Classic and important all-timer. Peters off toward the end.
An excellent overal album and the reason Pink Floyd went on to become of one the most overrated bands. Great Gig in the Sky is among the top vocal performances in rock history.
I can’t see any reason this album would be on this list beyond the curator being such a Bowie acolyte.
Generally uninteresting sound experiment.
Fats is one of the best of the first (or any) generation of rock and roll, and one of the best of New Orleans music. What a combo.
This is a fantastic compilation that doesn't even have many of his greatest songs. The only ding is that it is a little short coming in at around 27 minutes.
Metallica has some undeniably good metal riffs but, man, they don’t know when to end a song and their “ballads” flat out suck.
If metal is your thing I’m sure this is a 4 or 5. I gave it as high as a 3 because I get that it’s good for what it is but James Hetfield takes his junior high level lyrics seriously enough that I certainly don’t have to.
It’s the Beatles. Not much more needs to be said.
A very mediocre and disappointing album. The usual melodies that you expect from this band simply are not there.
Cloying lyrics and harmonies with a couple of decent tracks.
A few standouts among mostly decent songs sung by one of the best voices in popular music.
Catchy, guitar-driven riff-rock. Like a heavier Lemonheads.
Big Star gets a little more introspective than their usual power pop reputation with mixed results. Nothing terrible but nothing amazing.
Oof. They sound like your high school’s second best band.
Plodding and repetitive with a couple of good hooks if you’re being generous.
These songs should never have left whoever’s basement they used for practice.
A watershed album for Oasis and Brit-rock that still holds up 30 years later.
70’s soul/funk at its best. Curtis Mayfield is one of America’s most underrated songwriters.
Where to begin? A bland collection of Sufjan-esque duds that sound like the cast recording of a musical no one asked for. A musical, mind you, where all of the songs are from Act I because absolutely nothing happens.
This album might work if it was presented as a collection of lullabies but even then the risk of irreversible coma would not be insignificant.
They try to ratchet it up to mid-tempo with the last track that I assume is sarcastically labeled a “stomp” but by then it’s way too late.
NME named this the album of the year in 1998 which is a surprising way to find out that someone from Mercury Rev’s grandma worked for NME.
I still can’t get onboard with Joni Mitchell’s (often sudden) burst of soprano vocals but the strength of the songwriting is undeniable.
It’s easy to see why this a widely beloved and respected album.
18 year old me might have been more tolerant of whatever it is that Zappa is trying to do here but the current version found in it a lot more eye-roll inducing than interesting.
I have always had a thorough dislike for R.E.M. but perhaps that stance has softened a bit over the years. A bit.
But this album reminded exactly why I never could stand them. Michael Stipe’s inane lyrics and quavering whine are on full display here. Hard pass.
A good blues-y rock album. The best songs have great hooks. It meanders toward the end but a worthwhile listen. Rounding a 3.5 up to 4.
Her eighth studio album at 25 years old!
A very easy album to listen to. It bounces back and forth from naive religious optimism and songs of hurt and scandal…each an example of why Dolly is one of America’s best songwriters.
A fun album that I normally wouldn’t listen to on my own simply because I’d rather hear Stones albums of originals. All but one song here is a cover.
Still some fantastic vocals and harp playing by Mick and great blues guitar by Keith.
I don’t know who “the girl” is that is referenced in the band’s title but she should consider herself lucky to be excluded from this dreck.
The album is full of very thin production and snoozy instrumentation. Each track sounds so much like doctors office waiting room music that I would be surprised if the initial release didn’t include an outdated issue of Reader’s Digest.
The only saving graces are the charming lyrics of “Oxford Street” and the poignantly heart-tugging “Apron Strings”, which benefits greatly from the wispy drum machine mercifully being turned off.
My mileage varies on the Beastie Boys in general but an undeniably fun album that sort of drifts off toward the end.
A decent collection of songs. Not really a bad one in the bunch but not as mant stand outs as I expected either.
Lou Reed at his best. There are about ten versions of Lou Reed throughout his career and all of the good ones appear on this album.
Oasis meets R.E.M. meets the Jayhawks. Breezy, catchy pop rock.
The Way You Make me Feel and Smooth Criminal are all time pop bangers but this album has some real clunkers. It’s Michael Jackson so I get it but this is a wildly overrated album.
Eminem is another in a long line of pop star assholes who think he invented being an asshole.
The misogyny and homophobia is so over the top and moronic as opposed to edgy but the dope is talented and knows how to put rhymes together with enough hooks to make some of the album listenable. But some of this shit is just unlistenable ("Remember Me?", "Amityville"). And enough has been written about "Kim' and whether is legitimate art/performance, etc, etc. but it's just a really bad fucking song.
Leonard Cohen visits common themes of love, rejection, and Judeo-Christianity on his last album. It's hard not to feel the weight of finality in his lyrics and vocals knowing he died a few weeks after the album's release.
Lyrically as poignant as ever with each song working as a stand-alone poem. "If I Didn't Have Your Love", in particular, is one of his best poems set to music. Sonically, he relies (as always) too much on pre-programmed drums but uses a backing choir, strings, and some klezmer-esque instrumentation to great effect.
Probably not an album I will listen to over and over but it is a beautiful reflection on an incredible artist's life.
A super impressive debut album and a great all-around pop album. The best songs are some of the best of the 80's. The rest of the tracks range from "not terrible" to "could have been a single".
Not a hip-hop guy but if you're going to listen to a hip-hop album you can definitely do worse than something in the Wu-Tang world.
How fucking dare you, 1001 albums list! How dare you! To even call this music is outrageous. This is the worst DIY schlock I have ever heard! There are so many albums that I did not “need to hear” before I die but this is, so far, the only one that makes me think death is the better option.
If I heard 1000 5 star albums prior to this garbage and this was the the 1001st, I would still disqualify the entire list.
(Not a fan)
Sleepy folk music that is perfect for a Sunday morning. Some of the songs are monotonous but the album contains a few of the best songs he has ever written - "Suzanne" and "So Long Marianne", in particular.
Solid, but not spectacular...perhaps something you hear before you die.
Soulless, programatic music with a muddy and uneven mix. The lyrics are all but indeciperable.
"Fantasy" sounds like they accidentally hit record while they were testing out a software update. "Infinity" is aptly named as it goes on forever yet goes nowhere.
This album supports the idea that maybe there aren't 1001 that you must hear before you die.
I don't mind some sleepy folk music but this was a little too sleepy.
Despite the Smiths having an overwhelming Morrissey problem, the album is solid Brit pop-rock. While I do not get the over-the-top swooning for this record from critics (someone really needs to check the NME offices for lead paint), Johnny Marr can write some nice hooks.
I cannot imagine the amount of drugs I would need to take to find this listenable.
Wilco at their pop-rock best. Not much here can be considered filler, which is impressive for a double album.
Dafuq outta here with this shit. There are Gregorian monks that would find this boring!
I am a huge fan of Mark Knopfler’s guitar playing and Dire Straits at their best is a great band. This is not Dire Straits at their best.
“Sultans of Swing” and “Down to the Waterline” are, of course, stand outs that rival anything in their catalogue but generally these songs tend to be meandering while Knopfler finds his footing aw a songwriter.
One of the best hip-hop albums of all time from the World's Borough. One of the few albums with no skips.
Brian Eno said that this album was supposed to be "as ignorable as it is interesting". He failed in that mission because it is exceedingly more ignorable.
Each of the 4 tracks is a repetitive loop of wasted time.
There is a certain type that reveres Radiohead. I am definitely not that type. I guess I just like "songs" too much.
This audio experiment is such crap that I have to belive anyone that says they love this album is lying.
Nina Simone can sing anything but the song slection here is not the best. "Four Women" is a standout, though.
Foot-stomping, big band fun! Super infectuous.
Sparse arrangements and hypnotic vocals…it’s a Nick Drake album. This is a very strong 3 but could be a 4.
An excellent jazz record littered with deep grooves with some funk and Cuban influences thrown in.
Masekela's flugelhorn is the relentless star of the show closely followed by Larry Willis' piano.
This is a perfect example of why I started this project - to discover great albums that I would not have found on my own.
It's...fine. Nothing is terrible, little is great.
There is just too much art-school horseshit on this list. I feel like I'm being trolled. This is just hot garbage.
"Bap de la Bap"?! How the fuck am I supposed to recover from that? I'm afraid to continue using my ears now for fear that something just as horrible might enter them!
One of the best:
1. Blues albums
2. Live albums
3. Southern rock albums
of all time! "You Don't Love Me" is not interesting enough to be 19 minutes. That's the only thing preventing this from being a 5.
This album really relies on how much you like (tolerate?) Sinatra. A weak song selection and unimaginative arrangements. Sinatra can sing these songs in his sleep…and I think for some he did.
One of the best albums of the 90's
This album shows all sides of Paul McCartney. Unfortunately, the most recurring is his corny side.
The title track and “Nineteen hundred and Eighty-Five” and some of McCartney’s best of his post-Beatles career but the rest is so fervently mediocre…especially for one of the best songwriters of all time.
There's not a ton a variation to what The Stooges do but if it's not broke, don't fix it. A solid early punk record.
A collection of mostly mid-tempo run of the mill modern R&B songs with "edgy" lyrics.
"Prom" is a pretty good pop song and "20 Something" is probably the best track but beyond that I just don't get the hype...though I am far from the target audience.
Some mid noise rock songs. Held up against their best work, this album is just okay.
An uneven album that was worth a listen. Their garage rock songs hold up much better than their psychedelic, mid-tempo songs. The latter features Arthur Lee's voice too much and that's not a good thing.
Overly scmaltzy and melodramtic but there is some decent songwriting here. "Vincent" and the title track are to the two most known songs for a reason.
Solid noise rock album that does not ignore hooks or melodies. “Here Come Your Man” is an all-timer.
Some solid songwriting by Billy Joe Shaver and solid performing by Waylon. Nothing really soars here as it's mostly a collection of mid-tempo country waltzes but impact on the Outlaw Country genre is undeniable. For the reason alone it's worth a listen.
CCR is undeniably one of America's greatest rock band and John Fogerty sits among the greatest American songwriters. The latter point makes it a bit peculiar that there are four covers on this album. No, matter! Almost everything here works. Soulful blues ballads, foot-tapping swamp rock, shake-your-ass rock n roll....etc. The only misstep (and the only thing preventing this from being a perfect 5) is the too long and drawn-out unnecessary cover of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine".
What if you took some of the most talented songwriters and reimagined their songs with not an ounce of nuance and enough over singing and over-the-top bombast that it's enough to make Meat Loaf blush? That's the question that, for some reason, Ute Lemper and her co-conspirators The Divine comedy, thought need to be asked. Even worse, they have an answer.
Mangled all to hell are the lot of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Cait "Rocky" O'Riordan, Kurt Weill, and others.
There are also a few original compositions by the aforementioned The Divine Comedy that seem like something Andrew Lloyd Weber would have written under extreme duress and post-lobotomy. This shit would have Celine Dion rolling her eyes.
Punishing Kiss? More like Punishing Ears.
I get the importance of Fugazi in the hard-core world. I get that they are important to both the genre and the city of D.C. I get it. But....these songs just aren't very good!
There's no doubt that they come across better live with the band and crowd's energy but as a record? This meh.
I wasn't aware that this list included live albums, and it seems a bit odd that Thin Lizzy's double live album is included. Far from bad, there are a lot of stand outs here. Jailbreak kicks things off well. "Dancing in the Moonlight" in "Massacre" might be the apex of the album, and the transition of "Cowboy Song" into "The Boys Are Back in Town" has the audience rightfully going bananas.
But as good as Phil Lynott sounds and how much of a groove the band often falls into, their catalogue just isn't deep enough to sustain a double live album.
Young Americans encapsulates my take on Bowie in general...some highs some lows and just not enough to make me like his material as much as I want to.
The title track is Bowie at his best and (not coincidentally) most accessible. "Right" is an overlooked R&B groove. Beyond that, things get dicey. "Fame" is the third best song on the album - that's pretty telling.
And his cover of "Across the Universe" could be taken as the first attempt on Lennon. I can't imagine what the decision-making process was there.
Yeah, sure. Why not? The band's debut album is a solid, down the middle 3. One could argue in equal measure that no tracks need to be skipped and that none need to be left on. I suppose it has to do with your mileage on how much you want to hear a hooligan sing about trying to get laid after going to the club.
Lyrically, Alex Turner straddles the line between clever and sophomoric but since he was 19 upon the album's release it's fair to give him the benefit of the doubt. Witty turns of phrase counter-balance generic punk riffs.
The strangest track is the seemingly earnest quasi-balld "Riot Van" about getting arrested for under-aged drinking and then being a dick to the cops. Yeah, sure. Why not?
The Smiths prove on this album that it doesn't matter what the message is if the messenger sucks. Ranging from boring to grating, The Smiths go as Morrisey goes, which musically is no place. "Barbarism Begins at Home" is particularly terrible.
Funky and weird and spooky and bizarre. No one does this combo like Dr. John. Musically some track are a little sludgy but even those are never uninteresting with the Doctor's delivery and threats of spells and voodoo shenanigans.
One of Dylan's best albums, which makes it of the best albums of all time. At the top of his game, the lyrics display his wit, bite, and absurdity in equal measure.
And no matter how many times I hear it, "Like a Rolling Stone" never gets old.
An American version of a British Invasion band. Very middle of the road, at best, all around. "Kicks" is a good track and luckily it's first so you can skip the rest.
Oh, look! Someone got a Casio for Christmas!
So the song “Hotel California” has been overplayed to a ridiculous degree but the fact remains that it’s a pretty damn good song. Coupled with “The Last Resort” and you have a solid opener and closer.
Alright, enough of that. The rest of this album is hot garbage. “New Kid in Town” is light-rock drivel and such a fall off the cliff from the preceding title track. The other hits, “Life in the Fast Lane” and “Victim of Love” are clichéd corporate rock that can’t even be saved by Joe Walsh’s guitar work.
But the real pit of musical despair is at the center of the album. Never has there been a more aptly named song than “Wasted Time”! What a schmaltzy self-fellating pile of sonic crap this is. THEN! Then these guys have the balls to follow it up with the orchestral “Wasted Time (Reprise)”. Get over yourselves, you bunch of knobs!
This album is killer. Al Green is the best of a 70's soul. There's not a skip on the album. Standouts are the title track and the Otis Redding-esque "What Is This Feeling". The only critique (if you can call it that) is that I wish the horns were brought up in the mix on most songs.
Despite trying several times, I just can't get into most of Neil Young's catalogue with a few exceptions. "Rust Never Sleeps" is one of those exceptions. Part solo, part full band, part studio, part live - it would seem that this project would come across as unfocused, but Neil makes it work.
The rock-solid bookends of "My, My, Hey Hey" and "Hey, Hey, My, My" anchor the album but the best two tracks are "Thrasher" and "Powderfinger".
A few weaker songs ("Pocohantes", "Ride My Llama", and "Sedan Delivery") prevent this from being a 4 star album but it is a very solid 3 star or 7 out of 10.
Labeled as part of the Outlaw Country genre, Steve Earle has broken that mold and established himself as a great American songwriter.
That is on display on "Guitar Town" in flashes. This being his debut, his best is yet to come but there are moments throughout that make this a solid album. Most surprising might be the strength and clarity of his voice before all the years of alcohol, cigarettes (and many other things) caught up with him.
Man, is there a better soul voice in popular music than Otis Redding’s? I doubt it.
This is an amazing collection of songs mostly written by others but it’s worth noting that both “Respect” and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” are original compositions —the latter being a co-write with the incredible Jerry Buttler.
Supporting Otis’ powerhouse vocals are Booker T. and MGs, Isaac Hayes, and the Memphis Horns to make one of the best soul albums of all time.
There are no bad tracks on this album but it also never really takes off. "Music For the Last Couple" and "Boy About Town" are the stand-outs.
