1001 Albums Summary

I think I may have heard this one in full before, but Miles Davis is always a good listen. I think Kind of Blue is the seminal work but this is close.

I can see where She Wants Revenge got their influence! This was pretty good too, I'd like to hear more!

I've heard this one before - I liked it back in college but I really just love Sunday Morning. Definitely influential!

So I knew Remain in Light a little bit and saw Stop Making Sense last October (2024), so I've heard plenty of Talking Heads. I actually found that movie impossibly boring...but I have always said I don't like live performances recorded. There's something that's inauthentic about it despite it being "live". A story for another time! Anyway, for the last year or so I was wondering if Talking Heads were a little overrated. Listening to this album today, I can see some of David Byrne's genius. It's certainly a solid album with several digressions instrumentally - enough to hold your interest and return to if you're into the style, which I am! I just think studio albums are so much better than live versions of these songs...so I think I just need that sound mixing, baby! It's really good on this one!

I heard this album for the first time my freshman year of college, when I met my first friend there, Jerod. He loved the Smashing Pumpkins unabashedly, and it rubbed off pretty easily on me. I truly adore their biggest singles, especially 1979, Tonight, Tonight and Zero from this album. They certainly have an incredible debut here....and yet, I've never been a fan of double albums. It's to note that this was what I'd first heard from them, so it didn't feel as oppressive as other double albums often feel. It was just a lot of music all at once, to me. Now, 22 years later from first listen, I can say that I would listen to this plenty more if it was shorter. I'm more likely to cut off after the first album and never hear the back half. It's a shame, but sometimes you should just have albums split between the beginning and end of the year. That's not to say the Pumpkins did anything wrong here, I think that's more of a statement on the industry loving to pump big albums out if they have it. I can't speak to their timing, or Pumpkins' urgency to get all of this out at once, but like most double albums, it feels bloated nonetheless. As for the sound, it's always going to remind me of those nascent days at college learning my way around campus. It's so moody yet uplifting, melodic but uninterpretable. Beautiful, and a perfect title.

Pretty seminal work from the boys from Brooklyn. I'd never listened to it in full, but had certainly listened to a few tracks. After watching the Spike Jonze documentary from 2020, I was definitely more intrigued to listen to some of their stuff since I'd sort of ignored them. This is probably their biggest shift, according to the doc, and it's definitely worth a listen. Maybe not my cup of tea, but you can't deny they're brilliant. Best track is Shadrach, at the back of the LP.

This is some pretty heady (at least ephemeral) stuff. Completely of its era, the nearly 19 minute track capping things off saves it, but otherwise it's sort of just background music in a 60's biopic.

Nearly perfect album - this is one of the greats. If you need to know if you'll like Dylan, test this one out with a spin.

Classic - I've heard this a number of times. I'm a big Doors fan, and this is one of their albums, so I'm a little biased. Ending it with Riders on the Storm is an all-timer of a sendoff, and Hyacinth House is an underrated track. It's not even their best and it's one of the greats!

This is pretty good! It is a compilation of Dusty songs, so I'm not sure it's truly a seminal album or anything, but it's a good collection of solid examples of her work. I honestly just love this era of music too.

Okay, I guess I get it now. I truly wasn't a fan of Amy Winehouse back in the day because she was just a bit overplayed. I sort of understood then why she was so popular, but then she would always be a mess. It never sat right with me how we just watched and let her derail. I've often heard that this album was so much better than Back in Black anyway, and it's certainly true. This is why we loved her so much. If I'd heard this before the hype, I'd hold it up on a pedestal. I had somehow never listened to it, but I'm glad I have now.

Pretty good background music for doing something, it's definitely definitive sound for the era.

This was an interesting album, and I love international music. Obviously not knowing the language, I can't connect heavily to it, but that that's the beauty of music. It's one of the better albums I've had so far in this project, because I could return to it and find something new each time. Wonderful music to work to, the instruments are uplifting and resoundingly melodious.

I can see why Jason Reitman used All the Young Dudes in Juno, but I completely understand now why people liked this band and this album. Pretty stellar.

First album I've actively disliked. It's just noise, and not in the good way. I can see what they're doing here, but it was a little painful and just couldn't wait for it to be over. I'm sure there's an audience for this, but it's the one I am not a part of.

Strangely similar feeling to the last album, from The Birthday Party, but much better music. Kind of just disinterested, but it was enough background music that it flew by.

Van Morrison has a voice that just feels like home. I listened to Tupelo Honey once a week while I worked at Best Buy, so I just love his voice. This is as good an album, and of course is the only one he truly lets be on Spotify, so it's sort of the only one this project can allow. I'm fine with it! I'd listened to this once a long time ago and was fine with it, but man his voice is like what I think fans of Bob Dylan's gravel defend.

Fela can pretty much do no wrong, and this is a great example of his music. I'm not sure I've listened to these songs in this order, but it's great expanding my knowledge of his works.

Much like The Birthday Party, this was a little discordant. Luckily the variety held my interest more throughout, and it eventually turned out to be a decent album. Wouldn't listen again, likely, but they...did a good job?