1001 Albums Summary

Was not expecting the title track to be one of the weakest. Does not lose itself in its grandiosity. 4 flat.

Pretty killer, some filler. Closer to a 3 than a 5.

Interesting. Closer to a 2 than a 4.

WOOHOO! Closer to a 4 than a 6.

Mr Tambourine Man is the most beautiful song ever written. Closer to a 4 than a 6.

Can't touch it. Closer to a 4 than a 6.

Can't touch it. Closer to a 6 than a 4.

Yo! Closer to a 5 than a 3.

Really fun. Can't wait. Closer to a 3 than a 5.

When I first listened to this, many years ago, I found it muddy and uninteresting. Fully expecting the same result today, I wasn't particularly hopeful. But, I write this now, saying that it is practically flawless. Awesome guitar sound, vocals, simple compositions, blending folk with glam rock to create something totally new - meaningful dance music. Closer to a 6 than a 4.

Not my favourite Bowie, but it's pretty damn good. Closer to a 5 than a 3.

I guess bro. Mix of abject nonsense, glorious ascension and generic prog rock. First disc marginally better than the second. Whoever’s on keys should probably shut up. Closer to a 4 than a 2.

Aretha BURSTS onto the scene. Four flat.

Fuck off. Used to think Van was a bit kitschy, and if you've only heard "Brown-Eyed Girl", you'd get that impression, but now? Hoo-boy. He just leaks EVERYWHERE. And I wanted to go with a lower rating, but I liked it too much. Spewing... cooked up with ever loving magic. I'd call it blues above all, but it's so much more. She liked Van too. Too bad he's a bit of an asshole. Five flat.

Y'all, it's good. Four flat.

I don’t remember where I was when I first heard Grace by Jeff Buckley. I remember having a middling impression of it on first listen. The pair of Hallelujah and Lover… were these extraordinary behemoths sitting in the middle of the tracklist, and the rest, I didn’t exactly register with. But like, it seems, everyone else in the last five years, Grace has soared back into relevance, as this bastion of a young man’s pain. And what helped was that Buckley himself was worldly, intelligent, charismatic, and robbed from us far too soon. Gorgeous might be the word, but it’s more than that. His own songs meld perfectly with the classics he covers (Hallelujah, Corpus Christi, Lilac Wine), a testament to his uncanny ability to take total control of his sound. No one sounds like him man, and many have tried. Obviously, closer to a 6 than a 4.

Closer to a 5 than a 3. Really fantastic. Cobain, as the icon.

We dig. But “Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya, Man” is one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. Closer to a four than a six.

ABBA: really a group of singles. There's one stunning track here ("One of Us"), but yeah. Fairly dull fare outside of that. Harmonies and instrumentation are nice but nothing to write home about. "Slipping Through My Fingers" is a beautiful track, but, and I have no reservations, Meryl Streep / Amanda Seyfried did it better. Flat three, thank you!

This is drivel. Remarkably bad. Songwriting is uninspired, and that is not to mean simple, but completely devoid of personality. Pertness is no substitute for character. Guitars, vocals, synths, all sound utterly atrocious, as a general rule. There’s one-and-a-half good tracks (“Panama”, “House of Pain”), and the rest are dogshit. It escapes a 1 because the drums sound ok. Closer to a 1 than a 3.

Hell yeah. Now that’s metal. Five flat.

Really impressive debut. Guitars sound so damn cool, vocals sit crazy well on top, revolutionary for the genre, two thumbs up. Closer to a 5 than a 3.

Really impressive debut. Extraordinary production for the year 2000, great mix of hi-fi and lo-fi sound. Towers, I don't know, over acts like The National, or Muse, or other 2010s indie folktronica fucks. The big weakness here is the songwriting simply not being up to snuff; though there are some excellent tracks here - gets a bit dull, innit. Four flat.

I'm not going to think about it too much. This is extraordinary. Nick Drake had an incomparable sound, to which the only available word is beauty. Everything about this is beautiful. A talent gone from us far too soon, of course. I'm shocked I haven't heard this already, given his discography. Five flat.

Yeah, I wanted to like this, then I wanted to hate this, and ended up somewhere in between. Inconsistent, but fun. Closer to a 4 than a 2.

Leonard Cohen, to some extent, absolutely ruined songwriting for decades to come. His imitators are ubiquitous, and his style no longer his. That being said, Cohen, the icon, remained so totally able to command such a high register of emotional wholeness, that even in his last years, he preserved his artistic voice, complete and self-justifying. It is confident in a way few songwriters survive long enough to become. He still knew what he was talking about, somehow. Rest in peace. Four flat.

Bowie runs circles around modern songwriters, with the exception of Matt Lewin and Mica Tenenbaum. Closer to a 4 than a 6.

Coldplay. The butt of any respectable music critic's jokes. It's hard to pin down exactly what makes them so strongly in a league of their own. I hazard it's because Chris Martin, and his music, is so endearing, so non-confrontational, that he is unlike any real human being. Despite his many human errors, such as naming his kid Apple. The fact of the matter is, I respect the band's standing greatly. They've carved out this identity, that's genuine, that's significant. And therefore, I can't go too low here. But the songwriting is pretty dull, the lyrics insipid and the production too clean. That is the Coldplay way. I wouldn't want it any other. Closer to a 2 than a 4.

Like the songs, like the vibe, though one needs to be in the mood, but the production is DOGSHIT. Three flat.

I really love this kind of stuff man. Just groovy like a drive-in movie. I will forgive all sins if you have this kind of fun. Closer to a four than a six.

Unfinished Sympathy. Closer to a 4 than a 6.

Eh. First minute had my expectations way high, then it fizzled to nothing. Closer to a 3 than a 1.

This is really a pity five. Because, there’s so many problems with this album. I have no fucking clue why the Swamp Songs are on this record. The mix is really wack at the best of times. Vocals are oftentimes on or over the edge. But like. This whole sound is just humongous. This is Britpop at its most coarse and broad. I guess the brains I had went to my head. Shout out Tom Osborne, he did like that lyric quite a bit. Closer to a 4, but man.

Steely Dan is such a vibe man. The production on this is not as silky smooth as it is on their other records, but I’m positive! And I say positive things. Closer to a 3 than a 5. Trans.

Kiss is just a worse Chicago. They'll dress like that and proceed to make desperately milquetoast rock music. Granted, sometimes it really lands in the groove, but that is only occasional across this album. Closer to a 2 than a 4.

locked in closer to a 4 than a 6

closer to a 5 than a 3. hell yeah! this is crazy, youngsters. vibe central.

I mean, it’s alright. But it constantly reminds you how you could be listening to a better Led Zeppelin album. Closer to a 4 than a 2.

I really really really like this album. Closer to a FIVE than a THREE.

Huh. What is this. What are we doing. What's going on. Four flat. Go Australia!

Didn't totally work for me, but there's something here I think. What is this band good for? Something. Three flat.

This is unbelievably good at what it wants to do, and is absolutely not what I want to listen to. Hard to rate. I'll be diplomatic and go for three flat.

I'm sorry, man, no I'm fucking not, fuck you! Five flat.

Feels like ABBA without synths. Or Simon and Garfunkel with extra sauce. I dig. The dude abides. Four flat.

On the one hand, Aretha does Respect better… and none of these covers are superior to the originals (Cooke, Temptations, Stones, etc.). On the other hand, it’s Otis. Closer to a five.

I liked it but I’m feelin’ awful right now. So we’re giving it a three flat.

We’re back. And flat.