1001 Albums Summary

Ah, the mid-2000s. A time when most of my music consumption was via Fuse and MTV2. And the Killers were ubiquitous on these channels, leading my sister and me to flip from one to the other (or, god forbid, VH1) because we did not need to see those videos again for the seventh time today, thank you. "Mr. Brightside" currently being hailed as a classic is fascinating to me, but with the benefit of time and the lack of having it forced on me hourly, I can better appreciate it. "Somebody Told Me," upon this listen, is the superior single though. I couldn't remember "All These Things That I've Done" until the really bad line "I got soul but I'm not a soldier" repeated too many times. With this being my first, and most probably last, listen to this album as a whole, the best tracks were "On Top" and "Believe Me Natalie." None of this is throw-my-headphones-across-the-room bad, I just don't need to listen to it again. My favorite Killers song remains their cover of "Shadowplay."

Ok, this project will frequently force me to overcome my biases to actually give the album for the day a shot. When I saw this come up, my immediate reaction was, maybe I'll skip this one... But I can't, it's only day two. I must push on. My association with Tom Petty is feeling annoyed by his songs played too often on the classic rock radio station my dad always listened to. Fortunately, the worst offenders are not on this album. I was only familiar with "Breakdown" and "American Girl" before this listen-through. Listen, Tom Petty's voice is just too big an impediment for me to overcome. Even if I said I liked the music, vocals are too important to me--an extremely non-musical person--to ever make this an enjoyable experience. I realized before it played that I was confusing "American Girl" with Petty's song "Free Fallin'" and I was just grateful to not have to listen to "Free Fallin'." Maybe the highest praise I can give this album.

I was not familiar with this artist, though I'd heard Brian Setzer's cover of "Jump, Jive, an' Wail." I found this album pretty fun. It's hard to sit still with this kind of jazz. I'll probably never again listen to the album, but I had a good time with it and now have slightly expanded my jazz knowledge.

I didn't think I was familiar with Booker T. & the MGs, but as soon as the title track started, I recognized it as one of those songs used to signify the movie or tv show you're watching is set in the '60s (or an ad is targeting someone whose heyday was the '60s). While I enjoyed "Green Onions" and "Mo' Onions" well enough, I don't know if I needed to listen to a whole album of songs utilizing what I think may be one of my least favorite instruments, the Hammond organ.

This is an album that I've been meaning to get around to listening to for a very long time, so I'm happy that this project forced me to do it. Of course I was familiar with the masterful cover of "Hurt," as well as the cover of "Personal Jesus," which is butchered with inexplicable regularity at my local karaoke bar. The emotion given to each song by Cash at the end of his life is so powerful. All the covers just make sense, and after "Hurt," my favorite is "I Hung My Head." I was very much looking forward to hearing this version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," but unfortunately the addition of Nick Cave nearly ruined it (something I wouldn't have believed were possible).

I think I've heard some Zappa songs prior to listening to this, but in no way could I say what they were (I don't even think I've heard "Valley Girl"). I listened to Hot Rats in the morning and it felt like good wake-up music. I mostly enjoyed this and would be interested in listening to more Frank Zappa. I know it's a slight to say my favorite thing about the album is the cool cover...

I hadn't listened to this in maybe 15 years. I now believe my life would've been infinitely better had I kept listening to PJ Harvey.

This site links to the deluxe version of this album, but I only listened to the first twelve songs, which comprise the original release. "A Legal Matter" and "The Ox" were my favorites of this largely snoozy collection. I understand the importance of "My Generation," but the song has just become so overplayed and such a signal of the '60s and boomers that any edge it had in '65 has been fully sanded away.

I've really only seriously listened to Dark Side of the Moon, so this album was mostly a new one for me. I found this wonderfully depressing.

I think I wish this were just an all instrumental album.

This is the most familiar with an album I've been so far in this project. I know everyone loves "Walk on the Wild Side," and it's great, but "Satellite of Love" has been one of my favorites for such a long time. I'm still more a fan of the Velvet Underground than solo Lou Reed, but this is a great album.

I didn't think I was familiar with the Sonics, but I've definitely heard "Have Love Will Travel" and "Psycho" before. When the album started I was not expecting that voice to come from any of the guys pictured on the album cover. Absolutely none of them look like they'd sound like that.

Enjoyed this more than I expected. I hate "One Way or Another," but aside from that I had a great time listening to this one. "Hanging on the Telephone" was (and still is) a favorite, and "Fade Away and Radiate" was a lovely new discovery.

As far as I know I'd only heard "If You Stay" and "Enola Gay" by OMD prior to this. This album was a thrilling new discovery for me. I immediately fell in love with "The New Stone Age," and while I wish more of the album were like that, the album as a whole is excellent and something I'll return to. As a longtime AFI fan, I can really hear Andy McCluskey's influence on Davey Havok's vocals.

Finally something I already love! This has been one of my favorite albums since 2004, when I started getting into goth music as a teen. I think this album is a masterpiece, and I've always felt that the Banshees are underrated (although this is my US-based, way-after-the-fact opinion, so maybe they were fairly rated). It seems most of the attention has been paid to Siouxsie's look, but the music feels unique from what others were doing at the time.

I liked this much more than expected. I've always found "Teach Your Children" to be unbearably cheesy so I didn't have high hopes for this album. Turns out they make significantly better music than that.

Neil Young's voice is far less annoying on this album than I normally find it. "Cinnamon Girl" is the best song (though I'd rather listen to the Type O Negative version) but I also like "Running Dry."

Absolutely hilarious whiplash from going from NWA yesterday to this today.

Not my favorite Smiths album but it's still fantastic and I'll give it five stars. It features one of my all-time favorite songs, "What She Said." The title track is a little much (and I'm a vegetarian).

I don't know that I'll ever revisit this album, but I had a good time listening to it this once.

I'm reserving my 1-star ratings for things that are so awful I refuse to listen to them. I did listen to this and found this album corny but not an assault on my sensibilities, so 2 stars it is. Sorry to my Springsteen-loving best friend.

"Roadhouse Blues" has got to be one of my least favorite classic rock songs, and I had no idea it was by the Doors.

Ok, THIS is why I'm doing this project. Finding a gem like this, that I'd likely never have listened to on my own, is exactly what I've been wanting.

Ah, memories of this blasting from my little sister's room.