1001 Albums Summary

Very good heavy rock. I could live without the acoustic guitars and bluesy bits but the bass playing and drumming is absolutely elite. It’s a good, fun record. Best : What Is and What Should Never Be Worst: Thank You

Way better than I remember and certainly better than I expected. The beats sound pretty outdated now but the songwriting is sound and it’s an album jam-packed with big tunes. Best: Vow Worst: A Stroke of Luck

One of my favourites. Have been a fan since it was released. Arguably the best album they ever made. A huge progression from Badmotorfinger and one of the best rock albums of the decade. It’s so powerful and reveals something new with every listen. Best: My Wave Worst: (no bad songs)

Yuck. Okay… I can understand why people like this so much. The musicianship is fine. It’s a rock album that sounds a bit different to what else was on offer in 1970. The drumming is good, sure. However, horrible singing, horrible lyrics. Guitar solos where there doesn’t need to be a guitar solo. The songs seem to last forever even if they’re sub-5 minutes. I genuinely abhor songs like Child in Time; people really love to cherish a song like this. I don’t get it. But like what you like, I don’t care. Personally, this has fallen in a generated slot close to Led Zep II and Superunknown by Soundgarden, both of which blow this out the water on every single level, particularly the vocals and guitar playing. It didn’t stand a chance. I don’t think Deep Purple will ever be for me but I’ll give it a 2/5 based on understanding why it would appeal to other people and I enjoyed some of the drumming. Male, pale and stale. Best: Speed King Worst: Child in Time

Thoroughly pleasant music from Mali. I enjoyed the guitar playing in particular along with the call and response singing. Blues traditionally ain’t my bag but this was an easy album to enjoy. Rhythmically, it transcends “the blues” and there’s more melody in here than you can shake a stick at. A great example of why this project exists. I’m not sure I’ll revisit this particular album many times again but it deserves its place here. Interesting story behind band too, I’m glad they’re documenting their challenging experiences in this way. Music is politics. Music is protest, A good album indeed.

Very good pop music. If I’m being picky, some of the lyrics feel a bit cliché and I imagine the production will feel a little dated in the coming years but you absolutely can’t argue with the quality of the songwriting and the vocals. I enjoyed this far more than I expected. Best: Green Light (Writer in the Dark also excellent on many levels) Worst: no bad songs

Damn good. I’m hoping this is one of many NY albums on the generator. This is one I often go back to. Pretty much flawless but yeah, Running Dry is a slog. The rest of it is terrific with several standouts. A great into to NY for new fans. Best: Cinnamon Girl Worst: Running Dry

Fun, camp pop. Extremely 1993. Ends with a strong run of songs. They definitely went super commercial here and I remember the string of hits from this era. Some fab singles and a few deep cuts that still sound great all these years later. Best: Liberation Worst: Dreaming of the Queen

This is a pretty remarkable album. If you know, you know. There are times when it sounds like all the musicians are playing different songs at the same time but I wouldn’t change a thing. Not my favourite VM album but I love it all the same. Several songs on this make me cry. Ireland forever. Best: Sweet Thing is a perfect song Worst: Beside You is an absolute rabble

When it bangs, it bangs. The bangers are really damn good, a couple of Madonna’s best singles here. There are 2/3 tracks that really don’t live up to the high standard of the rest of the album but I really enjoyed most of it. I personally prefer William Orbit’s production to Mirwais- it’s more enveloping and immersive but these are small things. A great pop album and a great timestamp in Madonna’s career. Best: What it Feels Like For a Girl Worst: I Deserve It

Horrible music. Lacking humanity on every level. Look, these guys can play their instruments but it all feels clinical and performative. There are occasional moments where the melody cuts through the histrionics (Starlight) but the majority of this is ultra-compressed and genuinely unpleasant to listen to. No Muse is good news.

Tremendous political punk. Rippers from start to end. You’ll love it or hate it. An essential punk rock album.

I’ll say this - Don McLean has a rich, mesmerising voice. The album doesn’t grab you for the duration but these are well-written songs with very good vocals and lyrics. (This dude seems like a dick judging by his behaviour against his wife and daughter.) This passed 39 minutes of a long drive. Nothing I’d go back to again outside of Vincent. Ultimately, fuck Don McLean.

Impeccable, gentle, top tier jazz from a trio of wonderful musicians. Well recorded and effortlessly digestible. Bass playing is out of this world.

Fantastic. The hits on this LP are, obviously, some of the best pop singles of the ‘80s but some of the deep cuts (Kings Cross in particular) are among the most memorable songs they ever wrote. Excellent lyrics. Music is politics. A perfect snapshot of being a queer person during Thatcher. May she rest in piss. Best: I Want to Wake Up, Heart Worst: One More Chance

First time I’ve listened to these albums in full since the mid-2000s and I was surprised at my reaction to them. Firstly, Speakerboxxx is hot shit. Barely a wasted note on it. Terrific. The Love Below always took a while to get going but that back end of it from Roses onwards is mighty fine. Made so much more sense to me at 47 than it did at 25. Very talented fellas. Sure, you could trim it down a little but I did the whole thing in one sitting and could happily listen again. I’m giving it a 4 because I don’t think it sits as high in the pantheon of hip hop, soul, r&b or jazz as others on this list but it’s 100% worth your time. Big Boi brings the party with Speakerboxxx and with The Love Below, Andre 3000 has made possibly the horniest album alive. Best: GhettoMusick, Unhappy, Roses, Love in War Worst: Most of the interludes

A genuine 5. I didn't hear this album until I was 21. The cover always put me off, I thought Jeff Buckley was gonna be a boogie-woogie guy or something. Anyway, I was in Corsica for some reason visiting a friend studying there and she had some Irish pals who adopted me for the weekend, made me drink Pastis and listened to Grace a hundred times. I've listened to it hundreds of times since. Magical music. I'm a big fan of Sketches for My Sweetheart, the Drunk as well. However, this feels like the only true Jeff Buckley album and it's perfect from start to end. Best: Grace, Dream Brother, So Real Worst: (no bad songs whatsoever, not even close)

This album is a cavalcade of ideas both musically and in terms of production. It stands up well in 2026. Truly front loaded but a solid set of songs. It’s crazy for a band to have three genuinely generational hits on their debut album. The hype was real, it didn't expand too much beyond this and the follow up but that’s not the band’s fault. People are fickle and it’s hard to sustain a vibe like this for long. This is a very good pop record and well worth revisiting if you were there in 2007 or whatever. Best: Time to Pretend, Electric Feel, Future Reflections Worst: (I can’t fault this record, it’s watertight)

I’m sure I saw this band live in the late 90s for some reason. It doesn’t stand up. Overall vibes are that it’s pretty boring music.

Pretty great to be honest. Bowie all over this but it’s an Iggy album at its heart. This is a goth album and you can’t tell me otherwise. Hope there’s more Iggy Pop on this endeavour. Best: Funtime Worst: Didn’t skip anything

A nice wee curveball for a Monday morning. Can’t say I’ve heard a lot of salsa music in my day but this was pleasant, well recorded and just the right duration. Excellent brass throughout, lovely arrangements. Can’t imagine I’ll listen to it again but it started my week with a bit of class.

Pastoral… uhhh… chamber folk? I was thrilled to have something I’ve never heard generated this morning. I think that’s the true test of whether or not an album should even be on this list. I wonder how many people listening to this are familiar with bands like Wurld Series and Hermit Thrushes at their quietest? Anyway, I enjoyed it. The interplay between the guitar lines and the Rhodes piano is quite spellbinding at times. The longer tracks particularly stand out with every musician having the opportunity to (gently) come to the fore on some level. I would listen to this again, probably will. Best: Penguin Cafe Single, The Sound of Someone You Love Who’s Going Away and it Doesn’t Matter Worst: Coronation (yes one of only two songs with vocals. I can handle a warbly violin line but not when paired with a warbly vocal)

Afrobeat from the top drawer. Political too. Immersive and at times hypnotic music by a complicated genius. The drumming!

Deeply dull music for 60 year old white men. I never want to hear Mark Knopfler do another fucking guitar solo on a Fender Strat ever again. I work in the hi-fi industry and I have to suffer Dire Straits on a regular basis. I’ll never understand the fascination with this band. Boring music. Very boring music. Some of the drumming is nice and Sultans of Swing is a very good song but this is repetitive, boring trash.

Och, it’s fine. It’s melodic, it is well produced, Nora Jones has a lovely voice, the songs are decent throughout. It’s just a bit samey. I will add that I listened to this on my drive home from a mega stressful day at work and I arrived home completely relaxed. Outside of that, I can’t think of an album that sums up 2002 more than Come Away With Me. This was EVERYWHERE. A cultural phenomenon. I have no beef with Norah Jones. Lots of people will (do) love this album. It’s getting a 2; far too good to be a 1 and just not quite a 3.

Perfect pop music from Scotland. I always preferred the debut, You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever but this is a worthy follow-up. There was always a hint of soul in OJ’s music but it’s explored more here, particularly on the slower-paced tracks. Nice, clean production, great songs. A winner. Best: Rip It Up, Flesh of My Flesh. Worst: (none)

There’s just something so familiar and reassuring about listening to CCR. I think I could enjoy them on any day. This isn’t their best LO but one you shouldn’t miss. Best: Lodi, Sinister Purpose, Bad Moon Rising. Worst: The Night Time is the Right Time has never been a song I enjoy. There’s a bathroom on the right.

One of his best, you already know. The suite in the second half of the album won’t be for everyone. Can’t argue with the first half though. Absolutely flawless. Best: Speed of Light, Breaking Glass, Sound & Vision Worst: Subterraneans

Took me 47 years to grow to like Elvis Costello. This is a very good collection of jaggy, rhythmic, smart new wave tunes. Great songwriting. Can’t deny it. God damn. Best: the singles Worst: the one with the shuffle beat

The only way this could be worse is if G. Love had an English accent. It’s not terrible music, it’s just trashy music. It’s not Mellow Gold by Beck and it’s (mercifully) not Fun Lovin’ Criminals but it is deeply 1994. I’ll give it a 2 based on the fact Cold Beverage is a song I know. This would have made a solid mini-album.

Look, this album is absolutely fine. There’s very little wrong with it. It was big at the time. I have no beef with The Charlatans… but this being an album I should listen to BEFORE I DIE? 🥴

Look, it’s a classic for a reason. Taking a point off because Lindsay Buckingham was a snake for not including Silver Springs on this. I needed more Stevie Nicks. Best: Gold Dust Woman, The Chain, Dreams, You Make Loving Fun Worst: Oh Daddy (it should have been Silver Springs)

Surprisingly good compared to how I remembered it. Quiet bits are intimate, the lo-fi bits are immersive and there are at least 5 top tier songs which is good going by any stretch. Best: Everybody’s Stalking, Fall in a River, Another Pearl, Once Around the Block, Cause a Rockslide Worst: Pissing in the Wind

Damn good. Maybe not as immediate as FOABP or ITANOMTHUB but still enjoyable and Chuck D sounds absolutely LOCKED IN HERE.

Perfect from start to end. A masterpiece. Love the production. Could listen to it forever. Best: Head Over Heels, Mothers Talk Worst: (no bad songs)

Why am I listening to the third Beta Band record? (It was fine)

I have never cared for the music of Nick Cave and I ain’t about to start now.

For an album recorded 50 years ago, it does have ‘ahead of its time’ vibes. It was definitely a choice to mix the tambourine louder than the drumkit on certain songs. Anyway, when it’s good, it’s good. However the joke wears thin by the end of the album. I’d say it does belong on this list mainly for sounding so weird and unique for the time. Bumping it up to a 3 because of that.

Goes by in a flash and is pleasant throughout with a handful of standout tracks (the ones you know already). Lyrics are pretty awful throughout - I, sky, why, etc. Some nice guitar work from George Harrison. It’s a decent record but nothing on what came 3 years later.

A real good, grimy time. Rudimentary in places in all the right ways. Feels other-worldly in places too. Think I was in the right mood to listen. Fun stuff.

It’s okay. Softer and gentler than I remember and that’s a shame. Some nice singles on this but much of it is kinda forgettable in terms of melodies. Nice production and I’m sure many people would really enjoy this.

Ach, it’s fine. I’m on a run of decent early-2000s albums right now and I’m getting a bit tired. This album is fine. The singles are fun and the production is good throughout. They have better albums than this.

The start of an incredible run of albums for Stevie and there’s plenty to like on this album. Three all-time classics on one album is a feat rarely achieved. Unfortunately, there’s also plenty that sort of just passes by without leaving a mark. Overall with a listen but the best was yet to come. Best: You are the Sunshine of My Life, Superstition, I Believe (When I Fall in Love…)

A few catchy singles but really dips off at the end. I absolutely wasn’t in the mood for this today but there’s really not much wrong with it.

Your aunt is going to love this album. Not for me but Send My Love is a good song.

Oh you goths. This was pretty good, actually.

Long time since I heard this album and it’s just about as good as I remember it. A slight shift towards weird after the horrible ‘The Great Escape’ but plenty of reminders of how good a song these guys can write. Not their best but not that far off it. A strong run at the end (until the final track.) Good to listen again. Hopefully Modern Life is Rubbish and Parklife make an appearance. Best: M.O.R., Look Inside America, Beetlebum, You’re So Great Worst: Essex Dogs

Third PSB album in a short blast for me, another good one. Had this when it came out as a kid. Much deeper and sedate than I remember but great songs nonetheless. It’s been cool to hear the evolution of PSB again. Not a great album, but a good one. Best: Being Boring, My October Symphony, So Hard

Any Curtis is good Curtis. This doesn’t maybe have as many highs as some of his other LPs but it was a pleasurable listen. I completely forgot he wrote Hard Times, which I originally heard done by Huey Baby. Anyway, lovely stuff.

The easiest 5 so far. Some of my favourite pop songs. Sure, the production is very of the time but try to resist those melodies; you can’t! Prefab Sprout get overlooked in the pop music pantheon sometimes. This is the place to start. Best: Bonny, Appetite. If there’s one song you listen to from this album, make it one of these two.

Complete trash. Horrible songs, horrible singing, horrible production. Saying that, at least 2 songs are pretty iconic so I’ll give it a 2 based on that and that alone. I have a complicated relationship with music sometimes.

Pretty good tbh. Wipes the floor with that god awful Deep Purple album I heard a few months ago. Ozzy’s lyrics are… rudimentary… but it doesn’t detract from what is a solid collection. Best: The Wizard. N.I.B Worst: Warning

Doesn’t hit as well as it did in the ‘90s. I enjoyed the shoegazey elements more than the straight up indie rock. No lack of melodies or ideas in here, I understand why it’s on this list. The Boos just never really did it for me.

Look, I don’t care for Oasis but I will say the first two albums are worthy of being on this list. Definitely Maybe was a moment in time. It felt kinda original without sounding original. This has all the singles you know well. It’s a little light outside of the hits but it was cool to listen to this for the first time in decades. The sound of a band with that world at their feet. Best: Columbia Worst: Married With Children

Fantastic from start to finish. I just love the precision present in every single aspect of this record. Not a bad song in there. Sure, Steely Dan is music for old white men (and I already destroyed Dire Straits for the same reason) but SD captures you in an altogether different way. Not a wasted note. I feel like I should give it a 5 but I’ll temper it a little and simply say this is a great album well worth your time. Best: Bodhisattva, Show Biz Kids, King of the World Worst: (no bad songs here)

I worked in a furniture store in Glasgow called Habitat in 1998 and this would have sent the managers into raptures because it would mean they could sell more hatstands.

The genesis of my taste in music.

Dreamy, minimalist, not terrible indie from a weird time in music. Some truly lovely songs but hard to digest over the course of 40 mins or so. I quite like The xx if I’m being honest. Only on occasion. This album is good in its oeuvre. Didn’t skip any tracks either.

Didn’t want to like this cos Andy McCluskey annoys me for some reason, however this was pretty good from start to end. Largely primitive and minimalist in the beats and baselines but lots of layered synth and a generally full and immersive sound. Yeah, maybe time to get over myself and forgive McCluskey for whatever he did that annoyed me (I don’t know what it is). Best: Souvenir (I love a song where the hook isn’t the singing) Worst: Maid of Orleans (never liked this)

Excellent, edgy, eerie, uncomfortable post punk. Always loved Siouxsie. Four wonderful musicians making this controlled racket. Very little fat on this record, perfectly sequenced. Some really excellent songs but in Spellbound, arguably their best. I listen to this album every few years but listening to it with intent made me enjoy it even more. Excellent stuff. Best: Spellbound Worst: Voodoo Dolly

I had never heard a Fiona Apple song until I heard this album. Here's how it went: Into track 1 - Cool, I like this. Very of its time but this is clearly going to be better than I expected. A few tracks in - This isn't TOTALLY my cup of tea but I can hear that it's good. Very interesting music, some complexities but mostly driven by the vocals and lyrics. Midway through the album - fine, I have now heard Fiona Apple and can appreciate her. Back end of the album - this is taking a lifetime to end. Overall thoughts are that she's heavy talented and I'd have no issues listening to another album but outside of the first 3 tracks, I'm likely to never return to Tidal. A high 2 because I can't quite justify a 3. I didn't enjoy all of it.

It’s time to accept that The Flaming Lips is a very boring band with the odd standout track. This album is no exception. Also Wayne Coyne just seems like a bad dude. For every good track, there are 3-4 super dull ones. Wacky can be good but it helps when you’ve got the melodies to back it up. I’ll give the production a thumbs up. Best: Fight Test Worst: take your pick, plenty to choose from

Beck the chameleon. He can do it all and on Sea Change, he does it to a remarkably high standard. I'm as happy listening to electro Beck as I am acoustic Beck. Not a bad song on this album. In fact, I like it so much, it's getting a 5. I especially like the flurry of dynamics towards the end of the record with Sunday Sun (which could easily have fit on Mutations) and Little One (especially the reverb on the vocals.) Best: Paper Tiger, End of the Day, The Golden Age.

The joy of getting two 5 albums in a row. Odyssey and Oracle (despite the poor spelling) is one of the best pop records of the '60s. Pound for pound, better than any Beatles record. Elite tier sophisticated pop music but splattered with fun throughout. The story of The Zombies is a weird one but, on this recording, I think they might have been one of the most talented acts of the decade. Best: Care of Cell 44, Hung Up on a Dream, Maybe After He's Gone

ACAB except Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers. To be fair, I quite like The Police (the band) and there's plenty on this to enjoy, especially if you prefer this band in their more fun, looser era. Few too many reggae bits for me and String's singing is often utterly horrible to listen to. This man is a bad singer. Great musician, bad singer. Stick to tantric sex. Anyway, the hits on this are absolute elite level pop songs. The filler is filler. I prefer the follow up to this but I'd stick it on again if the notion took me.

This album smells like stale cigarette smoke. It smells like cask ale left to sit in a pint glass for three days. It smells like 3 day old sweat. It smells like a car that hasn't been cleaned in months. It smells like drains. Blues Rock is not for me, especially when it's shuffly and sounds like this. The band is tight and they can play. That's fine. Good drumming. The vocals and the lyrics kill me. Rhyming couplets straight from primary school. Sorry to shite on a Scottish artist but SAHB gives off complete Rangers FC energy and I find that disgusting, quite frankly. To be serious though, it's uncomfortable listening to songs like Gang Bang in 2026. "It was a different time", sure, but if you're gonna write about sex, be smart and don't whack us over the head with it. The whole album has that dark 1970s veil over it - bad things happening behind curtains that shouldn't be happening. There's a reason so many of the 70s TV presenters in the UK ended up in the clink. Then there's the whole theatrical approach to this album, and the band in general. That'll appeal to some. Not to me. The cover of Brel's 'Next' sticks out like a sore thumb on this album. The closing track, 'The Last of the Teenage Idols' has one passage near the end that shows a nice bit of studio trickery and diversity but it's woefully short lived. I can't stand that harlequin-looking MF either. Aye, this album sucks. Makes me uneasy throughout and I am certainly no prude. A complete lack of subtlety which is a shame because musically, the band has, on occasion, some serious chops. Crazy that the longest review I've written is about an album I loathed. Still, that's the point of this exercise, right? At least I listened to the whole thing.

Look, I'm not a grime guy but this album doesn't mess about and I can only pay compliments to Dizzee Rascal. Love his flow and the fun and emotion he can convey with his voice. Kept me entertained on the drive to and from work. The singles are all mega and the rest of it is just fine too.

Wonderful jazz. Miles Davis' life was frantic and aggro but his music was effortlessly calm and relaxed. What a world. This is a fantastic intro to the man. An easily digestible collection of short songs that can either demand your attention or serve as some delightful background music if you're doing something else. Miles Davis has FAR more to offer but if you dig this, you'll dig his other work.

I was once in a band that was desperate to be The Velvet Underground. As a drummer, it was fairly boring. Years later, however, I can listen to this and enjoy it a lot more than I used to.

Not my favourite BPB album but worthy of its place here.

Pretty lovely to be honest. Those vocals, especially when they harmonise. Spellbinding. Some great songs, a few duds but overall an immersive, melodic pleasure to listen to.

The back end of this album is 100% better than the first half. A few classics.

Good pop music. Excellent singles and a handful of solid deep cuts.

Hugely enjoyable hip hop. I almost didn’t want it to end. The shorter tracks feel like more than interludes. There’s a lo-fi quality to this that I really dig. Guru’s style is so relaxed and intelligent. Love the samples (California Soul by Marlena Shaw was a treat) and a superb variety of beats. Hoping for more Gang Starr soon.

Really damn good rock music. I have definitely heard enough QOTSA in my life but this still stands up. Love those sludgy riffs and vocal melodies. It feels quite different from the rest of the band’s output but don’t let that put you off. If anything, this album’s a fair bit more consistent than the rest of them. Best: Regular John, Avon Worst: I Was a Teenage Hand Model

My favourite episode of Come Dine With Me was one where the host of the evening had a photo of themselves with Bono framed at the top of the stairs. One fellow participant saw the photo and examined, “I didn’t know you knew Bonio!” She must have said the word Bonio maybe twenty times. Anyway, this album was fine. Bonio is at Peak Annoying throughout and The Edge needs to lay off that delay pedal but most of the songs are fine. I kept listening to hear if I could identify those trad Irish influences I read so much about on this album but they are nowhere to be found. Best: Bullet the Blue Sky, Exit Worst: Running to Stand Still

As everybody knows, the country of England is a dreadful place, rampant with poverty, inequality, racism and corruption. A constant race to the bottom as the population is driven to eat itself. A deeply horrible place to exist. A rat scurries across a street urchin’s shoe… in Scunthorpe. A biting, cold wind blows the last leaf off the pathetic looking tree in a desolate wasteland… in Scunthorpe. A street urchin steals the only loaf of bread a baker is able to bake due to a lack of flour… in Scunthorpe. The gloominess of life in England comes to the fore when winter arrives… in Scunthorpe. A wolf gnaws on a tree branch, desperate for a single morsel of food… in Scunthorpe. “Why?!” asks the general population. “Because of this horrible album.” I reply.

Absolutely fine actually. Maybe quite good? Wish the drummer would use the ride cymbal even like once.