1001 Albums Summary

🌟 A great album to start with. More bluesy than expected: yay!

😍 This album was an absolute delight and I think it's how I found my entrypoint for Ray Charles. I know I don't fully understand the historical context of this album but it's a banger.

I was reluctant to listen to this one. I didn't really know much about Cyndi and probably couldn't have confidently named a single one if her songs before this. After listening: I get it! A good album. I might not listen again soon but I am glad I opened my mind to it.

This also album was OK. It has a few bangers and a few stinkers. It feels more like a bunch of songs than a cohesive album.

I was reluctant to press play, TBH. I enjoyed it more than I expected. It was a lot funkier than I thought it would be. I totally understand why it's a classic and I'm glad that I listened to it especially since it's not an album that I would have chosen on my own. This is a very good early 90s hip-hop album. I understand why it's on this list. The lyricism was less "Rapper's Delight" than I expected -- and that was welcome. 🥁 I _noticed_ the tight drumming on this one and found myself wondering "....wait....is Questlove associated with 'A Tribe Called Quest'? Is that how he got the name?" It turns out his name is inspired by the group.

Traffic wasn’t really on my radar before this listen so my initial impression was driven by the album cover. I expected less jazz and more folk -- but I am not complaining. I like the instrumental sections and the jam vibe. The album is described as the band’s most exploratory and I think that’s a good thing. It’s exploratory in the “finding hidden gems” sense and not in the “lost explorer on the wrong continent” sense. 🪈 I loved hearing the flute get special treatment especially on “Freedom Rider”. I would give this 3.5 stars. I would be happy to listen to it again in its entirety in a playlist. I likely won’t seek it out.

✨ Fine.

🤯 Wow. The first ten seconds were very cool because I recognized them and didn't know what this album was. The remainder eventually became grating and I did have to pause partway through. I'm glad I know what Tubular Bells is about now but this was my least favorite album of this list so far.

🌟 Some old favorites and some new ones too

🌟 Amazing! This is easily my favorite album from the list so far -- it's the first one that I definitely want to listen to a bunch more.