1001 Albums Summary

This album rips. I had no idea how many absolute classics were here, a great listen.

A bit longer than it needs to be, but has all of the best parts of what Arcade Fire does included amidst some draggy sections. A fun listen, and it was great to have a reason to re-listen to an album I already knew I liked. However, this probably isn’t even the best Arcade Fire album, let alone something near the top tier for me in general.

Starts and ends with a bang, with Baba, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won’t Get Fooled Again. Outside of those (admittedly great) tracks, I was not in love with the rest of the album. I understand that this is a seminal part of the 70s classic rock era, but The Who just isn’t my favorite band of that stretch, I guess.

An album I had no prior familiarity with, in a genre that is a blind spot for me. Can’t say that I loved this one, although that certainly more on my taste than the quality of the album itself. The Intro is memorably great.

Welp. My mid-life crisis must be coming soon, because I really liked this. I nearly let out an audible “Hell yeah” when Reeling in the Years started, plus Dirty Work is an all-timer. A great listen.

I’m a sucker for some sad acoustic folk.

An interesting first listen to the "grime" style, and there were some tracks that were kinetic and energetic in a way I really liked.

Not the best Tom Petty, but it is still Tom Petty.

This takes me back to my college years, where so many of my friends found sigur ros. Wasn’t for me back then, but I’ve gained an appreciation for what they do over time. I really like that, knowing zero words in Icelandic, I can just treat to vocals as part of the music. Calming, chill album, just great.

I can usually get on board with “twangy” country, but I thought this was a pretty tough listen. kd lang has a great voice, but the choice to lean all the way in on older-style country production just did not really work for me.

Had no idea wha to expect from a guy who I only knew from crossword clues, but this was a pretty fun listen. The lyrics seemed to stray a bit further into “goofy territory” than I tend to prefer, but overall, this was pretty good!

A bit of a weird mix of what I would call “standard” 90s rock, experimental electronic stuff, and “jam band” extended instrumental bits. The main part that didn’t work for me was the electronic elements, which I found to be a tough listen. I didn’t think that there was anything special here either, though, and couldn’t strongly recommend this album as a whole.

I liked this one a lot. Walk on the wild side probably isn’t a go-to for me, but the album was consistently solid and a great listen.

At its best, this album’s spare instrumentation and cohen’s gravelly voice are haunting, especially in the context of the album coming out at the end of his life. Still, though, I found a lot of the tracks to be repetitive, especially lyrically. There’s something to be said for hitting the theme consistently, but the album seemed to echo itself, rather than enhancing those themes.

I know that he’s a legend and that this album is similarly legendary, but I just don’t think I can make myself love Bob Dylan.

The concept for this album did not land for me. The Who consistently have awesome guitar/bass work, but it was kinda lost behind the rest of the components of the album.

I love when I band that I have no familiarity with pops up with an album that just clicks for me. This one was great.

This album grew on me as I listened, with a pretty good overall vibe, but didn’t jump out as anything special for my taste.

Great album. Doesn’t have any of the tracks that I know Neil Young for, and was therefore completely off my radar, but I really liked it.

Last night, my basement flooded during a storm. Today, I’m listening to Limp Bizkit. Both experiences are equally enjoyable.

This was really cool and I enjoyed listening to it. I don’t know if I’m really someone with the critical ear to put a ton of words in to the why, but sometimes I think the above sentence is all I need.

While this did not fall to the level of “I actively disliked listening to this album,” there was nothing here that moved the needle in a positive way. Lyrics were repetitive, vocals were borderline unpleasant, drums weren’t anything special. Some fun guitar parts, but nothing I haven’t heard a better version of dozens of times elsewhere.

I generally am a fan of live albums, and this one was fun and did a great job capturing the energy of a live show. That said, the tracks themselves were a bit too, I don’t know, “fifties” for me? Maybe I’m just not a big “do the twist” guy? Sam Cooke is awesome, but this album falls just short of that.

There is an incredible level of skill, and talent on display here. Even as a “non-rap” person, I can pick up that Eminem is in a rare tier as a performer, and this album probably hits pretty close to his prime. That said, it kinda sucks that so much of that talent is in service of a particular kind of early 2000s edginess/shock value that I just find to be kinda gross. I know that the performing-to-shock has its place/validity, but this went a bit beyond “wow, what challenging themes to confront.”

Radiohead is one of those bands that I haven’t spent much time with, even though they should be right up my alley “on paper.” I really liked how abstract and, I don’t know, slow(?) this album was. The open-ended lyrics made me focus on how the vocals fit into the music, rather than on their content. This was good enough that I’ll carve out time to dig into Radiohead more, even outside of this project. Can’t ask for a whole lot more than that.

This album is such a good example of why I’m doing this whole thing. I knew a few Black Sabbath songs, but never had reason to dive into their catalog. This was great, rock music is great, I’m glad I listened to this one.

I liked the addition of the orchestra, even if it is a bit of an odd fit with Metallica. I’d say that the orchestra is the best part of the whole experience here, because I really don’t need 2+ hours of Metallica in one go.

It turns out that I consistently really like funk/soul/jazzy stuff, and this album is no exception.

This is a perfectly adequate soft jazz album, though it also doesn’t jump out to me as special (beyond the artist’s obvious talent). The live recording doesn’t seem to add much to the listening experience.

Would be 4 stars on the strength of Jump alone, the rest of the album being a perfect 80s rock experience bumps it to 5.

I think that this album would be nice as background music while I’m doing something else, but it didn’t move the needle for me otherwise.

Enter sandman and sad but true make for a really cool start to the album, but after that, it’s pretty much just a lot of Metallica, isn’t it?

Parts of spacelab kinda sound like one of the tracks from the final fantasy VII soundtrack, for whatever that is worth. Otherwise, this is very much not my kind of album. Lukewarm on this at best.

I understand that Kurt Cobain didn’t ghost write this one, but I hear a lot of grungy influence throughout.

I felt like I was listening to randomized tracks from a musical I wasn’t aware existed, which I guess kinda tracks for ABBA. Not bad though!

I can dig some sad country music, but I couldn’t latch on to any of this one.

Just completely unmemorable. Nothing bad, but ten minutes after listening I don’t think I can say one thing in this album that I had an actual reaction to.

A classic. I think the 29 minute runtime suits it well- any longer and it might have strayed into being a bit grating, but as it stands, just great, high energy, chaotic punk.

This all sounded pretty dated. Totally inoffensive, sometimes fun, but not something I’ll go back to.

I had no clue who this band was, but really really enjoyed the album. Easy 4 star.

Liked this more than I thought I would, really nice, atmospheric music

I keep saying I like old country music well enough, but then every time it comes up, it feels like a chore to listen to.

Me, myself, and I gave me a ton of nostalgia for the NCAA Football 13 soundtrack. Whole album was great, if a bit longer than I would prefer. Still, four stars for sure.

I have to be in the right mood for jam band stuff, and I was in that right mood for this album.

The most 3 star album I’ve listened to so far. Some good rock stuff, but nothing that stood out.

La grange and a bunch of stuff.

One of the first bands I think of when I think 80s pop, and a super fun album. Brings back memories of playing DDR in high school- hungry like the wolf has always been a banger.

Great album. Obviously, high horse and slow burn are highlights, but the whole album is full of consistently good tracks.

Wow, this one took me back. Great album, from an era where Coldplay was making music that is now, today, up my alley.

Inventive, fun, a bit long. Worth leaving the Spotify site to find this one on Youtube.

Just some classic 90 alt rock tracks here, each of which are still great listens. That said, it is completely unnecessary for this album to be 2 hours, and the bloat brings down the score a bit.

A while back, I was sitting on my front porch on a beautiful spring day when a guy drove by, windows down, smoking a cigarette, blaring Even Flow. I will never be as free as that man. Anyway, great album, no notes.

As with most of the pre-1960 albums I’ve listened to so far, I can understand that this is Important and that Fats Domino is a foundational figure, but I can’t say it was a super enjoyable listen.

Really good album by a really unpleasant guy.

Wow, I’ll give this one credit for some cool instrumentals and for Under the Bridge, but it turns out that maybe I don’t like RHCP very much.

I’m loathe to give out one star ratings, but I think this one earns it. The “concept” behind the concept album here is pretty thin, and the music itself is just pretty flat. Why would I listen to “a soundtrack for a movie that doesn’t exist” when I could watch a movie that does exist, or listen to an album that has a less flimsy premise?