1001 Albums Summary

Rating: ⭐️3/5 Favorite Tracks: Roadhouse Blues, Peace Frog Verdict: Solid blues rock album that makes a good first impression on the A-side with hits like ‘Roadhouse Blues’. More psychedelic-sounding B-side lets it down somewhat. It still has its highlights like ‘Land Ho!’ though. Don’t love The Doors as a band, especially with their lyricism. Instrumentation behind the songs was good but not spectacular

Rating: ⭐️4/5 Favorite Tracks: Ready or Not, Fu-Gee-La, Zealots Verdict: Unlike most other hip-hop/rap albums I’ve listened to. Lauryn Hill’s vocals, the clever rapping of Pras + Wyclef Jean, and jazz influences really elevate this album. Lauryn Hill’s spotlight piece ‘Killing Me Softly’ is also very good as well as Wyclef Jean’s song ‘No Woman, No Cry’. However, I thought the album dragged a bit so some tracks like ‘Mista, Mista’ could have been cut, which felt unnecessary.

Rating: ⭐️4/5 Favorite Tracks: Reelin’ In the Years, Do It Again, Kings Honorable Mention: Dirty Work Verdict: A very good, but not special, debut from Steely Dan. Like many other albums, most of my favorites are from the A side. Although the B side is less memorable besides their hit ‘Reelin’ In the Years’, it still contains good songs like ‘Change of the Guard’. I like the band’s blend of rock and jazz, which leads to some great instrument arrangements. ‘Midnite Cruiser’ is a good example which comes to mind. However, some tracks like ‘Brooklyn’ sound like typical 70s soft rock.