1001 Albums Summary

The only good thing about it was that it was short. To me punk needs to be intense, clever, or have a fun singalong attitude. This had none of those.

A great discovery. Equal parts fun, weird, clever, and groovy. Particularly Skies over Cairo and Hail Bop.

Uneven. The title track was off putting, but the following ballads made up for it (Love’s Enough and One Night Stand). Like a strange cross of Randy Newman and Charles Aznavour. Not bad.

Even the songs I didn’t know were great. She’s a force of nature.

A nice surprise. Good variety between classic folk pop, weird space, and eastern tuning psych leaning stuff. At least 3 great songs with maybe 1 clunker along the way.

I think it’s not good. His voice is fine, but the lyrics are not clever or interesting and the production is weak. Sorry East Coast, this isn’t it.

I’m a little surprised I didn’t like this more than I did. But still good energy and fun. I think the outtakes were some of the best tracks.

What a great album. Melancholy, weird, poppy. A nice mix, glad to be introduced to these guys.

As a songwriter, Prince is maddeningly inconsistent. I wanted to like this album, but there are just a lot of clunkers in here. The high points like I Could Never and The Cross are great nonetheless.

Airy, fun, odd, made me smile. What more do you want?

What a cynical and empty album. Ok for the nostalgia listen I suppose but that’s it.

It wasn’t actively bad, but I have already forgotten about it. 100% vanilla.

Maybe this was groundbreaking at the time but no extra credit for that. It doesn’t stand up. Corny and uninteresting.

Was expecting abrasive proto-metal but was surprised to hear more like classic rock tuned a little darker. Very good. Also, I’m a sucker for sick bass lines what can I say?

21 songs… I feel I’m on a one man crusade against double albums. If this was trimmed to the 9 or 10 best it would be perfect. Very high highs.

A standout album. Really interesting mix of songs that were enjoyable all the way through. With one exception - Aisha was a poor attempt at being edgy or something. A track to skip next time. Otherwise awesome.

Clear, simple, powerful. Is there a better songwriter in the world? Great voice too. Great album.

Creative, innovative, and displayed a wide variety of styles (almost to the point of losing coherence). Best stuff for me was Gallows, Loving You, and Roy Harper.

For early rap, it’s better than most. That’s not really a high bar to clear, but still. Clever and energetic.

The album has enough twang and introspection to separate it from straightforward Americana - all for the better. Enough variation to keep you interested in the next track. (I really could have done without Little Rock n Roller though…) A gem of an album otherwise.

Started off strong with the first 2 tracks. Guero in particular was energetic and fun. But the rest of the album kind of wandered around and felt more sterile.

Good jams. Fun.

Ok, I like psych and experimental stuff as much as as the next guy. But I did not like this. The voice was amateur and cringy, parts seemed random without any plan or coherence.

Let’s start with the good news. The instrumentation is great. A good use of different instruments throughout, and well played. Didn’t think I’d like bongos and cello in the same song, but here we are. But Nick’s voice is not my style. Lacks range and seems to run flat a little? The late 60s are a crowded field, and this album doesn’t break through.

I was rooting for these fellas, they seemed nice. All album long I thought: the next song is going to be good. But alas… no.

Great stuff here. The hits are hits for a reason - great melodies well thought out. A nice surprise was A Simple Desultory Philippic. That’s the most fun song I’ve heard in a long time. It loses a star for the 2 songs that felt like filler. Which is odd for a 28 min album.

It’s not a good sign when the best song in the album (by far) is a cover. Although Mrs. Robinson was pretty peppy and fun - enough to pull this out of 1 star territory. Otherwise it was pretty bland. For mid 90s pseudo indy sound, let’s just do Alanis or Barenaked Ladies. Even Counting Crows in a pinch.

Just great. I guess I’ve made peace with his voice. After you do that, the songs shine. Similar themes but with variation of style, all well done. Tangled and Simple Twist of Fate are a knockout 1-2 to start an album. Jack of Hearts gets a little long but I’m nitpicking.

As I’ve said before, the late 60’s is a crowded field, so you have to stand out. The Band does not. They are more like A Band. However, The Weight is good enough to push them to 3 stars by itself. Chest Fever was interesting too, but that’s about it.

The first minute was promising, but then the vocals came in. Everything just felt a little off. Would’ve been a good instrumental album though.

Well that’s about as smooth as it gets. Not bad

It’s not so much music as a vibe. To be fair, it’s a pretty fun vibe though.

Yes I’d like to order a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a slice of white bread with a marshmallow on top.

I don’t think I can be an effective judge of electronica. No idea if this is supposed to be good. At no point did I have the urge to dance. Head bop, sure. But not dance.

The opener was a bit of an identity crisis: punk, psych, space, prog. But I guess a scatterbrained approach is a feature not a bug for punk. Uneven, but with some fun stuff. Definitively Gaze and The Light Pours out on Me are my highlights.

Against all common sense, I sort of liked it. Grating, out of tune (or maybe microtonal), and with vocals that make Dylan sound like Pavarotti, it was still fun and made me smile. Each track made me eager to find out what fresh hell they would send me to next. That’s something. Call it a palate cleanser between meticulously crafted Brit Pop albums.

Well, I guess I’m in the group of people who don’t “get it.” I wish I liked this. Maybe sax squeak doesn’t hit the same as guitar amp feedback for me?

Loose and fun. Not his best for me, but still very good.

Prog is an acquired taste, I admit. But this album is lush, inventive, fun, and very well executed. An easy 4. Usually when I think of prog, Rush comes to mind first but this album might change that.

Pablum is the word that comes to mind for the vast majority of this album. Ground down to the simplest easiest to digest basic pop music. However, the final track Test Me absolutely saved it. That was quite good.

Grand, sweeping, but also dissonant and innovative. It’s wild to think this was improvised. The encore is the cherry on top.

These cornballs are alright. It’s not technically very impressive or innovative, but they did find a unique sound that is pleasant enough.

Loud, varied, unique voice. A great album for its time and it stands up pretty well.

You see, I’m not opposed to the theoretical concept of Mariah. In fact early 1990 Mariah is pretty good. She was a kid who sounded like a fully grown adult. Ironically, on an album called Butterfly, we have an exercise in regression where she’s a fully grown adult trying to sound like a kid with this wispy voice and toddler like cooing. As a listener we’re begging for her to belt one out Vision of Love style, just like we all know she can. Instead Mariah retreats to her safe space, which is dozens of glissandos for no apparent reason whatsoever. The lyrics are bad too, a grab bag of rhyming platitudes. Except for one flash of truth telling midway through the album: “Still I feel like that child as I look at the moon. Maybe I grew up a little too soon.” A great voice wasted for 56 minutes.

Once you see the cover, the expectations go through the roof. I was surprised at how varied and experimental the album was. Like any exploration there were a few dead ends. Of the songs new to me I liked that Octopus one and the medley of short ones at the end was good too. A very well done album, but not a masterpiece.

This is gentleman’s screamo. Apparently that’s a style that works for me pretty well. Lots of energy and this album seems to have all their hits.

Tutti Frutti is good enough for 3 stars on the album all by itself. Wish more artists had his energy.

I like the sitar, the microtones, and the vibe. It’s just the structure that takes a bit of getting used to for a westerner. The intro explanation was helpful to some degree. Glad I heard this instead of some album where a sitar just plays the great American songbook or something.

Always enjoy listening to these guys, even if this isn’t my favorite album. Cool mix of space, gospel, drone, and noise. Sui and Che are the standouts on this album for me.

Apparently I much prefer weird danceable Björk over weird unsettling strings Björk. The opening track had me curious but then what followed was a disconnected mess that was dissonant, bland, and just off. But not in an artsy way, just a tiring way.

Technically very impressive. Eminem is at his best when joking around or skewering hypocrisy. The darker stuff loses its shock value quickly and isn’t all that good.

This album is a revelation. Haunting and beautiful at the same time. An original way to play instruments and a unique voice over the top. The great tracks are front-loaded. The middle of the album does meander a bit but without losing the atmosphere.

Was this some sort of joke? Instrumentation: B+ some interesting ideas here (the first 10 seconds were good) Vocals: D Lyrics: F There was a chance to give it a 2 until the Toonerville Trolley came on.

If I heard this in the wild I would assume it was AI slop. Completely generic. Some tracks start with a few seconds of interesting instrumentals, only to be overshadowed by the half-hearted R&B or rap gobbledygook.

This album for me comes a couple days after Ice Cube, and the difference in quality is astounding. B.I.G. Has better delivery, better beats, better instrumentation, better lyrics, and let’s say… about 30% less misogyny (which isn’t super great but at least a small step in the right direction. The downside to the album is all the sexy time interludes. Maybe I’m a prude, but it was weird and off putting. It killed a great track like Respect.

This is the Stringer Bell of rap: not smart enough to hang with the philosophers but not hard enough to run with the boys on the street. Tribe tries to show his bona fides by listing off names of rappers no one remembers 30 years later (and name dropping Arsenio Hall 3 times isn’t a flex). Then he conflates vocabulary for intellect. But his lyrics have no particular insight despite having more syllables. Kendrick Lamar is a much better option for that. Altogether the tracks move along pleasantly enough, which for rap might be more of a bug than feature. It should be more challenging. The album was heading straight in to a half-hearted 2 stars until Busta Rymes jumps in with 90 seconds left on the last track. He brings all the energy that was missing and lifts the whole album on his shoulders up to a 3.

Some interesting arrangements with fun beats. But it is ultimately too long with some more boring club filler. Highlights were: Daftendirekt, Da Funk, Fresh.

This was a great discovery for me. I particularly liked the sections of organ-guitar interplay. Smith is the expert of a pretty niche jazz instrument. A solid 4 star album even after assessing the saxophone penalty. (Sorry those are the rules)

I’m a sucker for those jangly guitars, so this album was pretty good. It was an experimental, messy, and interesting. All good stuff a having a good time. However… we have to talk about I Come and Stand at Every Door. What a colossal turd in the punchbowl. I’m fine with political anthems or shocks to the system, but this was such a downer it dragged the energy down the rest of the album. Come on, people. No more songs of 7 year old ghost victims of nuclear bombings please. Best tracks Mr. Spaceman and 8 Miles High.

No one told me this is more of a blues album than classic rock. But I’m not complaining, I prefer that anyway. Great tunes played very well, but nothing really rises up to match the cover art.

I really enjoyed this. A great voice with interesting and varied music. Of any contemporary musicians that might get radio play, this is as good as it gets. Beat stuff if front loaded on the album, so it does stall out near the end. But still, very very good.

Fantastic. Makeba has a beautiful voice capable of a wide range. Enjoyed every track. It’s almost a shame that Disney etc have co-opted some of this style of sound for their commercial benefit, but we hear the real thing here.

This felt uninspired, like they were just going through the motions. It felt flat and none of it will stay with me.

These songs are just too simple and plain. I could be charitable and say it helps show off Dwight’s voice (which is great), but in the end it’s just boring.

Just because your work comes from a place of pain, longing, and frustration, doesn’t mean that it’s good. I wish I liked this but unfortunately Nina doesn’t stand up to Aretha, Ella, or Billie.

Who doesn’t like these goofy guys with their goofy rhymes. This early album is pretty unrefined even by their standards. But the hits make up for some of the filler here. Great for cruising down the road in the summer.

This album started as a lazy uninspired rip off of a 90s band playing in a frat basement on a cold January night. Then after a few songs, it got worse. The vocals were well below average, the chord progressions were obvious and dull, and then there were the lyrics. I hope these guys find stable relationships soon so that they can stop whining to us about it song after song. And the final slap in the face? They impose 32 songs on us in this album. You almost have to admire their blind unearned confidence. 32…

A master class in songwriting. Nilsson knows exactly what he wants to do then executes it perfectly. Heartfelt, insightful, and absurd in turns, there isn’t a miss on the album. Whoever decided to follow Without a you with Coconut is genius.

This was deceiving. The first track was alright, something different that wasn’t straightforward low effort 80s synth. But then the rest of the album was a complete let down.

I enjoyed these delightful weirdos. Good summer tunes. Particularly good use of surf guitar sound.

I’ll consider this the album where the Beatles just mailed it in. Like a mountainside creek: it’s cool, pleasant, and clear. But ultimately nothing of substance stays and you don’t remember it at all.

I’ve never listened to Kanye before because of his reputation. I still don’t know if you can separate the artist from the art, but I do know this album is fantastic. He veers from egomaniac to self loathing to frustration and back, all with clever interesting musical elements that never stop surprising. Runaway stopped me dead in my tracks. Best new-to-me song I’ve heard this year without a doubt. A near-perfect album from a very very imperfect person.

Whoever was playing bass saved this from a 1 star result.

This sounds like accessible radio rock, except… it’s actually pretty good. I thought they’d be edgier in some way but this was still a nice surprise. Cool tunes well executed. Maybe a bit uneven but Use Once and Destroy and Boys on the Radio in particular were great.

Not bad. Original voice, interesting instrumentation, good variety. Although it seems they try too hard at times. Also, the rhyming philosophy was a bit maddening. In the end the simpler quieter songs were better.

That’s pretty good. Inventive, varied, cool but punchy. Both tracks are a treat. Would go back to this anytime.

Points for an original sound I suppose. But the whole thing seemed aimless and ultimately uninteresting.

I would call this capable brit pop. Catchy, fuzzy, and with the tone you expect. Feels like you could play the whole double album as background at a college party and no one would complain. They wouldn’t love it either though.

Sorry, I tried to find some redeeming qualities on this one but came up empty.

The masters of toe-tapping anthem rock. Sure, it’s a bit overwrought and the slow stuff is a little saccharine but it is all bright and engaging and a good listen. Critics could call it generic but that’s only in hindsight since U2 initiated this style and launched a million mediocre bands after them that diluted the pool. Of course this isn’t their best album, but still pretty good.

Just great, more misogyny… But putting that aside, the production and the sound on this is great. It still holds up today unlike some early rap that was clunky. Good album for a certain mood. Close to a 4, but not quite consistent enough on quality.

Loose, unserious, catchy. Sure, why not spin this every once in a while.

A pillar of Americana. This album holds up on the strength of the hits, and there are quite a few. The songs unknown to me are weaker and probably forgettable, but aside from that the great songs remain relevant and very well executed. I’m coming out of this more a Bruce fan than I expected.

A pretty decent classic rock jam band. Would have been a good time seeing them live. Uneven album, but good stuff with City Lights, Whiskey Woman, and Shakin’ all Over.

I nearly gave this a 4 on the strength of Chameleon alone. Funky, inventive, freewheeling, and holding an awesome bass line. Loved it. However, I did not like Sly at all for some reason so the overall result was a mixed bag for me.

To my surprise, I didn’t really like this. The vocals weren’t all that polished, the sound and the lyrics were simple. And not in a simple-genius or simple-clear sort of way. More like a kids album? Sorry, I’m sure the next one that comes up from them will be better.

I generally like albums in the heart of the psych experiment, and this is no exception. It feels like that are still playing around with what sounds that work for them and the result is pretty good. A bit uneven but the weirder songs seem to play better than the straight classic rock stuff.

The opening track was deceiving in that it wasn’t horrible. The rest of this wannabe punk album revealed its true nature. Not sure what they wanted to do here but it ended up a muddled low energy mess.

The instrumentation gives enough space for Bjork’s unique voice to shine through on this album. That’s the overall strength of this album. 3 standout songs in Human Behavior, Play Dead, and the fun exotica of Aeroplane. The rest is alright.

I think Simon’s greatest strength is his ability to write songs that fit his voice: equal parts carefree and melancholy. Known as the world music album, there’s more variety than I expected, virtually all of it fantastic. My bias is to say Simon is better with Garfunkel, but this album is a very strong counter argument to that.

Really nice album. Much more than a virtuoso guitarist showing off. Well conceived and executed. Fun.

Bit of a split here. Some of this sounds ahead of its time and holds up pretty well. Other songs sound exactly of its time and should remain in the late 80s forever. Great voice, cringey lyrics. Fun organ, bad synth. Just a mixed bag through and through.

This was a nice discovery. Not sure where they slot in: psych, jazz, pop? Original and never boring. Highlights were This Town, Zia, and Sky Holds the Sun.

I really enjoyed this. Weird, clever, fun, distinct. Would come back to this anytime.

Pretty much a pure nostalgia listen. Amazing how basic much of this is, particularly the drums. Although vocals are decent and there are some catchy licks that have survived a generation.

I think I’d like her voice better in a straight up jazz ensemble. Maybe in a imitation Diana Krall sort of way. This power pop ballad doesn’t work for me. It sounds like she’s in love with her own voice and nothing else matters.

What more can be said about Aretha? If there is any nitpicking here, maybe I don’t like the shouty parts quite as much as the rest. But still…

These guys really were the next evolution of Brit pop. And I mean that as a compliment. The guitars really fill in all the space without being too noisy. Vocals are distinct and well done. Lyrics are complete nonsense. A very good album I’d come back to.

Punk + saxophone does not sound like a winning combination. And it probably isn’t most of the time. But this album was alright. And for me “alright” is high praise for punk. Not surprisingly my 2 favorite songs on the album are the non-punk ones: the psych Germfree Adolescents and the 50’s diner soundtrack I can’t Do Anything. Fun, unserious, alright.

Her rendition of Me and Bobby McGee is great and carries the album. Everything else… well her wildness comes across as an affectation and leaves me a little cold. Particularly for a studio setting.

Another very good album by these guys. Besides the hits I particularly liked Planet Caravan. Maybe the album loses steam by the end, but it’s running red hot through the first half.

A James Bond soundtrack for aliens, which sounds fantastic. The singer has a great voice, which counters the bleeps and bloops in a curious way. Favorite tracks were Lovely Head and Pilots. Enjoyable all the way through.

Most of this isn’t very good. Clunky lyrics and repetitive. However, Photograph is pretty iconic. And it earns its place, holding the album up a bit.

Even for easy listening standards, this isn’t very good. Clunky lyrics and weird synth (not weird in a good way). Sorry Steve, at least your voice gets you to 2 stars.

These guys were a bridge between grunge and y2k radio rock. They weren’t the best at either style, but they did fill in the gap capably. For me, the second half of the album is better as they seem to loosen up a bit. Not bad.

Class all the way through. Opens with the masterpiece of Down to Zero. Hard to match that all the way through, but she gets very close. Can’t think of a thing to say even to nitpick on this album. Just great.