1001 Albums Summary

This is a difficult one, I like everything about the Cure except for their music. Don't like his voice, don't like the big 80s production. I can imagine if you were a disaffected teen in the late 80s this would hit hard. Didn't hate it, didn't love it. It was alright

First exposure outside of their biggest songs, and I'm genuinely surprised how good Thin Lizzy are.

I already knew this was a 5* album, today just confirmed it

I thought this was going to be one of those moments where you find out exactly why a massive band are actually so massive, because they did their best work before you were paying attention... But no. This was extremely average. There was one good song (great, actually) and the rest instantly forgotten. I concede that I pre-judged this album but in a boost to my ego, I was absolutely right to

Six of these songs were unavailable, they've had 60 years to sort out any licensing issues... It was good, I enjoyed it but maybe the best songs were greyed out for me?

It's such a shame they don't make them like this any more. Great performances all round, great energy, great tunes.

I enjoyed this more than I expected to.

Preface: I already hate this band. I really really tried to go into this open minded and give it a chance. It's just all so tepid. No emotion, no power, no performance. Faux-meaningful drivel for lyrics. I can imagine that if you were a baggy-trousered mancunian in the early 90s, this would hit like crack. But times have moved on and so should we.

Never heard this before, but obviously knew the name. Really really enjoyed it. Wasn't expecting any dnb on this journey if I'm honest. This is the first "I will listen to this again" album I've had so far

I feel like a wine girly whose deadbeat boyfriend just broke up with her except I still love him deep down. Imagine having a perfectly fine 3* album and having the confidence to put Someone Like You at the very end of it.

This was fine, I enjoyed it. There were some great songs

My first thought was "He sounds so young! I had never considered that BB King was actually ever young". In enjoyed it, it was good

I didn't particularly enjoy this, I don't think it was really for me.

HATED this. Cannot stand this genre of voice. It sounds like it's difficult for him to sing. It sounds like he's trying to sing while someone is stood on his chest. If your voice is like that, you have no business being a singer. Couldn't even listen to the music. Simply dreadful. Sorry.

Surprisingly great album. I've never heard of Sarah Vaughan before but what a voice

LOVED this. Finished it and immediately put it straight back on. So rich and imaginative, I love a concept album and this grabbed me from the start.

A good album with no hits.

Sure it's challenging, but it's no Merzbow.

Not the best bjork album by a long way. Definitely interesting due to the acapella gimmick but ... Not for me thanks

This was alright. It wasn't bad but I'm not a fan of the Kinks - I don't like his voice. Same issue as usual, if you push through your diaphragm it'll sound much better. Someone should have told him that I guess.

I've listened to a lot of CCR, but never a whole album. I find it really interesting how an album can be this good, then you read "it's one of three albums they put out in that year". Incredible

I enjoyed this, maybe I started to understand the Weller hype. Not enough to get one of Those haircuts. You can really hear the genesis of britpop

Ok first of all, there is no way this came out in 2001, that's not possible. This was OK, I'm surprised I didn't get into it at the time. It ran out of ideas towards the end though

I enjoyed this, but it being a soundtrack to a movie I haven't seen, I felt like I wasn't getting the whole picture. Less electronic than I was expecting, and a lot less French

One of the most important albums in heavy metal, still sounds good 40 odd years later. A few dips in quality here and there but the highs are so high

Great singer, great songwriter. This was a bit boring for me though

I didn't get this at the time, and I'm still not sure I do. It's ok but it's just a bit dull. Outside of the (iconic) production, are there good songs here? Not really.

I pre-judged this album but I was wrong to. It was actually pretty good. I lost interest towards the end but this album was easy better than I expected.

Incredibly, despite how ubiquitous the singles off this album are, I have never heard a single album track off it. This was pretty good, better than I thought, but you can really see how much Robbie wanted to be Liam Gallagher

Eddie van Halen was the first to ever do it, and still the best? Probably. Iconic guitar sound, can't stand the singer. Some great songs, some not so great.

Iconic but sounds so dated now

This was one of the 3 CDs we had when we first got a CD player so I have very fond memories of it. It's funny to read how it was originally panned due to the extensive use of synthesisers, because when I was young, this was as rock n roll as anything could be; guitars, cars, beards and babes. Still enjoyed it today

Full disclosure, I was a Limp Bizkid so I am 100% biased. However, I didn't like this album at the time (too commercial, they sold out etc.) in hindsight I was wrong and it's actually good, just not as good as Significant Other.

I forgot how chill early dnb was. Ancient music with really fast drums, how does that work

I enjoyed this, surprised The Cars aren't more acclaimed than they are

I already liked Yes, this was a good album

This was pretty good. Better than I was expecting (two massive songs and the rest, filler)

I dislike the Pet Shop Boys because i can't stand the 80s 'cheap synth' production sound I grew up with. But the songs here are good, I just wish I could hear this album made in a different era.

I didn't hate it but it was just a bit boring. I can imagine this was nice when you were on a comedown in a grotty bedsit in the 90s though. Not for me

I'm a big fan of the 'Dan, but I haven't branched out to the solo stuff yet. This was good, but didn't seem to have any huge hits? Still enjoyable though

Loved this, just a great live album by a great band.

Better, and more pop, than I expected. Slightly hamstrung by the fact that the title track is so good it makes the rest of the album seem worse

This was the first album so far that i'd never heard of, that I really should have done. It seemingly passed me by. It was ok, I don't particularly like dream pop and I didn't particularly like this

Another album hamstrung by the fact that the title track is so stupendously good, the rest pales in comparison. The rest was ok.

Incomparable. I hear something new every time I listen to it, so it never gets old.

I enjoyed this one, much more polished than the Muddy Waters I've heard before

Hit after hit after hit, such minimal production. So good.

Chameleon and Watermelon Man are eternal earworms for me so I was pleased to get this one. The pinnacle of early jazz/funk fusion. Great musicianship and minimal production to get in the way of it. An easy 5* except for the fact the second half doesn't go as hard as the first.

Seminal hardcore album.

It was good but it wasn't great

I love this album but I grew up with it so I'm biased

They only do one thing but they do it well.

I didn't really get Garbage at the time, and I'm not sure I do now. This was ok

Well first things first, they lose a point for the apostrophe. This was ok

I've never really listened to PJ Harvey, but this was a lot better than I thought it would be. Very raw. I hated the first tone at first until I loved it.

It's just lovely really isn't it

Controversial: Queen have some of the best singles of all time but absolutely no good albums. Disclaimer: I love Queen, but I think they are the one band where it's acceptable to say your favourite album is their Greatest Hits.

Sometimes I think some of the albums on this list are just "most commercially successful albums from very important artists". This isn't JLH's best but it is the most accessible

Against my expectations I actually enjoyed this one quite a lot Also, TIL they're not actually twins

I already knew this album, but I didn't realise it. I must have listened to it when it came out. It's lovely, sumptuous, opulent. I liked it a lot but it was very front-loaded, I'd lost a bit of interest by the end

I never really listened to Pulp because they were For Girls. I listened to Boy Music, and all the girls I knew listened to Pulp so I knew they weren't for me. This was pretty good though, enjoyed it

I enjoyed this one, great singer! Amazed that a band this good and this modern sounding were allowed to just disappear

Just because Bowie is an icon, doesn't mean everything he touches is gold. Half-written songs and snippets of lyrics in the first half, turgid ambient soundscapes in the second half. They're only on there because he'd already written a movie soundtrack and couldn't bear to throw it away. Rubbish. The thin white emperor isn't wearing any clothes

I've known this album for years. It always was, and remains, ok.

Another "only important because there's something interesting about the recording of the album" (in this case he was quadriplegic). This was, I'm sorry to say, just bad.

This was good.

I love this album. The quintessential proto-prog rock masterpiece. I had to knock a star off because it gets too noodly in parts, I'm pretty sure the freeform widdly bit in the middle wasn't there when I've listened to it before

Another "why is this even on the list?" album. It's not bad, but it's not great.

Didn't like the pretenders before this album. Still don't. A bit more punk than I was expecting

This wasn't bad bad, but it wasn't for me. I'd love to know the criteria that got this on the list and meant I simply had to hear it before I died.

I liked this already and I still like it now

A disappointing follow-up to OK Computer, but still a 5* album. Radiohead are just that good

I don't mind Joni Mitchell, I just find the songs aren't very singable? This was good though, more jazz less folk

This was ok. Not sure why it was on this list

This was just boring. A dance band trying to do grown up music without using guitars - they shouldn't have bothered

I just don't get the Pixies. Awful singing, awful guitar tone. I get that it sounds so much like what came after, but I just can't get into it. They're another "you had to be there" band. I bet this sounded amazing in 1988

Early Metallica sounds so good, while this just comes off as goofy and corny

Unlistenable dirges, sung by someone who should never have been a singer. I don't care how great the lyrics are, he should have got someone else to sing them. Genuinely nearly turned this off halfway through because I couldn't bear to listen to another identical dreary song

This was a lot better than I remembered

It was better than I thought it was going to be but it was still that 80s sound I don't like - casio keyboard presets and a singer who can't sing