1001 Albums Summary

Some great tracks: Shining Star Happy Feelin' (has such a great breakdown with a lovely bassline) Africano But I'm not a fan of some of the slower ones...

Not an album I would seek out to listen to again but some catchy tracks - I just prefer more energy in my sounds...

A monster of an album - I'm not a great fan of U2's later stuff but this is a classic.

Stylish one trick pony that leaves me cold after the first track.

3 stars and only because I love Paint It Black so much. When they're good, they're really good, when they're bad they're awful!

Adele by numbers

I could listen to some of these tracks and never tire; Breathe is a timeless masterpiece that is so evocative my words can't do it justice. While it has a lull in the second half it finishes strongly with Eclipse. Visionary work that deserves its hype.

I think Satan will be disappointed to find out that his number is actually a 2.

They sound good but I much preferred the lowfi sounds of Youth and Young Manhood

It was better when Keith wasn't singing. There I've said it and you can't make me take it back. It feels mean to give this only 3 stars as it has 3 iconic tracks but the rest of it is average at best. Oh f*ck it, it can have 4 stars, I'm feeling generous

Brilliant and tedious, mainly tedious.

Each song sounds like the long winded intro to an indie track repeated 22 times

Eurgh, this is why i dont rate Bowie in album form. 2 stars but only because of that Stones cover and the fact he managed to drop the lyric "Time! Flexing like a whore, falls wanking to the floor" which made me lol

This one passed me by at the time despite being the kind of thing I'd have listened to. (Perhaps more popular in the US than UK?) I'm really not sure what to make of it, it needs at least a couple more listens before I decide. Giving it 3 but it could be a 2 or a 4 with time!

The sound is definitely of its age now but, leaving aside the covers, the Beatles really knew how to write great pop songs.

Meh this could've been 3 if Bowie hadn't passed me off so much.

3 stars and only because I love Paint It Black so much. When they're good, they're really good, when they're bad they're awful!

Spinal tap have ruined this kind of music for me, everything sounds like a parody...

Funeral is one of my favourite albums of all time; this is just an echo of that sound. Nice enough but nothing standout.

Loved this! Couple of classics, including Not Fade Away and I liked Rock Me My Baby.

Low fi indie rock who's lyrics made me think the writer was a prick.

That voice!

Nope.

Liked this a lot more than I thought I would.

I didnt like it much. Horrific covers of Velvet Underground and the Kinks were the highlight which says it all.

Just never really did it for me, annoying voice too.

That bloke you dont want to get stuck talking to at a.party has brought a guitar.

Like gatecrashing a party that has no-one you like there.

Bonkers and I'm all in.

That last song cost the album another star...

It took 2 hours for this backed up colon of an album to "pass" but it did eventually so George got the title right at least.

One star for being mercifully short.

Its not bad.

Sounds incredibly dated now. I love her voice but this is a struggle to listen to. One bonus star for name checking De La Soul

Totally bonkers and I loved it

Fuck Bowie, he was a wrong un. Still, this album is better than the others I've been forced to endure so it gets an extra couple of stars...

This album was born under a lonesome star...

A couple of great songs but little else that grabbed me.

Matty Groves is a banger but I've never been sold on the rock folk hybrid sound, much prefer if this was acoustic...

Meh

I bought this album as a teenager as it was the latest cool thing and instantly regretted it. I fucking hate this record.

One of my favourite albums from the early noughties

Didn't understand the lyrics but liked the music

Not what I like

That is quite the title for an album. If your man is that problematic I'd suggest divorce over penning a song.

Perhaps my favourite Dylan album. Maggies Farm and Its alright Ma are highlights for me but I love every second of this. 6 stars.

Doesn't have the well known hits like their other albums but I got more into this the more I listened.

Fuck off Boy George, I've got a hangover and I'm not in the mood. Bonus star because Karma Chameleon is a banger.

This was so much better than I expected.

Please do not be alarmed. This is the jazz alert. Stay calm. It will all be over soon. Once the sounds have ended you may go back to listening to music again.

Not something I'd ever choose to listen to. Clearly talented, well produced etc but just leaves me bored.

Not my usual listening but I enjoyed

An album of b sides by a great band, just nothing that grabs me.

One or two tracks were grating and I cant help but feel my lack language skills hampered my enjoyment but still, I liked this more than I thought I would!

Yeah, its a classic, sounds a lot like Stereophonics at times...

Ha can't fucking sing but he can write a song

Never really grabbed me, just a bit of a mess

Reminded me of Talking Heads at times and 2cv is a lovely track

I bloody love Franz Ferdinand. One of the best gigs I've ever been to!

Initially I loved this but my stamina for cowboy ballards waned quickly.

Clearly this is a brilliant album and deserves its reputation as one of the greatest albums ever recorded. However this is my review and I just don't like them very much. I'll concede Sloop John B is a great song but its a cover. The songs they did write all seem to revolve around convincing women they love them and actually, wouldn't it be nice if we banged tonight? It doesn't speak to me.

Suspicious Minds & In The Ghetto the highlights from an enjoyable album

Those keyboards just didn't do it for me... Hated most of this.

100% vibes 0% melody

It was ok, could get better with more listens so hedging my bets with a 3

Not garbage.

Great start to the album but I got a bit bored halfway through

Good, without anything standout to elevate from 3 stars

Joyless and uninspiring.

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would!

2 stars for the record plus 3 more because of Dolly.

Joyous and brilliant.

One banger but nothing else to hook me in

Forgot how much I liked this album!

Mary would not of been proud of this effort...

I haven't listened to this in years and was impressed with how good it was all the way through.

Right. Here we go. My first listen to this album all the way through – I am familiar with his more famous tracks like “Gone” & “Gold digger” but I wanted to give this a fair crack of the whip and not be influenced by the extreme views he’s been posting recently. Starts off strong with “Dark Fantasy” until halfway through when he attempts to sing. Please don't do that Kanye, you sound like a drunk man at the karaoke thinking he can hit notes he can't. “Gorgeous” is up next, weaving a path from political commentary to comparing himself to Ali & Malcom X. I'll forgive the bombastic self-aggrandisement - he's aiming to inspire the youth of today and I'm here for it. Extra kudos for the line about his "balls". Top stuff. “Power” - this is basically about how great Kanye thinks Kanye is - spoiler alert, Kanye thinks Kanye is the dog's bollocks. However, all is not what it seems, his insecurities creep in as he raps about SNL and how they can "kiss his arsehole" after they insulted him. (Edit: a quick google search shows this would not be the last time SNL poked fun at his fragile ego). He also sounds like he's suffering from over stimulation, needing to be alone with his own thoughts. Something is clearly not right with Kanye. Now we have an interlude? You're 4 songs in, Kanye, do me a favour, just play the next song. “All of the lights” - starts with some horns sounding like they were ripped from Rocky, giving it an moderately epic tone. Will the lyrics match the music? To summarise: the narrator is a thug who hits his girlfriend, goes to jail, is surprised when he's replaced by another man, bitter about paying child support, carries on the thug life and then without a hint of irony, thinks that his daughter would be best off if she lived with him because he wants to rescue her from the thug life. “Monster” - relentless, urgent beats and lyrics sounding like they were written by a man named Charlie. Lovely cameo from Nicki Minaj. Nothing deep to these lyrics except an admission of sexual assault by Kanye halfway through. What a lovely chap... “So appalled” - a paint by number slowed down boastful track ticking all the boxes you'd expect. Drugs, women, cars. Kudos for the line: "if God had an iPod, I'd be on his playlist" “Devil in a new dress” – Kanye was horny when writing this track and it ends up sounding like a parody. Overtly sexual and some curious religious phrasing "We love Jesus, but you done learn a lot from Satan". Kanye obviously gets bored at the end and slips into boasting about his cars and drugs again. “Runaway” - could this be a cover of the early 90s folk indie classic by the Dharmas? No, don’t be silly, it's another slow one with a surprising moment of self-awareness: "I sent this bitch a picture of my dick, I don’t know what it is with females, But I'm not too good at that shit" At least he recognises that he's not good at something, makes a change from the rest of the album. “Hell of a life” – Opens with the line "I think I just fell in love with a pornstar"; really Kanye? Or were you just thinking with your dick again? "No more drugs for me, pussy and religion is all I need". Lovely sentiment but I'm not sure you've thought about the compatibility of those 2 things, have you? "Make a priest faint, make a nun cum" ...OK, I take it back. It's not how most people do religion but at least you're being creative. “Blame Game” - melancholic beats with a dainty piano riff leads to more admissions of sexual violence (let's hope it was consensual) as he flip flops from self-pity to rage at the end of a relationship. Ends in a poem written by Chloe Mitchell, who by all accounts was grateful of the exposure. I’d love to know what she really thinks of Kanye… “Lost in the world” - autotune hell. Why do people use it like this? Some lovely use of Anaphora (a rhetorical device that I had to look up as I'm not that clever) but forgettable otherwise. “Who will survive in America” - who indeed Kanye? Tell us! Well, actually, he won't tell us, mainly because he was in a car accident and had his jaw wired shut when recording this and instead has gone for sampling Gil Scott Heron's poem. And by sampling, I mean just playing the whole thing with a beat behind it. Well, there we have it. I enjoyed lots of this – however the lyrics are tracking this man's descent into self-destruction. Kanye revels playing up to the stereotype of a gangster rapper at the same time as moaning about the consequences that it brings without ever seemingly connecting the two. His vulnerability underneath all that hints at a man wrecked by impulsivity, drugs and ego. Does this make this a great album? Possibly, although I don’t think Kanye intended it – the tragedy being it’s not a character he plays – just his life laid bare.