1001 Albums Summary

Hotel California (the song) is obviously great, Wasted Time (Reprise) and Try and Love Again are unexpectedly good, everything else is a reminder that rock music mythology is mostly just good marketing.

The really superb instrumentation gets sunk on almost every track by Costello’s repetitive vocal bullshit. Chelsea definitely the standout track.

First album I’m reviewing recorded by a Columbo guest star!

A lot of the pioneering albums I’ve been getting from the generator are interesting because they’re not quite there yet, like the genre isn’t done baking. The singles are great, but the rest of the tracks belong to the previous era. Not Gang of Four babyyyy!! It’s all here. Post-punk has arrived. Great album, killer cover, super listenable.

It’s ironic that the original lyrics to Candle in the Wind really do apply to Diana as well (“they set you on a treadmill,” “loneliness was tough, the toughest role you ever played,” “all the newspapers had to say…”/“Di goes sex mad!”). But obviously that wouldn’t fit for a song played at her funeral. Oh well!

I appreciate that this list includes major albums from less popular, more controversial genres, but this album runs away from everything that makes nu metal good and isn't even a particularly good Limp Bizkit album. Impressively low-effort.

I’ll say it and stand by it: “Don’t Look Back In Anger” is better than “Imagine.”

This gets an “it’s fine” from me, but it can’t be overstated how dogshit everything else on the radio was when Elvis broke out. There’s a reason everyone lost their minds over this guy.

This went triple platinum in my childhood home.

This would be a 5/5 they’d excised a few tracks that are “just okay,” but it’s still great.

This might say more about what Urban Outfitters did for/to the vinyl album than it does the Magnetic Fields, but I truly can’t comprehend the fact that this didn’t come out during the Obama administration. I guess that means it’s ahead of its time?

No skips.

Extremely bad and extremely good at the same time, somehow. This is the kind of unpolished gem (or...something) you get when you explore the world of lesser-known music. Really baffling to experience.