

I know why it was here because at the time this album was raved about as a return to classic soul but it comes of like a white dude trying to mimic Stevie Wonder on a lot of the songs. There’s a reason they released the four songs as singles they did, because the rest are not nearly as good. This hasn’t aged well at all, just like Justin himself. I’d probably give it a 2.5 if I could because two seems too harsh but it definitely doesn’t merit a 3 star review, so be it.

This shit is yacht rock for the 2000s, but instead of the earnestness, it is replaced with pretentiousness. God this is really just not for me at all. I can’t wait to give this navel gazing garbage one star.

So much repetition. Just mix it up musically a little.

This is the epitome of grunge for me. You can feel it as you listen to this masterpiece of an album. Alice In Chains is the best band in this genre and this album showcases all of the best. Full of all time classics and perhaps the best first side of an album in all of the genre. It als has my favorite song of all, Would?, as the closer. Would give this more than five stars if I could.

I’m genuinely uncomfortable grading this album. I don’t have the cultural or religious context to understand why this is considered important other than the artist is considered the King of Qavvali. It was definitely different than anything I am typically exposed to and enjoyed it, but I doubt I would ever seek this out again.

More instrumentals than I expected and less mopey as well. First time I ever listen to a full Cure album. Nothing very memorable sticks out to me.

Not really my type of music, but ok I guess

I was pleasantly surprised by this. When I read it was more folk music I was ready to tune out but I liked the songs, all of which were pretty good. I’m not sure I would label this folk, it’s much more of a blend of genres and definitely worth the listen.

There is not one option for this. Wu-Tang is for the children.

It was fine. I don’t know what to say about this.

This album was just a ton of fun to listen to. So many classics on here. I think Banana Split for my Baby may be my new favorite silly song.

The first five songs were way better than I thought they should be. Very funky dance tracks that had me moving. But I feel like it dropped off a cliff after that.

There are some classic songs on here but listening to this actually sounds like the 60s giving way to the 70s and I really don’t enjoy much of 70s music.

Otis Redding covering a number of all time classics and providing the original version of Respect. Also, I’ve never heard his cover of Satisfaction and I think I like it more than the Stones. He really makes it into a hard blues song. This is fantastic.

This was great. Looking forward to more by Miles Davis

This was better than I expected. Imagine is his signature song and Jealous Guy was reminiscent of A Day in the Life. I felt like I Don’t Want to be a Soldier Mama was almost proto-grunge. But the highlight was How Do You Sleep? Liked the varying styles of the songs even though some didn’t quite hit for me.

Tired of all the Steely Dan.

This is the kind of music that makes me convinced that music critics are pretentious douche nozzles that enjoy the smell of their own farts. You will never convince me that anyone willingly bought this album and looks forward to putting it on when they get home. The only exception would be the CIA acquisitions department for the sole purpose of torturing prisoners.

I’m not a fan of the keyboard as lead instrument so it was overwhelming at times. This is clearly the work of talented musicians and I’d probably love this if the keyboards were guitars instead. Everything from Blues Variation on is fantastic until the keyboard overwhelms the bass and drum work.

A masterpiece by the greatest guitarist of all time. I can’t say enough great things about this album, packed with classics throughout.

This was just a mess. Stated off somewhat interesting but by the time it got to the second track I was just too annoyed with it and it didn’t get much better from there.

A lot to like as a blend of different genres of rock. When it comes together, it works really well but there are times where it doesn’t quite work for me. I will definitely revisit this album and may check out other stuff as I’ve never heard of this band before. Definitely a good surprise.

I’ve never been a fan of Chrissie Hynde’s voice. I know some people love it but it just isn’t for me. Combined with a bunch of off beat talk singing throughout the songs, it just doesn’t work in my opinion. I think the band is great, there are a lot of quality tracks underlying the signing, but it doesn’t come together for me.

This was pretty bad, even by Kiss standards. When Gene starts attempting to sing on the third song, I had to check how much longer, and it was still too long, even with Beth yet to come. Not sure why this is on the list and I actually like a lot of 80s glam metal.

It is ok I guess but all of the songs start to sound alike after a bit

Elvis Costello’s voice grates on me. I’ve never really cared for it. The songs on this are not very good and the lyrics are pretty terrible. Not the worst album I’ve heard so far but I had to keep checking how many more songs until it was done.

You cannot tell me that there has ever been a time or place where a group of people have been gathered, having a good time, and individually or collectively thought that they should put this album on to keep the fun times going. This is a mash of half baked ideas on the first half and tine poems on the second half. At least when the Beatles put out their half baked ideas, they spent enough time to collectively work them into one of the greatest album sides ever. Here, I would not believe that Bowie did anything more but show up to sing some improv poems over song concepts that had not been fleshed out. I get that the second side was ahead of its time, but that doesn’t make it “good” just because it was first.

Just a joy to listen to. You can see why many consider them a continuation of The Beatles sound.

Loved it. Never would have listed to this without this project. So glad I discovered this.

I forgot how great this album is. I agree that it does feel a little long but I’m not really sure where I’d trim it. Plus it has Sooundgarden’s best song, 4th of July, on it.

All time classics, great banter, and then June shows up and slays Jackson. This was fantastic.

Fun, old school hip hop. I can see why this album is so influential. I never listened to it when it came out but I certainly do appreciate why it is so respected now that I have. Great beats, great samples, and effortless flow from the MCs. Perfect rap album.

Starts with a live orchestral rendition of The Ecstasy of Gold, goes right into The Call of Ktulu, which rarely gets played live, and gets better from there. The audience shouting the lyrics to Master while an orchestra plays is surreal. Another great album.

This was a great mix of funk and soul classics. You can hear the beginnings of a transition to disco music that would rule the late 70s. Also has some inspired covers of early 70s classics.

First time I listened but it was about what I expected. Awesome beats and Mtg has good flow. I just vibed to it and appreciated the 90s nostalgia and Kung fu movie samples throughout.

Folk songs that got progressively more boring as they went on. Starts with the most complex song on the album and then gets progressively simpler from there. Mostly just him singing with either an acoustic guitar or a piano, which is a let down after the energy of the mid section of American Pie.

My wife would divorce me if I gave this one star so I’m giving it two. But it is pretty terrible by current standards. I don’t see why this mess of sappiness with an occasional rockabilly song would be so dynamic shifting other than racial.

It was fine. Nothing I particularly didn’t like but also nothing exactly stuck out to me either.

The Spotify link linked to a version that doesn’t have the title track on it so you will have to search if you want to listen to it, which I recommend as it is a great example of early prog rock. I was not expecting a Yes cover of a Paul Simon song and that was a different take on things. More pluses than minuses on this one.

Definitely a cool change of pace but I don’t understand why every song is an 8+ minute long jam sesh

Great album of the time, with really good beats and all time classic songs

I was pleasantly surprised by this. Not what I expected and just enough different styles that it wasn’t too navel-gazy.

There’s a reason these are considered standards and classics and that is because they endure. Much better than I expected.

Not the best Zeppelin album but lots to enjoy, especially with side 2 of album one in the running for one of the best album sides of all time. A little indulgent towards the end though.

Good, hard charging rock from the 80’s. Fantastic guitar work. It just gets repetitive towards the end.

He is clearly a very talented guitarist and is rightfully rated amongst the all time greats, but something has never sat right with me about him and his guitar playing. It always comes across to me as smug and lacking passion. As though he knows how good he is and is trying to make you find a flaw in his skill. But that just makes me dislike it all the more. And that is crazy, because I can hear the passion on Layla, but we all know the story there and that is a different album and group than this one.

Very mixed album for me. Some great stuff and some absolute misses. Not sure I would revisit it.

A whole lot of meh. I think this was way bigger in the UK than the US. Nothing really stood out to me.

A mix of classics and standard late 60s rock songs. The band really comes alive when Grace Slick sings, otherwise it is not very memorable.

Finally a Bowie album that I can get. An album by someone well aware of his impending mortality. Haunting and impactful. This one will stay with you for a while.

Awesome album that fades a little in the back half. It has Sir Duke on it, which is one of the greatest songs of all time. It is also fun to hear this as one of the albums where a lot of samples of more recent songs originate.

Me listening to moody, low tempo music in English: this is pretentious navel gazing. I really wish these douchenozzles would stfu. Me listening to moody, low tempo music in a foreign language: this is awesome. So ethereal and feels like a warm hug on a cold day. Good thing this is mostly in Portuguese.

This was probably the most hit or miss album for me so far. The rhythm section is doing incredibly awesome work mixing reggae and punk elements, but the guitar is very underwhelming and the singing is a mixed bag. I would listen to isolated tracks of the drummer and bass player again repeatedly but I would only revisit a few of the songs as a whole.

I don’t get it. Bland lyrics about mundane garbage set against music that is a mishmash of broadway and 1920s influences just doesn’t resonate with me. I think I stopped the album at least twice to see how much longer I had.

Another instance of interesting music that is diminished by a singer that doesn’t resonate with me. I know people love Siouxsie, but I never really liked her tone and it just takes away from what the rest of the band is doing for me.

This was just great reggae from start to finish. Nice jams with socially conscious lyrics. It really doesn’t get much better than to vibe along to this. I am glad that this project is broadening my horizons like this because I never would have sought this out.

While listening to this today, I had a revelation. Some of these albums we must listen to are absolute dog shit so we can really appreciate good ones. This was absolute dog shit.

Well crafted and well produced but not for me. Didn’t hate it but didn’t like it. It was just playing and I went about my day.

If I could, I would give the bass player three or four stars. But I need to judge the whole thing together. The fake nightclub setting in a studio shtick doesn’t work for me. It feels disingenuous. And the bad jokes only get responses because of the falseness of the setting and that makes it feel all the more false. Which just undermines the whole persona of Mr Waits to me. And his voice is dogshit. The whole thing is dogshit. Except the bass player because he lays down a sweet grove the whole time.

This was the first Bowie album that resonated with me. I really enjoyed this one.

I really enjoyed this. It was better than I expected an I would likely listen to this again and recommend to others as well.

I don’t like Knopfler’s voice. I don’t like Knopfler’s guitar tone. I always felt like the guitar playing is soulless. I really don’t like a lot of this, especially the sweatbands everywhere. But the bass player slaps.

Instrumental music that just didn’t seem to go anywhere. This is not for me.

This wasn’t terrible but I’m not sure that I had to listen to it before I die either. I feel like this was some hip music snob’s idea of what was next in rock around the release of the first volume and then that prediction didn’t pan out as expected. I’d say the 1.4K monthly listeners for the band on Spotify is further evidence that this didn’t quite go the way people thought it would 20+ years ago.

It was fine and if it’s era. The transitions from slow songs immediately into uptempo interstitial music by the band were a little jarring for my taste. I wasn’t familiar with the early work so much but I loved how much the crowd loved it.

It has been about two weeks since I had something I was familiar with or heard before so this was a nice little wave of nostalgia. I’ve always liked the Go-Go’s and Belinda Carlisle. Great band and a bunch of catchy songs that go quick, so even if it isn’t your thing it isn’t a huge time investment. Love those 80s hits though.

Very bland early country. I was going to give it two stars until the religious songs came on and then it was too much. A better representation of early country from the same timeframe would have been Buck Owens.

There are a few tracks that somewhat resemble actual songs but most of this is just half baked ideas of musical expression over repetitive guitar notes and barely competent drumming. Just the kind of weird shit Pitchfork gives a 9+ review to but this is not for me

First full Talking Heads album I’ve listened to and it was better than I expected. The current average is 3.56 and that seems to be the right score to me. Some really good songs with only a little of the David Byrne weirdness creeping in from time to time.

This was a nice discovery. A good quality folk album for the time. Better than I anticipated.

Great album that doesn’t need the skits. Listening to a skit of biggie having sex or what I can only imagine is him going down on a woman is not necessary and uncomfortable. I would give it five stars without the skits but they just made me too uncomfortable.

Great album with all time classics. One of the best to ever do it. Don’t know what more you can ask for.

Trying to separate the art from the artist because he is such a giant piece of shit. I know that he is well regarded as a producer and I agree he does build unique samples. But then he proceeds to do nothing with them other than to just to repeat them over and over and rap nonsense. And when I say over and over, it gets so ridiculously repetitive that it drives me insane. There is no variation.

I think there are better examples of country albums from the timeframe that could be included. This just seems like the same song over and over. It is well executed, except for the weird intro, but is not for me.

It was ok. I don’t really care for Neil Young’s voice but he is definitely a good lyricist and influential on so many others. Bonus star for Southern Man.

First time I listened to the full album and was surprised that it was more like Malibu than Celebrity Skin. Was expecting more of the latter but it was still pretty good. Would revisit this.

Decent early 90s rock/grunge album. I can see why Bob Mould was an influence to other bands but never quite made it as big as the ones he inspired. Some good songs and some filler.

Was cool to get another album from India. This was way more funky than I expected and had a number of familiar elements that I’m sure I’ve heard in other songs but whosampled says they haven’t been sampled very frequently. Wasn’t expecting a KC and the Sunshine Band reference on this album either. My only draw back is I don’t like the tone of the female singers in most Bollywood movies. I don’t know if it is that they sing in a high range or what but there is something there I can’t get past.

Fun little live set with some great classics. Very good way to soend 30 minutes.

I don’t understand Kate Bush at all. This is just not for me.

It is just boring. I literally forgot it was even playing.

Not too bad. At least three classic rock songs on here. You can see this is the point where 70s hard rock is starting to really evolve away from the 60s sound into its own thing.

I already knew most of the album and had never listened to it before. I think I enjoyed the unreleased songs more than the ones that everyone knows. I’m not a big Green Day fan but this was a lot of fun and very inventive for a pop punk band.

Another fine Dylan album. Not my thing but I could definitely appreciate what he was doing here and see the influences on artists to come.

This was very funky and nice. I really enjoyed the change of pace. The development of jazz in the 70s is interesting with the integration of the synthesizer. Was definitely surprised by how much I liked this one.

Moody and gothic. Just what you’d expect from a Cure album. Nothing really stood out to me though.

I was having difficulty connecting with and understanding this album. It seemed more like a mood poem and rather repetitive in the sadness. Halfway through I learned that this was the first album Nick Cave made after his son died and it all instantly clicked. This is beautiful and contemplative of the sorrow of loss and the ability to go on. Definitely need to be in the right headspace to appreciate this.

I really don’t know what to make of this jumbled mess. Supposedly it was written as a score to a movie that didn’t exist but there is no movie that would be able to follow these musical themes and still make a lick of sense. The first two tracks are repetitive samples to the point of insanity. Then it is all over the place from there. I used to wonder why a good band didn’t put out an album with each song in a different musical style to broaden their appeal. Well now I know why. The two tracks I actually liked were In a Moment of Clarity and The Big Bamboozle, both of which were heavily jazz influenced. The rest is just a mess.

This was what I’d imagine soundtrack of a douchebag would be. It was awful. My kids asked why do I torture myself by forcing myself to listen to the whole thing when it sucks. This is the shitty music from every 90s movie set in a dance club but all at once.

A lot of slow, low energy songs on this album. Superstition is a great song, I just wish there were more up tempo numbers to match it.

Another classic from Rush filled with great songs. They knew how to put together very tight and well crafted music.

I don’t really care for Lou Reed’s talk singing or his voice. It was too grating and distracting from the rest of the music.

Masterpiece. You can feel the weight of the importance of this album. One of the best new discoveries for me on this list so far.

Not quite what I expected. Definitely see the transition to early electronic and ambient music here. Just a strange mish mash of song concepts without many ideas seemingly fully fleshed out.

More country than rock. The best part for me was Emmylou Harris on most of the songs. Not really my kind of music but nothing that was particularly bad about it.

I don’t understand why this is on the list. This was flavor of the month stuff from 18 years ago and has had no lasting impact. The listeners are much lower than other bands of the time which shows that this has come and gone.

Classic album that shows the band’s influences in early blues very heavily. Starts with immigrant Song, which is the best song on the album. Probably the weakest of their first four albums but still great.

I don’t get the appeal of Krautrock as a genre. The first song on this album was three minutes of the same bars repeated and I was already annoyed. The rest of the album had more variety but this just doesn’t click for me.

About what I expected from a full Flaming Lips album based on the songs I knew. Most sounded very similar. Nothing particularly stuck out as really good or really bad.

Fun songs with great stories of old western life. A great snapshot of the time period and good example of the evolution of the traditional songs into a modern music production setting.

White Stripes are not my thing. I don’t really care for Jack’s voice but he sure knows how to shred. Meg gets ripped for her drumming but it is exactly what this album needs. Surprised there were a few songs I really liked on here.

Do you like the song Cars, that late 70s, early 80s classic? Well here’s an album where every song takes one of the musical elements of Cars and expands upon it in a super repetitive fashion for each individual song, some of which are seven minutes long. Once they all come together in Cars, you have the rest of the album, which can only be described as the songs that the Casio Keyboard engineers used to pull all of their weird samples from to create the sound effect button you played with as a kid.

That was definitely an album. Regarding why it is on this list, I have no idea. Bad beat poetry over ambient sounds and no clear indication of an impact on any genre or lasting legacy.

Not for me.

I am developing a better appreciation for earlier country music through this project. Simple songs with good melodies and lyrics that tell good stories. I thought Emmylou Harris was the best part of the Gram Parsons album I had recently and this album proved me right.

Pleasantly surprised with this. Definitely see it on par with 70s Queen stylistically. I’m convinced this is the only album Foxy Shazam ever listened to. One or two songs keep it from a five for me but definitely would rate it higher than four if I could. Will definitely revisit this group and explore what else they have.

One of the greatest albums ever made. The second side is just genius. Would rate it higher if I could.

Quality early 80s electro funk with early rapping from the original mixmaster himself. I was not expecting the R&B jams on what I expected to be a full rap album. That was a surprise.

Probably Prince’s best album. He doesn’t really resonate with me but these songs are inescapable.

I can’t make heads or tails of this. I should like this but I couldn’t tell what any of the lyrics were and the repetitive sound samples from movies or tv shows were annoying af.

It’s the Ramones. You know what you are in for. You either like it over and over again or you don’t. I like Blitzkrieg Bop. I liked it again the next three or four times. Then it started to wear on me. But it can back around at the end a little.

Hadn’t heard of this artist before and wasn’t sure what to expect. I appreciated the lyricism and thought this was a very good example of recent music but I’m not likely to revisit this one. I can still appreciate it for what it is.

I never thought I would be bored by a ska album but here we are

About what you’d expect from a ZZ Top album. Sounds just like the other one that was on the list. The most unique song is La Grange, which is probably why it is the most recognizable song.

Loved the songs and music but hated the singer.

I think I prefer New Order. This was a little too moody for me. Still understand why it is so influential.

Excellent example of early 90s, socially-conscious hip hop. The lyrical style is till emblematic of the first generation of rap artists but you can hear the transitioning to the next generation in the way the messages are delivered. The beats are a little repetitive at times for me, which is my only knock against this.

Not what I expected from Beck, almost like a country album. But I just don’t like Beck for some reason.

The most up beat, down beat album I’ve heard. Knew half the songs just from being alive when this was released. Not a big Bruce fan but I have to hand it to him here.

About what I expected from a Yardbirds album. A perfect mix of the styles of the time.

Another masterpiece of the later part of the early rap era, representative of the more complex lyrics and sampling of the time. This also includes the first feature verse of Busta Rhymes, as a member of the Leaders of the New School, and led directly to his solo superstardom. Tribe is one of the best to ever do it, no question.

Fun change of pace for this project.

Another wrote Neil Young album. Nothing particularly memorable to me. The more often I get his albums in this project, the less I enjoy his voice.

One of the earliest examples of the Rock Opera. This is a classic album that has been adapted into many formats and there is a reason it has had a lasting cultural impact and is probably the most closely associated work with The Who.

CCR just doesn’t miss. With as much acclaim and recognition as they have, I think they are still underrated amongst the all time great bands. Just classic after classic on this one.

Immediately teleported to college when the angsty girl in the dorm room next door blasted this album on loop for the entire year, scream singing it so loud that I could hear it clear as day through the wall. That soured me on the whole album and I have avoided most of Alanis since then. But this was really good, emblematic of the music at the time and full of songs that most people know. I actually thought some of the unreleased songs were the best on the album.

Good example of 60’s psychedelic rock. Some recognizable and memorable tracks that definitely influence others of the era.

I’m all over the place on this one. If I were born ten years later, I could see myself thinking that this is genius and have listened the shit out of this album when I was in college. There are parts that are interesting and build well that I can still appreciate now. But the whole thing is just so twee. The song titles are pretentious. Some of the songs sound like they are being played on toy store instruments. It just puts me off the whole endeavor.

Just another mid album that I don’t know what to do with. But this band I never heard of has 15 million monthly listeners on Spotify so what do I know.

Amazing album from one of the best female artists. You can feel the emotions exude from every note and lyric. I still feel like Tori Amos is slept on.

These are definitely the guys that got your granny’s panties dropping. This is a clear transition from the music of the 50s to 60s, even containing some suggestive lyrics at times. It doesn’t really resonate today, but I can see how this would have been amazing at the time.

It’s hard to objectively evaluate something you are very familiar with or have strong feelings about when it eventually shows up in this project. I knew this day would come and I tried really hard to give this a fresh listen, but it is just not good. So bland. And slow. And boring. And I was shocked to learn that there isn’t just one or two guys writing the songs because all the band members writing the songs have the same blandness to their efforts. I really approached it with an open mind, but right away, all I could hear was the Blue Jean Committee from SNL and Documentary Now! They did such a pitch perfect take down of this style of music that it just makes the original laughable as well. And even when it wasn’t the Blue Jean Committee, it was still the Bjelland Brothers asking me if I got the bottle of sparkling apple juice they sent to my house. I know people love the Eagles, but this is crap.

I had this playing while cleaning my pool and now the whole neighborhood is pregnant, including the men. Never heard a sexy song about Jesus before but what do you know.

Just what you’d expect from an Aretha album.

Jack White is a talented guitarist who knows how to write a riff. He is not a talented singer or lyricist. Some of these are just torture to get through. I don’t understand why there are multiple White Stripe albums on this list when they all sound the same.

Do you like marimba? Then this is the album for you because I have never heard so much of it on any other album before. It is interesting at first but by the fifth song with it, it becomes old and repetitive. I appreciate incorporating global influences into the music, but this is more miss than hit for me.

Christina is one of the most talented of the pop princesses of the early 2000s and still one of the best pure singers. This album was a clear influence on all of the pop ladies that followed and still is to this day, with the themes of breaking out of childhood roles and female empowerment. Some of the best songs are the ones that were not released as singles, including Infatuation and Soar. But one of my all-time favorite songs by any artist is Cruz. It is just a beautiful song and pushes this album to five stars for me.

Man what a bunch of whiny shits. No wonder Johnny Marr couldn’t tolerate Morrisey much longer after this nonsense. Over emotional crap.

Nothing about this really stood out to me. It wasn’t awful but neither was it influential. This seems like mid 2000 navel gazing music by someone that watched Garden State too many times so I was surprised that it was from 2014 since that made it seem outdated to me also.

That was a lot of fun, better than I anticipated

This was such a departure. I get that it is considered the first country rock album but the timing of Gram Parsons in the band and the release of this album indicates that he wasn’t as much of the driver of this shift as people give him credit for. It is just a poor imitation of country for me, and barely listenable at times. And to think all of the terrible modern country comes from this explains a lot.

It started off as a modern take on Space Age Jazz of the late 50s and I was really into it but then it evolved in unexpected ways to be very moody and ethereal before coming back to the Space Age Jazz. I was very surprised by how much I liked this.

I fell asleep several times while listening to this. It took several tries to get all the way through.

Some mid 80s pop that was funkier and more varied than I expected. Not really my kind of music, but not bad all the same.

This album was ok. Not great, not terrible, but also not sure why I had to listen to it before I die either. After 24 hours, no part of it is really sticking with me.

I went through a period where I really didn’t like Elton John. I thought he was schmaltzy and over the top. His music didn’t resonate with me and everything about him annoyed me. But I always really liked Rocket Man. And then I realized I liked Your Song. And slowly but surely, other songs started creeping in like Tiny Dancer. Yes I realize none of those are on this album, but Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was one of those songs that grew on me. As was Candle in the Wind and Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting). All of those are on this album and the rest of the songs are pretty damn good too. This is the first time I e ever listened to a full Elton John album and it was pretty great. Looking forward to the next one.

I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Was not familiar with this band before but I will definitely explore more of their work.

The k I will write my review for this one in the style of the lyrics for every song on this album: This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit This album sucks shit You get the point

This was another great surprise. Never sure what to expect when an album is classified as folk but this was a bit more varied in musical style than most other folk albums. Looking forward to more from him.

Another album that I’m not sure why it was included. Left no impression on me at all

Pretty much what you’d expect an album from this time period to sound like. All of the styles are more varied than expected, yet I kept expecting the next lyric to always be Don’t You Forget About Me.

Crazy to think that this was considered alternative or underground in 1983 and just eight years later, R.E.M. was just about the most mainstream artist around. This was a lot better than I anticipated it would be and definitely would recommend others check it out as it is ahead of its time.

Speakerboxxx is an all-time great hip hop album. So many amazing cameos and everything is working. And the there’s The Love Below. I mean the singles are great and Roses might very well be my favorite OutKast song. But the rest is just a mess at times. Some powerful messages in songs immediately followed by some of the horniest things I’ve ever heard. And the music just doesn’t hit like it does on Big Boi’s album. It sucks that we won’t get any more OutKast albums and this is the last one, but you can feel them coming apart at the seams by how disjointed these two albums are. Still, this is an all time classic and definitely worthy of inclusion on the list.

Foundational metal album. Production sounds like a lot of others from that era but the music is pretty good if you can get past all of the lyrics. These guys sure do like to sing about Satan though. Album is totally fine.

I love The Cult. This is right up my alley in terms of music. I grew up listening to a lot of this style of rock so I really appreciate this. A lot of great riffs throughout. Love Removal Machine is a banger. Just a couple of songs keep this from a five star for me.

Another Hole album that exceeded my expectations. I never listened to them at the time because I always thought Doll Parts was annoying and I probably let myself get driven by the media narratives around Courtney Love as well. But Violet is a great song and there are a bunch of other really good songs on here as well. And in context of the album, Doll Parts fits nicely. Will definitely listen to this again.

I really don’t like Joni Mitchell’s music and her falsetto voice is like nails on a chalkboard. It comes out of nowhere in some songs and others it is the only way she sings. It is jarring and grating and I really hope I’m done with her albums now because these are not fun or interesting in the least.

This was a fun song the first two or three times, but after the seventh time of hearing the same song it got boring. A little variety would help.

I can see why this is influential and I think there is a lot of individual pieces to like here. Better production and less songs may have pushed this one higher. There were several points where each of the instrumental tracks sounded like they were being played independently but weren’t cohesively playing a song, so something sounded off in the mix to me.

This is an all time classic album. I grew up listening to this from my parents and it is still great today. Anyone that calls this cultural appropriation doesn’t know the history or involvement of the musicians and how this opened doors for many of the artists he collaborated with.

My understanding of the criteria for inclusion on this project is to be influential of what follows, but maybe I am way off base. Given my understanding, I have no idea why this would ever be included. This is the exact opposite of influencing what follows. In fact, it is the ultimate end product of being influenced by others. On this album, she has taken all of the trends of late 2000s and 2010s indie and folk rock and appropriated them into this sterilized garbage. I am starting to think she has not had any original ideas but is the master of taking the trends started by other far more original artists and distilling them in a palatable way for suburban white folk. This doesn’t even deserve consideration for this project, let alone one star.

Nice and dreamy, just a very enjoyable and relaxing listen.

Sounds like video game music before video games really existed. Early electronic music that isn’t really for me.

Another early 2000s band that were supposed to be the next big thing that have seemingly disappeared. Updated prog rock with nonsensical lyrics that supposedly forms a concept album. Not sure how you are supposed to follow the concepts when the lyrics don’t make sense.

Totally fine example of mid-80s R&B. Nothing stands out but nothing is poor either.

I found myself bopping along from the first song. Suspicious Minds is still one of Elvis’s best songs. Better than I expected generally but not something I would necessarily revisit.

This was much more fun than I thought it would be

I was almost at the end of this uninspired mess of electronica when I got to the last two tracks and they were 28 minutes combined. No reason for that at all other than to torture people. I couldn’t wait for it to end.

Never heard a recording of a mental breakdown before. It is half a cohesive folk album and half I don’t know what happened. It is hard to explain this one but it is somehow appropriate that it ends with him asking if he has run out of tape. An interesting capsule from the end of the 60’s but it is too incoherent for me.

Was expecting more upbeat music. This was a lot of slow songs that seemed a little depressing to me. The one upbeat song sounded like an early take on Superstition at first. Not very impressed with this one.

If you told me this was an album full of sample beats for lame rappers that were never used, I’d believe you. Just because cds could hold 74 minutes of music doesn’t mean that they should.

There were parts that I really enjoyed, such as Time to Get Away and North American Scum, and there were parts that grated on me, such as Get Innocuous! and the title track. I guess if you like the beat, you will like the song and if you don’t then it will get tedious quickly.

It starts a little too disjointed and with some heavy influences from Metallica’s Master of Puppets but eventually hits its own stride later on. Definitely a fun discovery.

Spotify didn’t have the best song, Jack-ass, on its version of the album so be aware. Beck is always hot or miss for me. I appreciate the musicianship but sometimes it just comes across as weird for weird’s sake.

I didn’t care for this. Didn’t enjoy either her voice or the style of music. It was short so that was nice.

Blur is just not for me I guess. They never really hit big in the US so I never really got a lot of exposure to them when they were putting out music and now that I am, I just don’t enjoy it.

Very cool and mellow. Different from the other folk records on the list. Really enjoyed it like a brief respite from the elctronica.

I guess I just don’t like Price

A two disc set of American folk classics with some of the artists that first recorded these songs 50 years earlier in much better quality than the original recording. A bunch of all-time great musicians brought together for this project and it includes snippets of them interacting in the studio. Just to have quality recordings of the musicianship of these folks is five-star worthy alone. This isn’t typically my kind of music but I just couldn’t get enough and I honestly can’t wait to revisit this. Some of the instrumental songs just blow me away. And then a haunting instrumental cover of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now thrown in the midst of all the various styles of American folk music and it just works. Please try to approach this one with an open mind and appreciate it for the historic document it is.

The length of the songs on some of these electronica albums is starting to get to me. Repetitive sounds trigger my adhd and I start to get annoyed, especially if I don’t enjoy the sound or beat. I feel like these songs just about get to the point of annoyance for me when I’m not enjoying the repetition before they switch it up. When I’m ok with the sound or beat, it isn’t such a problem. Not sure if I’m explaining this clearly so I guess this is just hit or miss for me.

Best of the Bowie albums on this list so far but there is too much Bowie on here. 5 out of 220 albums so far is a bit much.

A bunch of super saccharine 70s pop that doesn’t get interesting until the first part of the second album and then only for a song or two. If you are familiar with either of the big hits off this album, Hello It’s Me or I Saw the Light, then be prepared for another 20 plus songs of exactly that and your opinion of those songs will be what you think of the whole album.

Another prog rock album. Not sure how many prog rock albums I actually have to listen to before I die anymore. They are all staring to blend together at this point. I listened to this less than 18 hours ago and nothing really stands out in my memory either way on it.