1001 Albums Summary

I love this album. It’s actually in frequent rotation along with Wish You Were Here. I love this period of Floyd. It helps that my dad also loved this period of Floyd as did my husband’s parents. What you hear as a kid affects you. This album had a big effect on my future musical inclinations, and when we rediscovered it, well, it was magic. So it has to be 5 stars. It’s in the category of desert island 5 star albums. I don’t just appreciate it, I listen to it a lot and would be sad if I couldn’t hear it again.

I’ve actually heard this album before! I have no memory of it. It’s saved in my library, that’s how I know it’s gotten a listen. So maybe this time I’ll remember… Oh no. Frank Zappa reminds me of your neurodivergent 12 year old cousin showing off his multi- instrumentality. It’s like “oh wow Frank, that’s amazing…. You can stop now…. Please stop. Please. Please stop. Yeah you need to stop now.” I want to give him a 3 for effort, but since I wanted to kill him by the end, he gets a 2.

Love Curtis. Yeah, this is a great album. It really is. I think I have to give it a 5. The album, not the movie. And that says so much.

Oh Bowie. Required listening. He really is amazing, but in real life I skip him. Yeah. As I expected. I’m always torn when I listen to this period of Bowie. It’s a lot like Bob Dylan. Yeah, admittedly an important album. Yeah, it’s good, I get it. Do I want to listen to it? No. But I will give it 4 stars, because it deserves it, damn it. Even if Bowie was coked out of his mind and has no memory of anything he did. And the Boolean rating? Could I have died without hearing this album? No, no I guess not. I’m glad I heard it. Again. Even though it felt like work. Its influence is undeniable and it actually grooves and has wonderful instrumentation. In fact, if Bowie could have just not been a part of it, that would have been best, I think…

Wow - I’m embarrassed to admit how much I liked this. Shows that you have to separate the music from the look of the band. If I judged solely on the manitards this would never have gotten a listen. 4 stars. Boolean rating: yes! Glad I heard it before I died.

Oh god! This is 5!!!! Maybe the best album ever? When I say that I mean an album that works both as a whole - is composed as an album- and still pulls off “hits” - songs that can stand alone and people love. But when you put those hits into the context of the album as a whole, they’re meaning changes, and perhaps they’re popularity is almost a conscious commentary on society. I know most that would agree think TPAB is better. And maybe it is. But this was the album that broke Kendrick open for me. It has compositional elements like What’s Going On- which probably IS the best album ever. I listen to this regularly. It honestly took me time to get into Kendrick, but now… I know he’s the 🐐 So glad to listen to it again. Boolean rating? Yes!!! Oh yes I needed to hear this before I died. So glad I can hear it many times before I go…

Wow - lots of Black Sabbath over the last few days. So I’m now a full on fan. In a very short time. From 0 to full fan in one week! This didn’t hit me like Paranoid- that was my introduction, but man, this rocks! And they’re amazing at the 180s! Opening with wheels of confusion going to tomorrow’s dream and then changes?!!? Wow! 4 stars. Really 4.5. Boolean rating: yes! Thank you for introducing me to Black Sabbath before I die!

Cool. Yeah, I have to admit if I was coming to this album cold for the first time it would probably be a 3. It’s funny, but I don’t think I would hear the very cool drum work or appreciate Cornell’s vocals if I didn’t know them already. I don’t think I like the way the guitars are placed in the mix. I think I find them too muddy. But there was a time when this album was everywhere. Crazy. I didn’t really listen to this album at the time. But it didn’t matter. It was everywhere. And Chris did have an amazing voice. And the drum work is there. You just got to listen. 4 stars. RIP Chris Cornell. You were quite a talent. So sad you’re gone. Boolean rating: yes! Glad to hear soundgarden again before I die.

Um… love the left fielders. Oh, this was a left fielder! Truly. Never heard it before. God it’s weird. Fantastically weird. I’m giving it 4 stars cause this is the kind of album that keeps me coming back. Will I ever listen to this just cause? Probably not! Boolean rating: yes! Very glad that I did hear it before I die.

? Wow, so I never heard anything about Laura Nyro or this album before. Immediately I was struck by the thought that she’s a soul sister of Carole King, let loose on broadway? I mean there’s a lot here. But I don’t particularly want to listen to it. Right when she has me, she brings in the brass. Or the full orchestra. Not my bag. 3 stars for obvious talent. Boolean rating: yes, I do suppose I am glad to have heard this before I die.

Yeah, Neil Young. Have to see how I feel today… I feel like my mom used Bob Dylan and Neil Young to torture me as a teenager. I mean I don’t feel that way, she DID use them to torture me. Now the thing is, I deserved to be tortured. I was a very angry punk rock teen. But the experience lingers. I have since forced myself, through sheer will, to appreciate the artistry of said artists. But the feeling still lingers. The feeling of wanting to crush Neil Young like a squirming bug beneath my shoe. It’s not just his voice. Or the style. I’m a HUGE fan of Jason Molina. But… f* you Neil. Really. 2 stars cause you undeniably are an artist. 2 stars cause you torture me still. Boolean rating: honesty? No. I could die without hearing Neil Young. I’d just lack that well roundnesses, but I would be happier for it! After all, it’s better to burn out than to fade away. Sorry, I wrote this before I remembered it had been in Kurt Cobain’s suicide note. But then I thought, no, I would leave it. It’s all part of the conversation. That’s part of what I’m here for.

Karen O! Yeah! I think I actually like their later stuff better, but this should be fun. Don’t think I have actually listened to this album before… No, hadn’t heard this before. At first, I have to admit I wasn’t loving it. And then Heads Will Roll… well I was in! The thing is, I count myself a Karen O fan. I loved the collab she did with danger mouse Lux Prima. And I really liked Cool it Down from 2022, which is obviously too recent to be on this list. She and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are developing as artists. Yay! But this… this is uneven af. I probably would never throw it on for myself. I want to give it a 4 out of love, but it really deserves a 3. So…3 it is. Boolean rating: yes, I suppose it is good to hear the earlier work of an artist of which you actually like the later work better.

So I just listened to this. Let’s see how I’m feeling… Yeah, it still gets a 5. Just about every song is amazing and the poetry of No Woman only becomes more profound on the 1000+ listen. Bob Marley was truly a master. Boolean rating: yes, certainly a good album to hear before I die.

Think I missed this one… damn, the twin towers were standing at the time… oh but it was released in 2002? Daaaaamn. This was very interesting. I don’t think I ever heard it. I enjoyed it. I thought it could be tighter for sure. And that 2002 release date still boggles me. It was actually very chill for the times. Boolean rating: yes, glad to have heard it.

Wow- so this is my bag. I went in totally cold, had no idea about the album or the artist. But I am a HUGE fan of Daniel Johnson, Sparklehorse, Jason Molina, Elliot Smith, so you know, troubled men singing about their pain, their trouble, and the beauty that yet is the world in which we live. So I guess this album was in the pocket. And why I’m here for this 1001 album exercise, btw. I guess it’s the thing I have to add is that this material WOULD have benefited from a bit of editing, some production, but maybe not. I tend to like Molina’s demos better than his “finished product.” Gosh, I think I am giving it a 5. You can’t stop me! Ha! Take that power pop! Boolean: Hell yeah

Wow- I remember when epic was the song of the moment. I was a kid, my brother and I would imitate its lyrics and delivery as basically the answer to everything: “you want it all, but you can’t have it….” I never got into Faith no More. I think because of their fan base. The Nirvana problem. Bad association. But man, this album is awesome! Sorry if you don’t feel it, but today me loves this album and is so, so glad I heard it as an album. Epic is probably the weakest song on the album- crazy. This is seriously going into rotation. I’m not going full 5 ‘cause I am already too much of a cheerleader. Boolean: yes, really. I think this has aged incredibly well. So glad I heard it before I die.

I really, really hope there are only two Rush albums on this list. I don’t think I can take more. They kill me. Neil Peart demands high marks but the rest leaves me cold to freezing. I am going 3 because I have to, but I never, ever want to hear Rush again. Boolean: No. Really, I think Moving Pictures is enough representation of Rush. This doesn’t show a progression of art or anything that makes me feel I needed to hear it. If I could get my time back, well I’d put in that paperwork.

Man, I am surprised by this album. Sorry, but I have always dismissed Dire Straits. Sultans of Swing makes me think of overweight men with pot bellies, wearing Bermuda shorts, flip flops, wife beaters and/ or Hawaiian shirts, beers in hand, half heartedly tending the bbq. Thanks… I‘ll pass. But there was so much more here than that! Those two opening tracks were so well placed one after the other. And Six Blade Knife… yeah, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed this album. It really didn’t have any dead spots. I even appreciated Sultans positioned in its full context.

Oh no. More Kate Bush. No. This is as painful as I feared. Reaching out… for that star that explodes… and ends this. God, that would have prevented Heads We’re Dancing. Man, so much talent, so much productive effort, such a voice, and a result that…is awful. I mean I should give it a 3 for effort… but I don’t want to. Unless something better happens this gets a 2. And at the end the best thing I can say about it is that it did, in fact, end. Boolean: no. One Kate Bush album is enough representation. I believe there are three. No. No.

Another one of those albums it looks like I am going to end up liking despite my best efforts to reject it based on fan base/ and or the appearance of the band members. God. I think ZZ Top generally has represented everything I despise about a certain type of man. But… in the sanctuary of my home/ headphones - this album rocks! So, well I guess it gets a 4. Not as familiar with its content as I thought I would be. Boolean: yes, glad to hear before I die.

Very glad going in… Well, finding it and making sure it was what it was, was half the fun! So the instrumentals rock. Fat’s voice is great. The whole thing would benefit from better production and not being pieced together on YouTube. This period’s endless lyrics about frivolous love and meaningless relationships, which standard rock and roll of course inherited, tires me out. More instrumental interludes, less “song.” Oh wait… that’s jazz! I have a hard time, I want to go 4 but really, this is a 3 for me, honestly. 3 Boolean: oh yes, I am glad I went on the journey to hear this before I die.

This is one of those “you’re supposed to rate well” selections simply because bands you later like site THIS band “The Band” as an influence. And they have a hit or two that is immediately recognizable because it’s been played into oblivion. But I don’t really like it. I don’t want to throw it on. Today it’s annoying. Today I feel like giving it a 2. But I will go 3 cause Jeff Tweedy thinks The Band is grand. 3 Boolean: yes, I suppose so. The thing is, can you not hear this album before you die? Is it possible?

Yay!!! Thank you!!! Album generator you have saved me from despair! This is a 5. I love Queen. I have secretly loved this album even when I thought it was terribly uncool to do so. Now I know I will love this till the day I die. What a joy. Boolean: Yes, enough said

Ahh, well… This gets a 5. All the jazz on here may get a 5. Man, it just makes my world a better place. And cool jazz IS cool. Is Chet Baker on the list? … no. He’s on the extended list. Yeah, the book is SO lacking in jazz and blues compared to its inclusion of tepid, forgettable British pop of the late millennium. Well, what can I say, the book editor is un-cool. Double plus uncool. 5 Boolean: yes, thank you. Let me hear THIS before I die and keep Scritti Politti somewhere far from me.

Oh George. Well let’s see how I feel.. at least this is British pop from the 80’s that I believe belongs here… Yeah, I knew like 75% of these songs as a kid. That’s… freaky. Sex is such a core element of this, it’s Prince without the funk and so much more… earnestness. I always feel like sex is a bit tongue in cheek for Prince. He’s sexy, but there’s humor. There’s no humor with George Michael. It’s just sex. Father Figure is down right creepy. Sorry. But my brother and I knew all the lyrics as KIDS. This song was EVERYWHERE. And well… try to tell me there’s no sexual implication. I. Will. Laugh. In. Your. Face. Anyway, George gets a 4. I mean it’s a good, consistent album. I can’t do 5. I just can’t. Boolean: yes, but then maybe take a shower, either for relief or to scrub yourself clean.

Amy! Oh Amy! RIP You know, I loved her voice back in the day. And her attitude. Though I paid very little attention to her in the media. I find it interesting how much people go on about how f*ed up she was from jump and how she splashed that across her lyrics. How many male artists do that? And the thing is, I rated Marshall Mathers highly. So I am unafraid of a musician “getting real.” Mac Miller was pretty honest about what was going on with him, too. I’m just sorry Mac and Amy had to die. And honestly, I think those deaths were dances between an “adoring public” and an ultimately lonely soul. But anyway, all that aside, I think this is a remarkably good debut with pretty consistent sound and feeling. 4 Boolean: yes, always glad to hear Amy sing before I die

I got multiple projects going and the repeats are starting to pile up. I didn’t know this album existed a week ago and now I have listened to it 3 or 4 times in the last few days. It’s become a favorite, a treasure and part of the albums that I know I will return to on my own. It really does benefit from multiple listens. 5 Boolean: yes absolutely. This right here is why this project is worth while.

Man, I wanted to like this. I really did. I went in open minded. I started it over because I didn’t feel like I gave it proper attention. But… it’s boring. Self-indulgent. And there are two more offerings from this band on the list. Based on what exactly? I thought about giving it a 3. But 3 is too many. 2 Boolean: NO

Um… I like the Beach Boys here? But… I just can’t go 4. It’s just to treble in its harmonies. It’s too… sanitary. I would never listen to this. I mean I would never want to. It’s fun for a moment. Then I start wanting to stab something. 3 Boolean: yes, I suppose it is important to know

Crazy. First, I just listened to/ rated Mariah Carey’s Butterfly from around this same period. It also was a mid-career change up album by a pop star seemingly trying to stay relevant. Mariah leaned heavily into the RnB/ hip-hop trend I guess she felt was working for her. I definitely did not feel it worked on Butterfly. Yeah. The more distance I get from that listen, the more I find I want. So when this came up, I was… less than enthusiastic. And less open minded than I generally try to be. Second, I found this album saved in my library. Often not a good sign, if I have no memory of it. I mean, at some point I felt I needed to listen to this mid career Madonna, but I was drawing a complete blank on what I was going to find when I hit play. But man…. This works. Obviously, a huge part of what’s working is William Orbit. But this partnership is… well damn if it ain’t magic. Madonna sounds awesome in the mix. I love it. It’s the polar opposite of the Mariah album. A totally different sound for our pop star, but it’s consistent and cool. I can see why I listened to it once. And I am glad to hear it again. I almost want to give it a 5. It’s too long. But if someone just got her to trim it, it really could have been a 5. 4 Boolean: True, I needed to hear this, obviously multiple times, before I die

Ha! Looking forward to this over the Beach Boys I just had to endure. I guess that says where I’m at. This is actually quite good. Solid. More than I expected. Not quite a 5. 4 Boolean: True. Thank you 1001, never would have known without you…

It’s a 5! One of the greats. Top 50/ top 20 album of all time (such a list is hard to actually conceive.) Yeah. It just gets better with time and repeated listening. 5 Boolean: TRUE

Yeah- Bowie has 9 albums on the list. Not sure anyone else has that much representation. The Beatles have 7. Radiohead has 6. Bruce Springsteen has 5. Bob Dylan has 7. Bowie has 9. That alone is… impressive. Just the fact that someone thinks they can justify it. Now the thing is, Bowie will forever be a mixed bag for me. I hate him. I appreciate him. I hate him. I am dreading 9 albums. I’ve listened to… 3? 4? Of those, I had to admit a couple were good. Couldn’t be denied. I gave them 4s. I know I gave a 2 to one. Anyway… Aspects of this are so, so good. And it’s the end of his career. Bowie is an OLD MAN. With Cancer. And this album is, well, it’s actually amazing. I just hate his vocals. Really. Really. I would give this a 5. But it’s hard to listen to. But then I remember he’s Bowie, at the end of his career, with cancer. 5 Boolean: True, sometimes it’s true that you should listen to things you don’t want to.

Let’s see… About a decade ago I decided to go all in with Steely Dan. As a popular reviewer of this album from the COVID era reminisces, I too was a teen in the 90’s that wouldn’t have been willingly caught dead breathing the air through which such sounds vibrated. But I listen to a lot of music and continue to listen to a lot of music. And podcasts about music. A person such as me is going to hit a moment of decision on the Steely Dan question. So in I went. I explored the discography. The first thing that hit me was that I was WAY more familiar with Steely Dan than I ever would have imagined. They truly are everywhere. When you buy your groceries. When you go to work. When you pay your taxes. There’s Steely Dan, easing you along your day. The next thing that hit me was WOW these guys are… clean. When I actually listened to them, their musicianship began to become evident. Their subtlety. Their f*ing name also hit me. I mean they named themselves after a dildo in Naked Lunch. Something I apparently didn’t discover. But see, Burroughs WAS cool in the 90’s, even if Steely Dan was not. The more I listened, the more layers I realized there were. What a feat! To be able to make music that on one level is so seemingly innocuous and inoffensive that it slips in EVERYWHERE but then on closer inspection is actually subversive and full of bitter irony. When I hit this album today I didn’t realize that Fagen was half of Steely Dan on his first solo venture. But… I knew a number of these songs. Had always assumed they were Steely Dan. As I listened I realized how different they were. They were optimistic. They weren’t about questionable characters in the LA scene. They were about… him! They were about his teen years. His life. And it was lovely. 5 Boolean: True

Spent a long car ride listening to this (the deluxe version, of course) and other Taylor offerings with my nephew not too long ago. Got schooled in Taylor’s working relationship with Aaron Dessner. Which- respect. Much became clear on that car ride. Like why Taylor had appeared on a National album. Why my nephew had willingly gone to a National show with his dad and I. Why Taylor had features with The National and Bon Iver. Why I felt like Alice through the looking glass. Thanks Aaron, always wondered if you were the evil twin. This album is exactly an hour. Um… ocd anyone? Um… I listened to it AGAIN. I did. I will share my lastFm stats with anyone who doesn’t believe me. I HAVE NO MEMORY of this album. It’s crazy. I keep listening to it and it just doesn’t affect me. It doesn’t penetrate. Which is a feat in itself. True elevator music. 3 Boolean True?

Second time around for this one. I really like it. Surprised it’s on the list, but like it, so yeah! Of all the albums from 2019…whatever… I like it. Husband finds this album very middling to fair. He’s a much harder sell than me. It does make me wonder, though. Does this album really deserve a 4. The thing is, I do actually love it. I go back and it’s saved in my likes. I, personally, listen to it. My husband asks me: “Why? It’s boring.” But I love Kiwanuka’s voice. I think the production is top notch. Maybe this is just a me album. And I am the one rating it. 4 Boolean:true, maybe, but yeah 2016 - 19 had admittedly A LOT of music that probably deserves to be on the list over this.

Love the innovation. I remember when I was introduced to this album and told how IMPORTANT it was. The thing is, the Beach Boys annoy me. The treble. The soft tickling bells without bass end. I keep coming back to it, and I love all the production elements, the found sounds, the vocal arrangements. But I always come away missing something. Missing a deeper soul. 4 Boolean: True

Second time for this live, double album. I have come to appreciate live albums a lot more because of this exercise. Double albums- not so much. Have to see how I feel today… Yeah- I do believe this is making me not like Van Morrison. I appreciate it. I want it to be over. Same as last time. Don’t think I will make myself do this a third time. I get it. But it was too late to stop… 3 Boolean: True?

Yeah- I gave Heroes a 2. And that only because the second half was… interesting. This is really everything I hate about Bowie. Right here. In my ears. I think I might go 1 with this. I gave Blackstar a 5. He’s probably already pretty unwell at this point. I believe this is the album just prior. But… this is just about unlistenable. It’s filling me with rage. If it doesn’t improve, it’s getting a 1. Man, it’s a struggle. I truly hate Bowie. But… he’s got musicians working with him like no others. It’s the eternal thing with him. I’m going to relent and give this a 2. 2 Boolean: um….. true, I guess