1001 Albums Summary

1/5 Best Song: Take A Load Off Your Feet Worst Song: Student Demonstration Time Weirdest Song: Take A Load Off Your Feet The Beach Boys have a fun-ectomy in the boring and disjointed Surf's Up.

2/5 Best Song: Maggot Brain Worst Song: Wars of Armageddon Weirdest Song: Wars of Armageddon Maggot Brain starts off strong with its epic title track guitar solo and gradually fizzles into a succession of generic funk rhythms with the occasional wacky instrumentation and crying baby here and there. Also hope you like the key of E (6 of 7 tracks).

4/5 Best Song: Piece of My Heart Worst Song: Oh, Sweet Mary Weirdest Song: Summertime Janis Joplin's voice is so tastefully raw and raspy. Combined with the great selection of bluesy and frenetic melodies, this album contains some great classics and hidden gems.

3/5 Best Song: Bang a Gong (Get it On) Worst Song: Cosmic Dancer Weirdest Song: Rip Off Electric Warrior is decent easy listening with an obvious classic in Bang a Gong. Much of the album isn't very memorable but there are some nice guitar rhythms and tones to coast through. Sounds like an alternate reality where Elliott Smith sang psychedelic blues in the 70s.

4/5 Best Song: Jesus, Etc. Worst Song: Heavy Metal Drummer Weirdest Song: Radio Cure Great variety from track to track that carries through the entire album. Each song has a unique style but remains rooted in its eclectic indie rock DNA. Hard to pick a favorite or least favorite but "Jesus, Etc." is stuck in my head days after listening.

2/5 Best Song: Sultans of Swing Worst Song: Southbound Again Weirdest Song: In the Gallery Honorable Mention: Wild West End It's okay. The twangy style hooks you at first but each song that follows is very similar and produces diminishing returns until you get to Sultans. The rest is the same except for Wild West End which is a surprisingly good ballad.

2/5 Best Song: Poet Worst Song: Family Affair Weirdest Song: Spaced Cowboy Honorable Mention: None There'a a boring album goin' on. Desperately needs more instrumental solos. Not much to write home about.

4/5 Best Song: And You and I Worst Song: N/A Weirdest Song: Yes Honorable Mention: Not Enough Songs Close to the Edge is a wonderful prog-rock balancing act of weirdness and ecstasy that is unlike anything I've ever heard before. Great to listen to in traffic at max volume with the windows down if you want to turn heads.

4/5 Best Song: Juicy Worst Song: Fuck Me (Interlude) Weirdest Song: Fuck Me (Interlude) Honorable Mention: Big Poppa It's hard to find a rapper with better lyrical flow than Biggie. Combine that with heavy hitting 90s boom-bap, guns, and sex, and you've got Ready to Die. Not perfect but has some of the most memorable hip hop songs of all time.

2.5/5 Best Song: Bad Moon Rising Worst Song: Tombstone Shadow Weirdest Song: N/a Honorable Mention: Lodi Creedence is pretty straight forward Southern rock. A few catchy tunes but nothing that really stands out apart from the classics. Lots of repetitive guitar licks.

3.5 / 5 Best Song: Buried Alive Worst Song: Heaven's On Fire Weirdest Song: Buried Alive Honorable Mention: Countess Bathory ANGERYYYYYYY! No room for God here, not on this album! Satan rulezzz!!

3.5 / 5 Best Song: Here Comes Your Man Worst Song: Silver Weirdest Song: Tame Honorable Mention: Wave of Mutilation Pretty weird but ultimately a fun album with a great mixture of genres from punk, grunge, surf rock, and reggae.

1.5/5 Best Song: Into My Arms Worst Song: West Country Girl Weirdest Song: Black Hair Honorable Mention: People Ain't No Good Made me sleepy and sad.

4/5 Best Song: In Memory of Elizabeth Reed Worst Song: Stormy Monday Weirdest Song: You Don't Love Me Honorable Mention: Whipping Post Epic live album from Allman Brothers. Great guitar solos and instrumentation throughout. Starts a little slow but really kicks off at You Don't Love Me and only gets better from there.

4/5 Best Song: Jupiter and Teardrop Worst Song: Soft Wolf Tread Weirdest Song: Stars n' Stripes Honorable Mention: The Hook This one came out of nowhere. Can't believe I've never heard of this band. Great mixture of country and alt rock. The lead singer's voice and 12-string are massive.

2.5 / 5 Best Song: Sex Machine Worst Song: I Want to Take You Higher Weirdest Song: Sex Machine Honorable Mention: Sex Machine Pretty funky with some good jams here and there. I'm sure this is contextually a classic album for black empowerment and the civil rights movement, but just not hitting musically for me on most tracks. Sex Machine is fantastic though.

0.5 / 5 Best Song: Sister Ray Worst Song: I Heard Her Call My Name Weirdest Song: The Gift Honorable Mention: White Light/White Heat Thank god, it's over. I laughed hysterically, but out of bewilderment or torment, I do not know... By far the most abrasive, chaotic, and ear-shattering abomination I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. Half a point awarded for Sister Ray, which made me laugh for quantity of ding dongs sucked.

4.5 / 5 Best Song: Superstitious Worst Song: Tuesday Heartbreak Weirdest Song: N/a Honorable Mention: Big Brother Honorable Mention: Maybe Your Baby Almost perfect, great from start to finish and some pleasant surprises having not heard most of Stevie Wonder beyond the usual hits. Had to give 2 honorable mentions since I couldn't make up my mind.

3 / 5 Best: Paper Tiger Worst: Sunday Sun Weirdest: Sunday Sun, Little One Honorable Mentions: Guess I'm Doing Fine, Lonesome Tears, End Of The Day Very, very slow and depressing at times but nicely mixed overall. Clean guitar strumming and pretty great string instrumentation. Has a crisp autumn day feeling to it. Some neat bass lines peppered in if you can hang in there with Beck's post-breakup sadness.

3.5 / 5 Best: Sex on Fire Worst: Be Somebody Weirdest: I Want You Honorable Mentions: Closer, Manhattan, Notion One of the last good rock bands coming out of the 2000s. This album unfortunately falls off hard at the end but has a good run of both popular hits and lesser known gems. Great wall-of-sound vibe throughout.

3 / 5 Best: Promised You A Miracle Worst: King Is White And In The Crowd Weirdest: Somebody Up There Likes You Honorable Mentions: Colours Fly and Catherine Wheel, Big Sleep Not typically a big fan of 80s pop, but this one surprised me. Tracks 2-4 (Colours Fly, Promised You, Big Sleep, Somebody Up There) were the strongest - great mixture of styles with funky bass lines, disco-like synths, and reverb-washed guitars. The typical 80s pop aesthetic is maintained throughout, but I'm pleased with the variety of songwriting. I'll probably re-visit this one in the future.

2 / 5 Best: Banstyle / Sappys Curry Worst: Blueski Weirdest: Pearl's Girl Honorable Mentions: N/A Good music for hacking databases and saying "I'm in" after 30 seconds of typing. Maybe new and refreshing for electronic music at the time, but the lyrics are strange and it's a bit boring and repetitive.