I thought it was very interesting that the lyrics carried so much sadness, regret, etc. but you really didn’t “hear” it in the instrumentals. The music was, in my opinion, too relaxed and often even a little energetic to convey the idea on its own. Despite that, I came away from the album thinking, “wow, that was pretty sad.” My only gripe was that sometimes the songs really felt like they were dragging it out when I already got the message. Maybe that’s the brainrot talking, but I’m going to trust my gut on this one; not long enough to be seriously egregious, but just enough to make me think, “okay, this is taking a while.” That’s probably a part of it, though: maybe sadness takes a little longer than you’d like. Maybe you put on a happy face when the emotions beneath are anything but. Maybe your voice is choking up, but you still need to get something out.
Even though they were experimenting with longer compositions for the album, it felt like it went by fast. When it was over I was like, “aw man, I could’ve gone for another song or two..” but all good things must come to an end, I guess. Just some plain old good music here.
I typically do some pre-reading when diving into an established book, album, game, etc. to get necessary context and set my expectations. Somehow, all of my reading failed to bring up that Prince would climb out of my speakers and fuck me, but I don’t think it would’ve helped me even IF I had known that. I had to stop and stand with my jaw agape multiple times because this album is just absolutely nuts man… just so blatantly horny that when it was over I couldn’t help but laugh…
I understand why people like this. I enjoyed a lot of the songs… specifically, in isolation. I think the songs work well as singles, but as an album experience it felt monotonous. By the time I got halfway through, I started craving a greater range of vocal expression that never arrived. The music and mixing is good, and the lyrics aren’t bad, but there’s only so much I can endure from the monotone vocals before I start wanting something else.
Just some incredibly fun and well-done music here. I think the live aspect actually helps elevate the album in a certain way; the moments Kuti has with the audience help make the album feel more like a musical experience and reinforce the mood of the album. Let’s Start put a big grin on my face and that atmosphere just kept up throughout the entire album.
This is NUTS for an 18th album. The first two tracks were a little weak for me so I was worried I was about to sit through 2 hours of some weak sauce but no… Village Ghetto Land hit and then things just kept getting better for the album’s entire runtime. This is such a cool album man…
Beautiful album that displays a large range of expression and nails everything it goes for. It’s like a culmination and celebration of the human experience. It’s just so well done.
Nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said… it was novel to experience something I never would have heard otherwise but I started to go a bit crazy with how long and repetitive the album is.
Once you've heard hip-hop this clean, this well-written, this PERFECTLY aesthetically crafted… it’s hard to listen to anything else. I’m not a hip-hop historian, and I didn’t have much of a listening history with it before this project, but I 100% believe it when they say that Nas changed the game with this one.
I found most of the songs to be nice but mostly unremarkable. A couple of the tracks in the middle of the album even caught my interest, but the first two tracks gave me a really bad first impression to The Smiths. I have never heard a real person growl when singing. I thought it was just a fun little thing VOCALOIDs could do sometimes, but I hope I never have to hear a human do that again.
GOD I love Steely Dan. Album speaks for itself, my words aren’t adequate enough praise for this album.
It’s called pornography because even if you found some moments of worth in the experience you mostly just feel sad afterwards
I couldn’t finish this album… it sounds like nobody really cared about what was happening, but the pay was good so they slapped something “good enough” together. Like, it’s passable at a glance, but when you listen to it it’s lacking the intangible “soul” that most of the albums on this project have put into them.
This was probably crazy in 2000 but in the big 2026 it had a hard time latching on to me. Maybe I was just bored but it felt like it kept covering the same ground tonally. Maybe I’ll come back to it with a more open mind but as of writing this it doesn’t strike me as anything special.
Great background music for Crazy Taxi but as its own experience it starts to feel a little uninspired. “All the songs sound the same” gets thrown around a lot in reviews but it REALLY applies here. I liked it but it didn’t really inspire anything in me.
This isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard… but that’s about the highest praise I can give it. I spent most songs wishing they would end sooner and often felt that there was a lot of potential that was far from realized here. I’ve heard good things about Frank Ocean, and I know it’s the debut album, but I’m not hearing what’s so special.
I know I’ve got something good on my hands when every song has me both sad to leave it but excited for the next one. Great energy and composition. The variety of dynamics and style was really great.
I love a good live album. I’m always charmed by the interactions the singers have with the audience between songs (and even during the songs!). It helps me remember that even decades ago we’ve always been the same old humans with the same whimsy and fun. This album was fun the whole way through, Vaughan was very pleasant to listen to and the music was always great. Lovely.
Never heard a lot of this stuff, Mr. Brightside was really great and had me hopeful for the rest of the album but most of it was just okay at best. That shit they did in All These Things That I’ve Done was unacceptable though and probably deducted a point from my score just for that one song.
Cool ass cherub smoking cigarettes… just jamming out without a care singing about being cool… it’s hard to hate Van Halen. Even though I remember Jump as the overused pop culture song it’s just so hard to hate it when you hear it. Cool and fun. It’s the simple things that make life worth living.
I don’t hate disco. I find it pleasant to listen to and dance to, but it doesn’t exactly leave much of an impression on me. I respect the emotion, sense of fun, and technical skill in the album, but it just doesn’t sink it’s hooks into me in the way other albums do.
Peter Piper gave me some hope but I just couldn’t truly love this album. The way that they sing and randomly pick up the other’s lines is kind of cool but after like 11 tracks of that it gets old really quick. There was potential here but there needed to be more variation in style. The Walk This Way remix and Raising Hell are a sign that they could’ve done that but just… didn’t. Oh well.
I found Harris’ voice to be rather nice at first, and I hoped the rest of the album would be as good as The Pearl. I was very upset to find how quickly the album devolved into that acoustic, uninspired slop that modern southern baptists call music. Seriously disappointing.
Nails on the chalkboard. It probably went crazy as a big punk breakthrough back in the day, but listening to it now, I mostly just think about how I hate hearing the stupid voices on every single track.
Great unique sound that was very nice to listen to. The very beginning of the first track draws you in and it keeps you there until the album is over. Really great stuff.
Lots of good stuff here. Some of the only “country” music I’ve heard that doesn’t make me want to turn off the music immediately. This album could’ve been a 5 if they trimmed off the fat but there is a LOT here and some of it just drags the album experience as a whole down.
Ethereal. Beautiful. Inspiring. Enchanting. Simply incredible. Can’t imagine how much work it takes to get this talented. No further notes.
MJ might just be the greatest case for why separating the art from the artist is important
I didn’t really understand when Northernlion said that your favorite thing should be what inspires your soul the most and it’s sad that nowadays people think your favorite thing should be the one that makes the most sense... until I listened to this album. I heard a lot of good things about this album but I just do not care for it. Even if it is crazy conceptually, since everyone seems to love what the album is “saying,” it’s still music. If you can’t make it sound good just go write a book man.
Obviously there are some incredibly famous songs on this album (for good reason), but even the songs I had never heard of had a unique and captivating sound. Really good stuff.
Around 30% of this album is spiritually Steely Dan and the other 70% is nothing like Steely Dan. Interesting experience but not incredibly remarkable as an album.
CRAZY
STURDY
A TOR
PEDO
🗣️🔊🔥🔥🔥
In 1967 Cream dared to ask the question: “what if the Beatles were just okay?” Luckily they also gave us the answer so we don’t have to wonder about it anymore.
Opens strong. Quality drops in the middle imo but when you find yourself wavering about 15 minutes in just know that they save the best for last. The last 4 tracks do the heavy lifting here, especially The Killing Moon and Ocean Rain. It’s a collection of different influences but Echo & the Bunnymen definitely do their best with the “small orchestra with a drum set” sound in this album.
Good stuff but the project really hurts you by making you listen to both volumes in one day. Not the album’s fault but I was ready to take a break after volume one and it just kept going.
When you make music in a genre widely known for its recent reputation of sounding like same-y dogshit… you should PROBABLY try to address that and experiment to break out of that sound. This album played it too safe and not enough was done to remedy that issue. A few good moments but ultimately not a fun listen.
The songs might be a little weak on their own but they come together to form a really great album experience.
Took a point away for the album art. You can’t put stung by a venomous insect art on a non venomous album it just doesn’t work
I will always love David Bowie. Incredibly talented and he knows what to do to make the most of his medium. Lots of people try to do some heavy experimenting to turn their music into something new and unheard of in order to stand out, and they end up losing the plot. Bowie masters the fundamentals of music, and he understands why we listen to music and how to reach the listener and make a genuine impact. He’s held in high regard for a reason.
What’s better than one cool lady singing great R&B? That’s right, it’s three cool ladies singing R&B 🙏🙏🙏 great stuff here
The product of a Beatles and little green men from Mars cultural exchange program
🗣️🔊 A LOVE SUPREME 🗣️🔊 A LOVE SUPREME
I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff… the music that just revels in being alive, the experience of it all. You can feel the passion and life in every song. What more can I say?
If you told me someone on SoundCloud released this yesterday I would believe you
Most people don’t hate the flutes on this album but the general reviews are skewed by Georg Flütenhater who writes 10,000 reviews complaining about the flutes on this album every single day
Inexcusably awful. If a breakup is so bad it inspires you to write an entire album, I would expect that listening would be an emotionally charged experience. Instead, I got some bullshit from the pop-slop factory and it sounds like this lady didn’t even experience any of the events described in the lyrics. I don’t want to listen to 40 minutes of half-hearted pathetic little ““““sad”””” indie girl shit.
This album was like whipped cream for me. It’s fun, light, and tasty; I could probably eat a lot more of it, but no matter how much I eat, it’s not going to provide a substantial meal for me. I don’t hate whipped cream, but I want a proper meal when I’m hungry.
It’s either the genius product of years of learning, growth, etc., or the random bullshit of a dying man; I don’t feel confident that I can discern which one it is at the moment, so it’s sitting at a 3 until I figure it out…
Prime example of why first impressions are important because after the first two songs I almost dropped the album, but I decided to give it some grace and I’m glad that I did. Really cool experimental fusion album that was executed pretty solidly all things considered.
Not perfect but MAN this album grows on you fast. Like those videos of the slime mold growing in the Petri dish to reach the food fast. I started thinking the album was going to be pretty mid and before I knew it I was addicted to the style these guys had and just wanted to keep on jamming and having a good time.
It’s not very good. But… I have definitely heard worse. It uses the “pop 89% chance of making a Next Big Hit” formula and doesn’t really bring anything else to the table. It’s not egregious but I find myself disliking the album because it wants to sing about “controversial” topics with such a cut-and-paste, uninspired musical style.
I’d always heard Pink Floyd was really good but hasn’t listened to much of their work other than the really famous stuff… I didn’t check the reviews before listening to the album so you can imagine my surprise upon actually listening to the album. I had to go in and check to make sure this wasn’t some other band that was also named Pink Floyd. I try to maintain discretion and realize that even if I don’t like some music it still holds value as art, but some of this is just too hard to justify defending…
It’s definitely not bad; however, there’s a certain lethargy about the entire album that really doesn’t make me want to give it any more than a 3/5. It’s like you’ve got the right piece of equipment for the job, but you didn’t give it enough power, so it’s no good.
What a great concept, very innovative and there are a lot of ways to spin it to make a potentially novel and interesting listen. Unfortunately the execution here Sucks Ass Big Time… for someone who wants to listen to music. From what I’ve gathered, Adamson made this to showcase his skills as a stepping stone to actually work on a real movie, and evidently it worked out for him. So really, this did exactly what Adamson wanted it to… but I’m rating this as a music album listening experience, not as a film director looking for talent, so I still stand by my previous remarks.
“Released after the year 2000” and “Average review score above a 4.0” don’t usually mean anything to me when I glance at the daily album but when I see them together I think I need to start interpreting it as a red flag
This album stands out among my “3s” because unlike the others where I believe that there was untapped potential and not enough effort, I really think these guys were on the right track and just didn’t have the experience to do their idea justice. In another universe, this album wasn’t their debut and had enough polish to make it a 4, but we’re stuck with our universe for now.
Another talented musician RUINED because they didn’t have anyone in their life to tell them “dude you need to stop doing that thing with your voice, it sounds really stupid”
Out of all my Star ratings, the “3s” form the largest category. Naturally, there’s going to be a lot of variety, with “good 3s” and “bad 3d” and everything in between. I know it might be a bit early to call, but this might be (one of) the most “mid 3s” on the entire project. Like if I make a giant chart after listening to every single album and definitively place each album either above or below each other I think this album will be about 10 spots away or less from the exact middle of the chart. The negative emotions and positive emotions from listening cancelled out and there was 0 change in my mental state between the start and end other than “I had to listen to the album and now I have listened to the album”
Didn’t really like the start but they were locked in the pocket in the middle there! And then Bend Down Low hit like some strange reggae nursery rhyme and it was then I knew that the album was getting a 3
90% confident that each song is about different kinds of love and people would have a different opinion on the album if they knew that the song about wanting your lover to be a dog and a horse and your sister was about toxic love and control. BUT that 10% is also putting up a good fight and there are just enough mentions of dogs and horses for an album about love for it to be suspicious, so… 4 stars
If a dying old man asks you to sit and listen to his life stories and wisdom at the end of his life, just say yes. It’s almost always worth it. That’s what we’re working with here. Cohen has captured that experience in a bottle and invited anyone willing to listen to hear what he has to say. In the moment, you will sometimes feel like those tales go on for far too long, but when you look back you will wish the times had lasted just a little bit longer. Luckily, You Want It Darker has been captured for eternity, so you can lend Cohen an ear whenever you feel like it.
If the latter half of this album was as strong as the first half, this album would get a 5. Maybe that’s an impossible ask considering how legendary those first ~25-30 minutes were but not every track needs to be 5 minutes long.
Nice voice, but it gets repetitive after a while. Probably due to the fact that it feels like a bunch of singles pretending to be an album, but this was 1964 so I really don’t know how much control Burke had over that.
I was going to praise them for creating an album that sounds exactly like something from the 60s or 70s in the year 2010 and then I saw that they actually DID make this in the 60s so. Less impressive
Probably one of the most lean and focused albums I have listened to on this project. 6 songs in a little under 40 minutes, and every minute feels purposeful. The Thin White Duke knew what he was doing.
Such a beautiful sound and I’ve only ever heard one other band that would be considered similar. A rare sound and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING, is going to dissuade me from thinking that Sinatra is one of, if not the BEST, to ever do it.
However, reading the low reviews for him on this site is pretty funny. I can’t imagine any other place to find someone call Sinatra’s songs “bollocks.”
They used to believe that radio stations on Mars would sound like this, y’know. And then they Killed the fun and now Mars will probably be broadcasting Amazon ads 24/7
The variety in percussion (especially the mallet instruments) brings this from a high 3 to a medium high 4. THAT’S how you make a sound that stands out without sounding absolutely crazy
5 stars alone for the tuff ass pretzel cart guy on the cover
This album already has a high bar to entry for most of the users on this project, being a jazz album, and the first song on the album doesn’t help. I loved the album, but I’ll be the first to admit that it is NOT designed for the average listener. However, that’s why I respect it so much. There are a lot of debut albums on here that copy whatever is popular at the time and make no attempt at forming an identity. It is immediately obvious that this album does not do that. This album is an authentic expression of the soul of the performers that you do not come across often. It rewards you for sticking with it to the end by increasing the richness of the performance with each passing track. It’s a real shame so many people can’t seem to stand Jazz.
Everything I loved about Fela Kuti’s music but with its own distinct voice that sets it apart. Femi Kuti provides a great continuation of his father’s legacy without it being “just more of the same.”
I can’t say I enjoyed every minute of it, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t an interesting, engaging, and innovative album. Also, the song transitions were on point imo, which was probably necessitated due to the fact that the genre changes with basically every track, but even despite that the transitions felt more well done than a lot of the single genre albums on this project.
How are you going to throw out multiple references to incredible songs by incredible bands across the album, only to learn absolutely NOTHING from those examples and go on to make an absolutely awful album? I understand that a good listener needs to be well-rounded but removing this from the 1001 albums book is 1001% justified because it’s a bit insulting to make the average person listen to this.
I’ll admit that I always go into country albums with a chip on my shoulder, which is because I’m always expecting the crap the genre has morphed into in the modern day. So when a country album subverts this prejudice of mine, it works in its favor review-wise. Now, Earle didn’t exactly avoid that sound I hate… but he didn’t exactly land in that sound entirely either. A lot of tracks pick up undesirable sounds while also avoiding other ones; some of the tracks even go in the right direction (in my opinion) with a more bluegrass inspired sound. So, not a perfect album, but for a country album, it could have been a lot worse.
So imagine Echo & the Bunnymen but instead of making a good album they just make the same song 17 times and call it a day
Just okay. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand the “east coast hip hop revival” aspect of the hip hop albums on here that evidently earned them a spot on the list. Compared to artists like Notorious BIG and Nas who were making BETTER albums as part of the SAME MOVEMENT I really just don’t think the album is all that special.
When I read what the album was about, I was really excited since I love this kind of stuff conceptually. However, the execution was just a bit underwhelming. I think a lot more could have been done with the vocal instruments idea that was only really explored in like… 2 or 3 of the tracks. The choral sound is nice but there’s only so many ways you can spin it before you’re making the same tracks again and again. Don’t get it twisted, the choral sound is nice and I really enjoyed the album, but it’s the age old dilemma of too much of a good thing in my opinion.
How out of touch with humanity do you have to be to write lyrics THIS hypocritical? The music isn’t even that noteworthy it’s literally just the evil lyrics that put this album on the list (and the fact that he’s John Lennon… but hopefully you get what I mean. From a member of one of the most famous and successful bands of all time, you would expect a little bit more…)
Listening to albums like this always brings out my inner old man… when did we stop making this kind of music in favor of the prolific garbage we have today? Obviously, the old man isn’t always right. Lots of old albums aren’t that good and a lot of new albums are really good. Still, the old man knows what’s up because MAN is this some good stuff.
This project is revealing to me that I have a lot more tolerance of the avant garde than the average listener, and I might actually be a bit fond of it? Obviously it’s hard to defend, and there is a lot out there that is better; but I get a little sad seeing all the comments about “anyone can make this crap,” “my 6 year old could do better,” etc. I went through 4 years of marching band with a lot of annoying amateur percussionists who thought they were hot shit on the drum set, and I PROMISE you making “garbage noise” that is actually digestible is not easy. Tracks 5 and 6 aren’t something you put on the radio, they’re really more akin to a soundscape experience. And it’s done really well!
I was shocked to see the reviews on this one! (Way better reviews than I was expecting!) Is this the gateway album for the average listener to get into jazz? The secret is probably in the fact that this is a jazz fusion album that’s heavy on the fusion. A LOT of the sound is pulled from musical traditions that are known to work, and less emphasis is put on the typical experimentation of jazz. The talent and tone of the musicians also goes a long way; Smith and co. absolutely killed it on the performance here! My only gripe is that they really did lean on that safe organ sound to keep the average listener from being scared away. It’s done well but there really was a lot of it. The guitar has a beautiful sound on this album… maybe more of that and a little bit less of the organ would have made this album legendary.
Fela Kuti is both incredibly talented and has great integrity of character, a rare combination in this world… I bring this up because it isn’t uncommon to bring morality into reviews on this project. Lots of people shoot down great work from artists like Michael Jackson, John Lennon, etc. who were very talented but of rather poor character. I won’t get into my thoughts on the negative aspect of the art and artist relationship, but I think works in Kuti’s favor here. He’s a passionate man who combined his passions into a single, conjoined work, and you can really feel all that passion in his albums.
Beautiful album, succinct and purposeful. A pleasure to listen to, and I wish there was more. Goated af
The one star reviews are so funny! “How did this crap make it on the list?” Regardless of how you feel about the quality of the music, Crawling alone puts this album on the list. Even today you could probably walk up to anyone on the street and there’s a 50/50 chance they know Crawling. Let’s not kid ourselves about the cultural impact of this one.
If the album ends and I’m like “thank god that’s over”… it doesn’t really mean anything for the objective quality but it DOES mean that I didn’t like it
Basically the same as Imagine by John Lennon. The music is fine (that American Pie cover was certainly a choice), but the massive ego running underneath the entire album squanders its potential.
Kraftwerk invented time dilation technology to fit a 2 hour track list into 40 minutes just for this album
