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.
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.
