1001 Albums Summary

Ok well, its a good album. Listened to it many times. I prefer neon bible or whatever it was after this but rebellion and wake up still go extra hard. We can forget about their more recent stuff since butler turned out to be... himself

Iconic album from my youth, it set the stage for a lot of my habits. It has definitely aged more like milk than wine, but it still has the same visceral qualities that I once loved

Still an annoying singer but I can appreciate the love he puts into it

Did I think I would like a Billy Joel album to this extent? No. As someone who was born in the UK, Billy Joel was seen as American shlock. I still think Just The Way You Are is a dreadful song, but the rest of it is so good, you forget.

Little Wing has to be up there for one of the greatest songs ever created, and I will always argue how important it is. The fact they also have Castles Made of Sand and Up From the Skies on this album makes me give it top marks. Nothing to fault on this album at all.

As a Bowie fan of pretty much all of his work, especially including his maligned later stuff, ive never been massively attracted to Heroes as an album. Some of the tracks are just weak and not the best Eno collab in that Trilogy. A strong 4 slightly let down by too much cocaine

Is this good as Movin On Up? Does it ever live up to that track? No. Its a good representation of the music scene and how it evolved, its just not really that strong.

Perfection in an album to be honest. Is he one of my favourite motown artists? No, but this is one of his three albums that absolutely kills me every time I listen. Never bore of it.

Forgetting Boy George's somewhat offensive behaviour, as a little gay boy growing up, he was one of the only representations i had growing up. What a voice. It suffers due to its age and some of the sounds not being as cool or modern as they were at the time.

The Kinks will always be more enjoyable to me than the Stones and Beatles. I don't rate this as one of their best, but Arthur is still a banger. The textures of this album and the 'vibes' are unmatched

It feels weird to rate such an iconic album at less than a 5, especially when this was one of my dad's favourite albums. Some of the songs are brilliant, unbeatable, and then the sleazy blues arrive to beat you over the head and you realise that this isnt truly a great album, just a very good one.

What can Ginger Baker not do on drums in that period. Phenomenal. Fela Kuti has always been a musician I respected rather than liked. Maybe it was the relisten but it absolutely clicked this time.

I was firmly in my teenage years when this album came out, I would've been exactly the target audience, but I'd listened to Dookie and Nimrod before this, so my general reaction to this was "what is this punk opera shit about". For many years I avoided this album. Listened to it last year as my partner was due to go to their gigs. Still didn't hit. Sitting down with it again, it's still a frustrating album. There's some great tracks in this - Letterbomb, Extraordinary Girl, and with the exception of Jesus of Suburbia which is about 2 minutes too long, all of the singles still hold up. Does it make me take back all the crap I gave it 20 years ago? Nah, but it's not a bad album.

I'd never heard this. I'd heard Strawberry Letter 23 but not from Shuggie. What a shame, I feel like my life is already better for listening to this album. The drums are so modern sounding, the funk is unreal.

Is this album as good as Wiley, Ghetts, Kano, even Bizzle? To stand against the best of grime this album needs to offer something. To be so critically lauded for what is quite a mediocre album with 2 good singles simply because this was the first time anyone had seen grime in the mainstream was a mistake. Im more of a UKHH head so I struggle with an implicit bias against grime, but this album is not the one to bring to a fight.

Alright, maybe Gold Rush didn't hit, but this ROCKS. I didn't know Neil Young had it in him. First half - a 3.5, second half is a 5. The SOUND of that guitar makes you forget Neil Young's voice here, and it ain't even that bad! I will come back to this album, maybe I'll give it a 5 then, but I did not expect to love this.

Is it a very white man singing soul? yes, but it's Bowie. Bowie wins.

An album and artist I'd never heard of - what a shame. I can see why this was seen as one of the first albums of Britpop. Unapologetically British, dark, sardonic, exactly how I want my music from the 90s. Singer seems like a bit of a twat though.

If I'm honest - I don't have much to say. Mr Soul is a great opener. The rest of the album just does not live up to this. Notoroiosuly not a massive fan of Young's voice but... passable. Fine. Stills' voice is good. Latter part of the album sinks. It's.... alright.

I've never had an issue with Dylan's voice, but I can appreciate when someone says they don't like it. Despite being a divisive nasal voice, you have to look past it to an extent, to the words, the melodies, the gorgeous backing band. Superior.

Im not a massive jazz fan and struggle to understand it sometimes. This is different. This is a masterpiece.

As someone who likes the Cure in passing, and has never delved apart from Disintegration, this was a good detour into understanding their other work. Still moody, still works.

I was really tempted to give this a 1, but this is probably a disservice. As someone who was a kid even past be here now and was at uni when they split, Oasis has always been the dominant band within yer normal brit taste. I hated it, I hated them, I hated how they had ripped past bands like Suede and Pulp and numerous Britpop bands, even Stone Roses, that they were never as good as, and we had to swallow it and nod along while the 100th person of the day shouts out Wonderwall. I did this project partly to reevaluate what I liked and disliked growing up and whether my tastes have matured. They obviously havent because this still sounds like shit. Catchy though

I'm sorry, I really did try and like this, but this album made me go slightly mad. I can appreciate the musicianship at certain times, but this gave me a headache.

I think its slightly unfair for me to rate this one - I'm a huge Hot Chip fan. I don't think this is their best work, but this album summarises the band the best out of anything else. Great work boys, keep it up x

Sad listening to this one knowing the very known history of how close it was to his death. They were at the peak of their power and the confidence in these recordings is reflective of that. I don't think this is as good as their studio stuff, but is still kicks you in the gut.

This is lovely isn't it. Coffee shop music but Norah has a great voice. Theres a reason why this is still played, still regarded, and why Norah Jones is still beloved. I wish there was more experimentation on this, but I'm not complaining. It's lovely.

Not as good as Zen Arcade, so it would be odd if that wasnt included... but I love this album. Very influential when I was growing up... its lost its thrill a bit, but I will never not love Husker Du

I really loved this. I've got a general thing for gruff voices, and so adding in the sensibilities of the Beach Boys meant this was always going to be a winner. Never been a huge fan of the Beach Boys' solo work, apparently, except for this one.

This is really really good you know. Punk isnt my genre, I'm more of a post-punk boy, but the production is top-notch (thanks Joan), the frontman lyricist is absolutely what this band needs, but my god, Pat Smear MAKES this album. His guitar work ascents this to at least an 8.

I was surprised by this album. Fast Car is obviously a genius song - can't be denied, but this whole album is stellar. Great lyrics, good musicianship and a singer who MEANS it. Tracy's great.

It's fine. It's a good album. All it does is reinforce my opinion that REM are largely a singles band, with the exception of Murmur. I always rate the production on their stuff though.

I gave the Nitty Gritty band a lot of shit, and good reason, but this Honky Tonk stuff is GOOD. He's not quite got the voice to pull it off sometimes, and I think the lyrics are a bit.... weird, but if this is the kind of country I have to listen to, I'll be much more grateful.

Brown Paper Bag is one of the best DnB tracks ever made. I was never into it as much as my brother was, but this was one of the essential albums that I listened to a while ago. It doesn't quite hit as hard as it used to, but this was revolutionary for its time, and still, for me, holds up. It is too long though.

I have a feeling people are ignorant or forget the fact that this album launched a new era. Anyone giving this a 1 star review quite clearly hates joy and happiness. For better or for worse, she changed pop music for decades with this. The first 3 songs of this album are absolute perfection. Yeah, it's dated, but it's still an obvious 5 stars x

I love Elvis Costello. Is this his best album? no, but his first 4 or so albums were perfection. This one is up there.

Very mid, but has at least passion and drive behind it, you can tell they put a lot of effort into it, it's just a shame that their brand of neo-psychedelia wasn't particularly interesting

Stunning, beautiful, gorgeous. Of course it's inspired by a lot of other artists, but this was one of the first times experimentation hit the mainstream. And plus pretty much every track is sublime.

Street Fighting Man and Sympathy are perfect tracks. Stray Cat Blues and No Expectations are up there. The rest of the tracks do lack... something, but that doesn't mean they're bad tracks. This is quite clearly and obviously the band finding their feet as genuine artists, a 4 just because it doesn't quite reach the levels of the next few albums. It feels incomplete without those to consider.