1001 Albums Summary

Day 1 of listening to different albums from this website and today was Earth, Wind and Fire. I am familiar with a lot of their music but only know a couple of the tracks on this album, which turned out to be the singles they released from the album. This was their 6th studio album. I loved the richness of all the instruments. I did feel like some of the later tracks were just the band jamming and having fun together and weren't as exciting as the singles on the album. 3/5

OMG this was my favorite album when I was a freshman in high school. I think I got the cassette for my 15th birthday back in 1993. Let's see how it holds up... I think so far it's nostalgic but my taste in music has definitely changed since then. A lot of the music sounds like sweaty people in a basement somehow. But I guess that's what grunge IS. Writing music in the dead of winter on a rainy Seattle day will result in music that is dark and gray the way Alice In Chains' music sounds. This album features some great guitar riffs, harmonies, and tricky time signatures which I had forgotten about when I listened to this cassette on repeat in 1993. I guess in the depressing state of winter of 2026, maybe depressing, gritty music isn't what I need right now, but I DO love the nostalgia of listening to this album more than 30 years later. Even though it's not what I would select to play in the car anymore, the music still holds up, especially the singles from this album, and the vocals are really great. Rooster is a standout on the album. The best overall song in my opinion is Would?, the final track of the album. It was also on the Singles soundtrack, which was my favorite film when it came out. Highly recommend for anyone wanting to see what early 90s Seattle was like I still love the album and it has a lot of nostalgia for me, but not every track is a banger, maybe like half of them? 4/5 stars.

I've heard all the Go-Go's biggest hits, but I can't say that I've ever listened to a full album, or any of their lesser-known tracks. This album is so fun and I had a great time listening! I love listening to women's music, and the Go-Go's were pioneers. Men dominate the rock scene, and an all-women rock band was rare, especially in the 70s when they were founded. Overall, I had a great time listening to their music. It was a lot of fun, and I appreciate the strides made in advancing women in the arts. 4/5 stars.

Wow Amy Winehouse was one of the best vocalists of her time. I love her music style. I watched her downfall from the tabloids in 2010/2011, and it was so sad to see. I wish she had been able to overcome her demons. Unfortunately this album is just not doing it for me. There were a few tracks that I went back and listened to again, and it had a rich, full sound that I was wanting from her soulful voice. About half of the tracks are just okay, or are ones that I wanted to skip over. I've never been one to pay too much mind to lyrics and have had trouble deciphering them in music, but even I couldn't miss some of the jarring lyrics in some of her songs. I'm no prude, but I draw a line at things like homophobia, and the first track had some pretty questionable lyrics. Overall, I had fun with a lot of this music, but I'm hoping when her next album comes up, it'll give me the sound that want. 3/5

First album that I am not familiar with the artist at all! Maybe I'll know some of the songs. I decided to look at the Wikipedia article about the group before I begin listening, and I found out that this is their debut album, and the name of the album is actually cockney slang, which has always been a weird niche topic I've been interested in. Looks like this album never gained traction in the US, so it's possible I have not heard any of their music until now. Looks like they may have broken into US markets a little bit around 2000 based on their awards, so maybe I've heard their later albums. OK, listening has commenced. And I do know their music! Really, I only know one track. They have a typical 90s rock band vocals-guitar-bass-drums sound that I loved during that period (I guess also keyboards, but I haven't noticed it yet), but less melancholy than the Seattle music I loved. While they are definitely a rock band, I hear a little bit of pop in their style as well. OK, after an initial listen-through, this album has very few skip tracks. It's pretty great. Reminds me of a lot of the indie music I was into when I was in high school. I wish I had discovered them back then. I probably would have played them on repeat, honestly. Not a perfect album, but the majority of songs are bangers, especially the second half of the album. My favorite track is probably Strange Ones, which features changing tempos throughout. Very happy to have found a new music group to listen to! 4/5 stars.

I am pretty familiar with Cypress Hill's later works, but I haven't listened to this album at all. They gained mainstream success with the release of their second album. The beats on this one are impressive. I'm a fan of West Coast rap, and Cypress Hill are pioneers of this genre. Will I be listening to them on repeat, though? Probably not. 3/5

Chvrches is another group I hadn't heard of, and so far I'm pretty sure I haven't heard their music until now. They are a Scotish synth-pop group and I'm really enjoying their sound. Overall I think it was a pretty good album, nothing really stood out to me as really amazingly good or bad, but it was definitely a good time.

WOW. My favorite album I've reviewed so far. As a fan of classical music, I really loved the suite overtures and all the classical sprinkled throughout the album. The music seems to transcend eras in the most beautiful way. When I texted my daughter that this was my next album, She responded, "the GOAT." I have to agree. Incredible. 5/5 stars.

Aretha Franklin is an icon. Her voice is powerful and gorgeous. Her music is timeless.

A movie soundtrack? Sounds like I need to actually watch the movie sometime soon, too. OK, I like the music, and it is almost operetic that I'm getting a story from the songs that I assume is the plot of the movie. Is it an album that I'll sit down and listen to, though? Probably not.

I feel like she's trying to be Tori Amos but with less musical variety and fun. Every song is a breathy ballad and the album lacks variety in music styles. Look, I don't think that artists should veer from who they are, but I would like a little variety in tempo to get my heart pumping. Later in the album, I found a couple of songs that were alright, my favorite being Dark But Just A Game. My daughter really likes Lana Del Rey, though, and told me that there are other albums I should listen to instead, so I'll give her another shot. NFR! was Grammy-nominated for album of the year, so maybe that one will let me experience her best work, and perhaps she will be redeemed. However, with Chemtrails, I'm going to have to give it 1 star.

I have been aware of Ray Charles for most of my life, but I can't say that I've ever sat down and listened to his music. I only knew one of the tracks, but all the songs are timeless. Wow what a talent.

Ok, county is a genre I do not listen to, and is one I've never enjoyed. So I'm going to give it my best shot here. My plan is to finish every album unless I have a good reason not to. I always check out the artist's wikipedia page before diving in to get a little bit of a background on them, and this was especially important as I know very little about country music and had never heard of this artist until today. I discovered that Joe Ely recently died just about two months ago. I also discovered that he performed with a lot of different artists across many different genres. I'm a lot more familiar with 90s country because that's what I heard all the time in the background of my high school life. I did not like it then, and I have to say I'm still not a fan of that style of country. This does sound pretty similar to it, and this artist probably inspired a lot of the 90s country artists that got big during that era. I enjoyed the songs that were a little closer to blues than the more country sounding songs. For me, I think it's pedal steel guitar as a sound I don't really like, and a lot of the vocal stylings. This album is definitely better than the racially-charged country from right after 9/11, or that song I heard from the tpusa halftime show that almost seems like a parody but is serious. I can appreciate the talent even if I don't enjoy the music. 2/5

Oh, this one was nice. Acoustic guitar and singing. Very short album, but really nice. Very chill. I don't hear lyrics very well when I listen to music, so I'm usually here for the vibes alone. From reading others' reviews, it sounds like the lyrics are profound. I was always the one who had to read the inserts of all my albums as a young person, and I'm still like that today, and I've always been a little out of the loop when it comes to poetry analysis, sadly, so I'll just have to take other people's words for it. The vibes are top-notch, and it is a shame he left the world at such a young age. I would have loved to hear his music as he aged. 4/5 stars.

This one on paper should have been a banger for me. An alternative indie album? Perfect. But it was just okay. I did like the strings in many of the songs, that is always fun to listen to. My favorite song on the album was Crown of Love but it's probably not something I'm going to add to any playlists anytime soon. 3/5.

Nice, calm music, some of it was experimental. I liked some of it, but some hurt my ears as it was recorded so that the music rapidly changed between one side of my headphones to the other. Perhaps if I were listening in the car it wouldn't have bothered me, or I might not have noticed. 3/5.

This album is a movie soundtrack to a non-existent movie. A lot of really experimental stuff on this album. I enjoyed some of the pieces, but as a whole album, it wasn't very fun to listen to. Then again I don't listen to the background music of many soundtracks, they're meant to be listened to in the moment while the movie is playing. Since this album does not actually have a movie, I didn't picture a scenario where I would enjoy listening to the music. This one just wasn't for me.

I was hoping I would like this because I love a lot of Genesis, but as a child of the 80s, I think I've mostly listened to their later works. I do appreciate the art of this album and the immense musical talent from this group.

I'm not a country listener, but I do like Willie Nelson as a person for a lot of different reasons, and I'm glad I gave him a chance. He is extremely talented on the guitar. This album had a fun surprise for me, a Bach Minuet my children learned to play on the violin when they were little. He also has a really nice voice that doesn't have the twangy country style that grates for me. I was very pleasantly surprised by this album. 4/5 stars

This is a good album, the only thing is I always listen to the albums when I'm taking my kid to school, so that was a little awkward. Overall though, the album was great, with some tracks stronger than others. Maybe a bit repetitive, but I'm not sure that's an issue with this one.

I really did not enjoy this one. I heard what they were trying to do, but it did not turn into something I wanted to hear. The ingredients were there, but something weird happened in the kitchen.

This was pretty good but nothing earth-shattering. Multiple different styles of music over just 30 minutes. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't exactly memorable.

Overall this album is pretty solid. Some pretty good songs, one really great song, and a few that were meh.

I loved this instrumental album. So nice to listen to, and it's great as background music, too.

Every song was really fun to listen to.

smooth.

Some really great tracks on this album overall.

This was a little too weird for me.

All the smooth jazz and soul you could want.

My biggest criticism of this album is that the a lot of the tracks are extremely repetitive as he uses a lot of loops in his music. Some of them are better than others, but it gets boring and repetitive. I have always liked the track South Side, though, and it still holds up for me today.

Some of the songs were decent, but most were not great.

What an incredible album. I love that this project helps educate me on music history and pop culture history while I go down random rabbit holes when I come across music that I just don't know a lot about. This was one of those times.

A couple really nice tracks on this album. I had never heard of this band but was surprised to have heard the second track on the album. Cool music, but a bit repetitive at times, and I probably won't listen to this album again but might listen to a track or two

Pretty solid album! Great guitar riffs. I'm just not super into this genre of rock.

I really like many of the songs I know on this album, but after a while they all start to sound the same. Still full of bops, though!

WAIT-- French rap? This is so fun to listen to. Good beats, too. I actually heard him say "fonky beeta" in some of his lyrics, the only ones I had even a clue what he was saying. A lot of good music is good vibes, and you don't need to know the lyrics to have a fun time. I was never a lyrics girlie; I have auditory processing disorder, so a lot of the time, lyrics sound like gobbledygook to me anyway. I thought that was a pretty normal experience until I heard all the whining of people who wouldn't be able to understand the lyrics of the Bad Bunny halftime show because it was in Spanish, but, like MC Solaar, the universal appeal is the beat, the music, and the vibes, and the lyrics are just a bonus to the fluent and the non-APD folks out there.

Nice music, great voice

I am just not into this album. From what I remember from the hip hop I listened to in the 90s, this album doesn't sound particularly innovative to what was already out there at that time. Every track seemed to be too long by several minutes and a little monotenous. I was getting bored. And then the full album (at least the 20th anniversary edition that's available on spotify) is over 5 hours of playtime. I think various editions of this album were released, so I ended my listening after disc 1, which contains all the singles released on the album.

I thought i was going to like this album because the first song kind of gave Tori Amos vibes for me, but IDK, it just wasn't one I enjoyed much really.

Normally, I have a really hard time hearing and understanding lyrics while I'm listening to music. This album? I could understand the lyrics. And the lyrics were weird. And then I realized that the lead singer is Morressy. He's a weirdo and I don't particularly like him. And he screwed over some of his bandmates when The Smiths broke up. Not cool. The music is overall pretty nice to listen to, and while I can understand the lyrics better than other singers, I don't like the vocal quality his voice has. It sounds like he's singing out of his nose. I get that's his thing, but it's not a thing I enjoy. Maybe I'm being harsh because I don't like the man behind the voice. IDK. Sidequest thought: As a Mormon teenager in the 90s, I went to a summer camp called EFY at the BYU college campus, and I found a couple of friends. They were obsessed with The Smiths. I was not into that type of rock and hadn't really listened to them much. I tried getting into them, it just wasn't for me. I was more into Grunge music, especially since I was living in the pacific NW near Seattle, the birthplace of Grunge. Anyway, I wonder what happened to those guys. It was years before social media and nobody had cell phones yet, so I can't even remember their names or faces.

I had a pretty good time with this one but nothing particularly stood out to me. I did really enjoy the last track, This Woman's Work.

I don't think I ever listened to a whole Beatles album from start to finish until now. Probably because I always associated The Beatles with old people because it's what my parents listened to when they were young. Now, I am Old People and this is a pretty good album.

This was a weird one but it had some catchy tunes!

Overall a solid album, but I was not super into some of the "filler" tracks. And maybe it's my fault for listening to this with my 16 year old in the car, but I was clutching my pearls a little bit.

Nirvana is the epitome of the Seattle Grunge scene, and as a Grunge teen in the 90s, they were one of my favorite bands. I absolutely appreciate what they did with this album and the lasting impression the band left on the world, but it's not my favorite Nirvana album, but that's just from my ears' perspective. I'm not smart enough to weigh in on the lyrical accomplishments of Cobain, but then again, poetry was never my strong suit.

Some good songs but it wasn't anything life-changing. I was a little bored to be honest.

This group was fine, but kind of boring. Nothing really stood out to me and it all kind of blended together. Just a big meh from me.

This one is kind of hard to rate because I think I understood what they're doing with their musical style and they're pretty good musicians. I want to rate them higher because I love a girl group, and a 70s era punk girl group is so dope. But honestly I was just not vibing to the music as much as I wanted to. So they get a 3 for me. I was bopping my head along but sometimes I just didn't really love it.

This album was so fun and I was bopping along to every track. I feel like this would be more fun to hear live, and each song was a couple minutes longer than I wanted (which again, longer songs are more fun live)

A great, classic, rock album. Fantastic, fun to listen to.

This album grew on me as it went on. I think I realized I was listening to it in the wrong context (in my car driving and also on headphones while playing a video game) and I really needed to hear it in a club or something and it would definitely pop off then.

I'm finding myself really drawn to the soul albums in this collection. This is another one that was easy to listen to and I enjoyed every minute.

I liked the vibes, the messages, and the music, but each track got to be really repetitive.

Solid album, no skips.

Why was this album so long? There were some great tracks, but I got bored at the end as they continued on far longer than I was interested in listening to them. The title track, of course, holds a lot of fond memories for me. I missed this album when it came out because I was quite young, but I distinctly remember driving home from a New Year's party ringing in 1999, and listening to the radio where the DJ had this song on repeat the entire drive home.

I initially was not into this album at all, as the first few tracks just were not very good. There were a couple of tracks towards the end that I enjoyed more, notably Who You Funkin' With, sounded less like a drum machine with synth compared to the others on the album, and the rap flow on this track is catchy. I also feel like I keep getting albums of artists who very recently passed away. He died only 5 days ago. I'm giving this one a low score, partly because I didn't really like it, with some exceptions toward the end of the album, and also because he was not a good person and abused children.

solid early rock album. This one was so fun to listen to.

I have a lot of great memories of Guns N' Roses, mostly from the early 90s. They used to play "Welcome to the Jungle" in my sport class. Pretty much every song on this album is great. I couldn't help but think that GnR was a bridge between hair metal and grunge rock (which was my favorite genre as a high schooler). So, I googled it, and it seems that there are articles written about this subject. Especially for a debut, this album is really good overall.

Great album from Cyndi Lauper. Tons of tracks that still hold up 40+ years later. Solid debut album.

I am not sure what it was about this album but it was just so boring. Technically very well done, well produced music, but I couldn't wait for each song to be over.

I really liked about half of the beats used on this album. As for the rest, some of them were okay and a couple ventured into unenjoyabl/quick, let me switch this track territory. I know that 90s rap really was known for explicit lyrics, but it gets to be a lot when it's on every single track. That could be my prudish upbringing rearing its head, or it could be my old lady-ness. Also because I listen to these albums in the car with my kid most of the time (he's in high school so I know he hears a lot, but still, I'm his mom). I didn't want to look too deep at the content of the lyrics because I fear there's a lot of misogyny and violence, which bothers me a lot more than bad words. I probably won't listen to this album again due to these issues, but some of the tracks were really enjoyable to listen to.

You know, not every genre is for every person. And that's okay. I still don't like country music. But a couple of the tracks didn't make me want to throw the speaker out of the car.

Music from The Cure is very moody and atmospheric. And because it's moody, you're not always in the mood for it. This album is okay with some pretty brilliant bits throughout, but I'm probably not going to be listening to this one much outside of this project.

Fantastic album overall with a lot of really great hits. I knew a lot of the music already, probably at least half of the album. A couple of the tracks didn't hold up with time (at least in my opinion) but the majority were great.

This album felt old and modern at the same time.

The hits are so well known from this album, and I really don't remember not knowing these songs. There are only a couple of tracks that I didn't like as much as the others. This album is iconic.

I don't know what to say about this album. It was fine. I felt like I had heard all of the songs before, and none of them at the same time. I didn't actually know any of them but they sounded familiar. Maybe it just sounds like generic late 60s rock?

I was a huge fan of 90s alternative when I was a teenager in the 90s. I like some aspects of this album but not all of them. I love the instrumentals of this a lot. It's what I love about alternative. The vocals are just okay. And the album is really long and the tracks really start blending together. If they took the best half of the tracks and it was half as long, I would probably rate it higher.

I actually got this album on CD in the 90s from my brother, so I've listened to it several times. I don't remember a few of the tracks, though, so I must have gotten bored and skipped that song, which sounds like something 15-year-old me would have done. Overall, this is a solid, classic 60s rock album that gives me a lot of nostalgia, but there are enough weird filler tracks to prevent a 5-star rating from me. Some of the tracks were weirdly long, and I really did not like the last track on the album at all.

This is a pretty chill album. But almost a little TOO chill.

This is my favorite hip-hop album I've listened to so far. The rap cadence sometimes reminds me of 80s hip-hop, but I thought the backing tracks and singing reminded me more of later hip-hop. The beats could be really creative and inventive with a lot of different types of sounds I didn't expect in the track. I didn't really pay attention to the lyrics when I heard these songs originally in the 90s, but hearing them years later as an adult with a job and kids, the lyrics really resonate. I appreciate how far against the grain Arrested Development went with regard to their themes and messages.

One of the more experimental albums by the Beatles. They have a few really great, memorable tracks but some of them are very much out there. I do appreciate what they're doing here but not every track resonates with me.

I'm trying to see the vision that is Kate Bush. It's a weird album but she really pulls it off. Not sure that I would listen to this one on repeat but I did enjoy some of the songs.

Excellent second album from Led Zeppelin. Only a couple of tracks that were a bit weaker than the others but otherwise really good.

I wanted to like this album more than I did. I adore a lot of Queen's songs. The hits are amazing and the harmonies are second to none. I guess there's a reason I haven't heard many of the other tracks on this album. But the two hits on this album are so iconic that it really boosts the entire album, but not enough for a 5 star rating.

I think one thing I've learned on this music listening journey is that I really like soul and funk. Solid album.

I enjoyed this album, but not enough to put it on repeat on Spotify or anything. I do know a lot of the songs, just from hearing them my entire life.

I didn't know much about Bob Dylan except that people said he couldn't sing. I think his voice fits the type of music he was playing, though. I can groove to his style of folk music.

I thought most of the songs were just okay, but the tracks with pipe organ really did it for me. My favorite track was the final track, My Body is a Cage, really fun use of organ in this one.

I really like Dr Dre's beats better than almost any other in 90s hip hop. I just hate how misogynistic the lyrics are. I get that the genre is like that, but it seemed relentless and that really took away from the enjoyment for me.

I'm really not sure who this album is for. I have always given things that were atonal or avant-garde a shot, and have played and enjoyed things that most people don't like. But this was too far out there for me to enjoy. I told my son that it sounded like all the musicians recorded their parts with earplugs in and then just said, "yep, we're done." I saw that this group has another album on this list and I'm a little nervous, but that's not a problem for today-me.

This was a pretty good punk album, and I heard a lot of different styles of music in it that I associate with later time periods as well.

This is country? I usually can't stand the country albums, but this was actually pretty easy to listen to. I think it leans more into pop than country for a lot of it.

This album is just full of whimsy, and that's what we need more of right now. I've heard of this group but I haven't heard this album until now. Most of the tracks are really good and I love the weird commentary game show tracks sprinkled throughout. But there were a few that musically I did not like at all, which really was a bummer. Overall it was enjoyable, though.

Did every teen in the 90s go through a U2 phase? I definitely did. U2 is probably my favorite road trip band. There were a few skip songs for me on this album though, so that drops the score down one star for me.

I didn't find anything particularly remarkable about this album. I found it to be a bit boring and too repetitive at times. Some of the tracks were better, with Chariot Choogle standing out to me in particular, but not enough to elevate this album overall.

Early alternative music from the 80s. I was aware of Dinosaur Jr in the 90s when I was really into alternative, but because it was the 90s, I didn't have access to a whole lot of music. Mostly I had random recordings from the local college station because I didn't have a lot of extra cash to spend on music. Here's my "kids these days" moment, because I have kids and they have no idea how great they have it to have instant access to almost any music recording they could think of. Lucky ducks. But back to this album. I thought the vocals were gravelly and out of tune at times but it was perfect for the vibe. I guess I'm just a big enjoyer of alternative music because the flaws I noticed on this album just added to my enjoyment of it. I think there was one track that I didn't like as much but otherwise it was really good.

Two alternative albums in a row? Yes, please. However, I just could not get into this album. Bummer. I wanted to love it. I fear that it was just boring. A lot of my high school friends were huge sonic youth fans, I'll have to listen to some of their later stuff that was coming out closer to when I was in high school and see if I enjoy that more, and maybe I'll get the appeal.

Fun 90s Britpop album. This one was pretty enjoyable, but not something I would seek out to listen to again.

I was not expecting to hear one of the most iconic instrumental tracks right out of the gate! I have heard Green Onions my entire life, but I did not know the band that produced this masterpiece until today. I wish the other tracks had been as iconic. I definitely preferred the original tracks to the covers.

This is an interesting music genre. Why does every song sound like it's melting? I'm not sure this is a band I can put on and just groove to. The album is a vibe, and I can really get into music that breaks conventional standards, but this is one of those that I could only enjoy in a couple of scenarios, like a long, late-night drive. This is the first album I've encountered that wasn't on the streaming service I subscribe to. I wasn't exactly sure how I'd handle it when this scenario came up, but I was able to easily find all the tracks on YouTube.

At the beginning of my listening journey, I found it hard to hear the lyrics of songs. I have been practicing hearing the music beyond the instrumental, actually comprehending what the artist is saying, and I've been getting better. Perhaps if this had been one of the first albums I had listened to, I may have rated it higher. I hated the lyrics, and how they objectified women. It grossed me out. I've been thinking a lot lately about how a lot of men don't really see women as people, they only see other men as people, and it's been pissing me off, and that's entirely the vibe I got from this album. What can I say, I'm a feminist at heart. I don't want my son to grow up with this kind of opinion about women. This felt like the music of fragile masculinity, music perpetuated by the patriarchy. The music that maga chuds love to blast in their lifted pickup trucks when they're in the mood for rock instead of country. Once I clocked the misogynistic lyrics, this album started to annoy me immensely. The music all started sounding the same, too, just screaming and power chords. Of course, there are the couple of singles on this album that will be burned into my brain forever, that I have heard since I was a small child, but until today, I hadn't really heard this music at all. No thank you, AC/DC, there are enough problems for women already, and I do not subscribe to your objectifying ways.

It almost feels like cheating rating this album on the 1001 albums project. It's essentially a greatest hits album. All the tracks are from the MTV Unplugged episode performed by Nirvana in 1993, a few months before Kurt Cobain's death. Grunge is particularly poingent when played on accoustic instruments (Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam also had really great Unplugged performances), and Nirvana's episode is arguably the best espisode MTV Unplugged ever aired.

I really enjoyed this one, and I actually suggested it to my son, who likes a lot of 90s music. I think this could be right up his alley. He likes to put on lo-fi music sometimes.

I am having a lot of fun listening to this album! Highly recommend if you want a good time. It was a treat to hear the original Jump Jive An' Wail, which was covered by the Brian Setzer Orchestra during the swing revival in the 90s. Then I heard a song from the Enchantment Under the Sea dance from Back to the Future? Amazing. Solid album, no skips.

Real smooth.

This is my second Curtis Mayfield album, and I liked this one better than the first one. Really good album.

Really great and upbeat music.